Glaucoma monitoring contact lenses crafted at UC Davis

August 5th, 2008 by

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Far from the first circuit-laden contact lens we’ve laid eyes on (ahem), researchers at UC Davis have more than bragging rights in mind with their “smart” contacts. The devices are infused with a “pattern of conductive silver wires, which could be used to measure pressure inside the eye.” The material, dubbed polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), would boast antimicrobial properties and could enable scientists to better study glaucoma. How so? By sending pressure data to computers sans wires. Better still, the contacts also include the ability to automatically dispense medication into the eye, making this beneficial in more ways than one. The creators are expected to apply for approval to begin testing the lenses in humans here shortly, and barring any unforeseen (sorry, totally unintentional there) setbacks, we would hope these could be put to use within the next few years.

[Via medGadget]

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Posted in university, health, medical, eye, eyesight, ocular, sight, vision, contact lenses, ContactLenses, contacts, Glaucoma | No Comments »

Apple apologizes for its MobileMe mess, admits bungle on “push,” offers 30-days free

July 16th, 2008 by

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Shocker_Apple_actually_apologizes_to_MobileMe_customers’; After six long days, Apple has issued an official statement on the debacle that was / is the MobileMe transition, and has offered a 30-day extension to contracts as an olive branch to disgruntled users. According to a form letter being sent to subscribers, the company openly admits that the switch to MobileMe was “a lot rockier than hoped,” and claims that the service is now running smoothly. Additionally (and somewhat surprisingly) Apple rescinded its use of the word “push” to cover all of its services, conceding that while there is indeed push to-and-from iPhones and the “cloud,” computers are still being polled every 15 minutes… which is the same as .Mac (and honestly Apple, you didn’t know that wasn’t technically push?). We suppose this would be all well and good provided that MobileMe was actually functioning as advertised, but indications from readers — and our own testing — suggest otherwise. Customers are still having difficulties with email and syncing between iPhones and the cloud (duplicate messages, deleted messages that don’t leave the inbox, etc.), the advertised “auto-complete” on mail addressing doesn’t function at all, and calendars are plagued with small moving / deletion problems, as well as being unable to sync subscriptions… and that’s just off the top of our head (see the company’s support forums for more). The 30-day extension is a nice gesture Apple, but we’re thinking customers would prefer a service that works as advertised.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Posted in iPhone, Apple, sync, launch, Calendar, transition, contacts, email, .mac, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, mobileme, calendars, push, webmail | No Comments »

Researchers put circuits on contact lenses, freak out rabbits

January 17th, 2008 by

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We’ve seen plenty of newfangled contact lenses in the past, but it looks like a team of researchers at the University of Washington may have outdone them all, with their latest creation promising not only heads-up displays, but “superhuman vision.” That’s apparently possible thanks to a combination of lights and circuits, which they’ve managed to cram onto lens no larger than your average contact — though it doesn’t even do so much as light up in its current state (that’s promises “soon”). Naturally, the researchers have tested the lenses on rabbits instead of themselves, which they say have shown “no adverse effects” after wearing the lenses for upwards of 20 minutes, although we’ll just have to wait and see if they feel the same way after the researchers flip the switch on ‘em.

[Via Futurismic]

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Posted in contact lens, contact lenses, ContactLens, ContactLenses, contacts | No Comments »

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