Your next heart-rate monitor may not be a smartwatch at all. Google's latest research hints at a surprisingly simple alternative.
  • PierceTheBubble@lemmy.mlEnglish
    3 hours

    Privacy is another obvious challenge … Google suggests that on-device processing and face authentication could help address those concerns

    So create the misconception the data remains local (as the processing happens locally), while incentivizing them to using face authentication (enabling the 8-second selfie cam video clip upon unlock: used for heart rate estimation through skin changes), and the EULA roofying of course serving as the “explicit consent”.

    • kat_angstrom@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5 hours

      Hopefully they’ll continue utilising Outrage as the Prime Engagement Metric, so that when I start swearing loudly at annoying scammy ads, they’ll assume that means I’m “engaged”, and that’s good, so they’ll serve me more and more ragebait

    • MaggiWuerze@feddit.orgEnglish
      9 hours

      That’s exactly what they’ll use it for. We so desperately need a european alternative to android and ios, something that actually respects your data

      • Telorand@reddthat.comEnglish
        2 hours

        Doesn’t even need to be European. Ubuntu has a phone version that’s not currently universal, but it is on its way and could be someday. True Linux phones may be in our future.

        We don’t need phones that respect your data, we need phones that don’t collect it in the first place.

        • MaggiWuerze@feddit.orgEnglish
          1 hour

          I mean, canonical is British. Even if that not currently within the EU, that’s still somewhat European.

          But yeah, Ubuntu Phone would be a great base. Have the EU pump a few millions into it and regulate that OEMs have to support free OSs and we’re off to the races

      • PabloSexcrowbar@piefed.socialEnglish
        6 hours

        It’s naive to think that European companies won’t find a way to do the same level of shady shit in the future once everyone is nice and complacent.

        • MaggiWuerze@feddit.orgEnglish
          6 hours

          The idea is that it would force vendors to easily let users install other OSs and app providers to not only allow android and ios

      • teyrnon@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        4 hours

        Graphene OS, join it. Motorolla is making compatible phones but the google pixel phones are compatible for now.

        • MaggiWuerze@feddit.orgEnglish
          4 hours

          I would rather have an actual alternative instead of something that still depends on the whims of Google. Also this would not help in untying the current hard coupling between hardware and software

          • teyrnon@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            4 hours

            The pixel phones aren’t tied to google after you drop the graphene open source operating system on them, that’s the entire point. There are tech enthusiasts here that could explain it better than I.

            But android is open source, google used it, forked it off, and are trying to make their fork proprietary or something idk, but the phones can be used without being compromised by google. They are working on sabotaging graphene quite predictably.

            • MaggiWuerze@feddit.orgEnglish
              4 hours

              Google didnt fork Android, they own it. It’s also not really open source anymore since the aosp codebase is only updated every few months and doesn’t accept contributions.

              I would not build something new from that. I would rather pour money into fixing the few issues with Ubuntu mobile or something similar and be rid LF Google

              • teyrnon@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                4 hours

                Motorolla has been building a phone just for graphene os, and these pixels are safe to use as such I’ve been assured, there are a lot of people in on the collaberation that know what they are doing.

                Idk about ubuntu. But graphene will get the economy of scale which is key. It’s already fairly big.

                • MaggiWuerze@feddit.orgEnglish
                  3 hours

                  The issue is not what specific vendor produces the OS, but that it should not be based upon something that Google controls. If Google stops publishing the code for the Pixel tree, GraphenOS is fucked. They already had great issues when Google stopped using a public repo and only published updates on a quarterly basis

  • CanIFishHere@lemmy.caEnglish
    5 hours

    This is kind of incredible. No longer need to purchase a smartwatch to track heartrate.

    • Telorand@reddthat.comEnglish
      2 hours

      You never did. Heart rate monitors have existed for years, and they’re typically more accurate than a smartwatch. Fitness bands, too, have been around for a long time.

      And you can always use the tried-and-true free method of finding your pulse, counting for 30sec, and multiplying by two.