Huawei technicians may have helped African governments spy on opponents

Posted on 14/08/2019 by Engadget RSS Feed

An investigation by The Washington Post claims Huawei technicians helped African governments spy on domestic political opponents. According to the report, Huawei employees helped authorities in Uganda intercept encrypted messages and allowed police i...

US Navy Dolphins will be Used to Track Endangered Vaquita Porpoises

Posted on 05/01/2017 by hira

For decades, US Navy dolphins have been used to detect underwater mines and intruders. Now, these trained marine animals have been assigned to another massive task: locating the last few members of...

Beluvv Puppy Tracker: Crowdtracking Your Lost Dog

Posted on 26/01/2014 by Hazel Chua

People treat their pets as members of their family, and there is little that they wouldn’t do to ensure the safety of their furry buddies. The Beluvv Puppy tracker is one of those things that can help them do just that.

As the name implies, it’s a tracker that will help pet owners find their missing pets. It doesn’t use GPS technology like most pet trackers do. Instead, it makes use of Bluetooth, which has allowed its manufacturer to keep the device small with a battery life that can last for up to a year.

For starters, it can automatically alert you if your dog gets too far away from you. If your dog does get away though, it won’t give you your pet’s exact location, so you will need the help of friends and family who will have to try and check if they can see your pet’s Bluetooth signal on their devices. Anyone who is running the Beluvv Puppy app automatically helps participate in the search.

The Beluvv Puppy Tracker is as affordable as trackers get. They’re currently available for pre-order at $29.95(USD).

[via C|NET]

StickNFind Bluetooth stickers let you tag and locate your goods with a smartphone (hands-on video)

Posted on 02/01/2013 by Zach Honig

We've all misplaced keys, gadgets and occasionally even children. Well, no more. StickNFind is a nifty, inexpensive solution for tagging and locating electronics, keys and pets. For roughly $25 a pop (estimated retail), you get a small adhesive disk that can be affixed to any flat surface or attached to a keychain. Inside, there's a replaceable CR2016 watch battery that's said to last more than a year, a Bluetooth module and antenna, an LED-lit ring and a piezoelectric speaker. A free Android or iOS app then lets you hone in on any stickers within a roughly 100-foot (line of sight) range. The current version can only display distance, but an update, set to hit before StickNFind ships, will add direction, leading you directly to your target. You can also activate a (fairly faint) beeper, and an LED ring around the perimeter of the sticker, further helping you to find the device, even in a dark room. The app will offer several other features, including a "Virtual Leash" that alerts you when the sticker goes out of range -- a "Reverse Virtual Leash" will make the device (perhaps attached to your keys) beep, letting you know you've left your smartphone behind.

The product designers will also be offering an SDK, so developers can even create their own apps for StickNFind. For example, you could write an app that uses the stickers as triggers -- apparently one museum plans to affix the device to art, so as visitors approach, a text notification will pop up describing the piece. Another company is considering using stickers at an upcoming conference, and with Bluetooth transmitters placed around a venue, they can track the precise location of attendee badges (and the individuals wearing them), and even send "pages" by triggering the beeper and light. During our hands-on, StickNFind worked quite well, though as we mentioned, the current alpha version of the app only displays distance, not direction. The device is currently available for "pre-order" on Indiegogo, with an estimated March ship date. You can snag a sneak peek of it in action though, in our hands-on video after the break.

Gallery: StickNFind Bluetooth Location Stickers hands-on