The Baycrest Center for Geriatric Care in Ontario, Canada has published the strongest evidence yet that a smartphone training program specifically designed for individuals with memory impairment, can result in “robust” improvements in day-to-day functioning, and boost independence and confidence levels.

“The goal of our study was to demonstrate the generalizability of our training protocol to a larger number of individuals with moderate-to-severe memory impairment,” said Dr. Eva Svoboda, a clinical neuropsychologist in the Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health Program at Baycrest, and lead author of the study.

“Our findings demonstrate that it is possible to harness powerful emerging technologies with brain science in an innovative way to give people with a range of memory deficits some of their independence back.”

Memory impairment, particularly when it is severe, can impact virtually all aspects of everyday life. Individuals are unable to readily acquire new information making it difficult or impossible to keep appointments and stay on top of changing personal, social and occupational responsibilities.

Two decades ago, Baycrest pioneered a theory-driven training program that tapped into preserved implicit memory systems in people with amnesia to teach them to use assistive memory devices. Implicit or procedural memory is a type of memory that supports learning but does not require conscious executive control. Common examples of this type of memory include riding a bicycle or brushing one’s teeth which doesn’t require conscious remembering of where the procedure was learned in order to perform it.

Commercial technologies such as smartphones and other mobile electronic devices have immense potential for individuals with memory impairment as they offer high storage capacity, auditory and vibration alerts, rich multimedia capability and high user acceptability.

The Baycrest study involved 10 outpatients, 18 to 55 years of age, who had moderate-to-severe memory impairment, the result of non-neurodegenerative conditions including ruptured aneurysm, stroke, tumor, epilepsy, closed-head injury, or anoxia (insufficient oxygen to the brain) after a heart attack.

Participants completed two phases of training on either a smartphone or another personal digital assistant (PDA) device. Prior to the training, all participants reported difficulty in day-to-day functioning. Some required ongoing supervision and regular assistance from family members due to their forgetting to pay bills, take medications or attend appointments.

In the first phase, instructors from Baycrest’s Memory Link program taught participants the basic functions of their device, using an errorless fading of cues training method that tapped into their preserved implicit /procedural memory. Each participant received several one-hour training sessions to learn calendaring skills such as inputting appointments and reminders.

In the second phase, participants took the device home to apply their newly-acquired calendaring skills in real-life situations. This included setting alarm reminders to take medications and attend future appointments, charging the device, and remembering to keep the device with them at all times. They also learned how to use other software functions, such as phone, contacts, and camera.

As part of the outcome measures, participants were given a schedule of 10 phone calls to complete over a two-week period at different times of the day – to closely approximate real life commitments. Family members who lived with participants kept a behavioural memory log of whether real-life tasks were successfully completed or not by their relative. Participants and family members completed a “memory mistakes” questionnaire which involved rating a list of common memory mistakes on a frequency-of-occurrence scale, ranging from “never” to “all the time”.

Participants and family also completed two additional questionnaires. One measured confidence in the participant when dealing with various memory-demanding scenarios (e.g. dentist calls to change appointment dates). The other examined the participant’s use of the device to support traveling back in time (e.g. searching activities and events from preceding days, weeks and months), traveling forward in time (e.g. planning ahead, entering future events and appointments), and technical ease of use of the device.

All 10 individuals showed “robust increases” in day-to-day memory functioning after taking the training, based on results from the functional and questionnaire-based measures. Participants continued to report benefit from smartphone and PDA use in short-term follow-up three to eight months later.

That’s right, folks. The Super Bowl will be broadcast live online for the first time ever this year. NBC Sports has been kind enough to give us a real treat this year by offering two options on top of the traditional TV viewing model that we all know and love.

First and foremost, the game is being broadcast on NBCSports.com. If you go there now, you’ll be able to catch the pre-game show that started at 10 a.m. and will continue until 4 p.m. The game is also coming to you courtesy of the NFL mobile app that will allow you to watch it from any Verizon smartphone.

The kick-off is at 6:30 p.m. EST so be sure to be in front of your TV before then. If not, the Internet has you covered. The livestream of the game online has a few distinct features that avid football fans are going to want to check out. While the televised version will feature multiple camera angles, the online version will feature four unique camera angles that fans can pick and choose for the best experience. It brings DVR-lite functionality to the game as well allowing fans to rewind and pause the game to watch the sure to be stupendous plays again. Finally, the livestream will allow fans to share their favorite moments via Facebook and Twitter.

For the betting types out there, we got you covered as well. The Wynn sports book in Las Vegas became the first book to post the Super Bowl line of Patriots -2 on Saturday afternoon. Most sports books have New England favored by -2.5 to -3 points. Keep yourself updated as those odds are likely to keep changing until the game starts.

We got more Super Bowl coverage coming your way today, so stay tuned.

Pocket Now is claiming to have seen a video from Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore that details the changes coming to Windows Phone 8.

Windows Phone 8 hardware may be scalable to a user’s needs and wants. Apollo, the codename for platform, will support multicore processors, multiple screen resolutions, and removable microSD card storage. It’s a move to compete with iPhone and Android devices.

What may be exciting to some users, Windows 8 devices will support near-field communication radio signals for wireless payments. It’s called “The Wallet Experience” and will be carrier-branded and controlled. There will be tap-to-share capabilities allowing content to be shared across desktops, laptops, tablets and phones.

The Windows 8 phone will apparently use a very similar OS to the desktop Windows 8 OS. This will allow developers to reuse code to make porting easy from desktop to phone. The company mentions the kernel, networking stacks, security and multimedia support as “areas of heavy overlap.”

Windows Phone 8 will get rid of integration of the desktop Zune client, instead favoring a new version of ActiveSync for their sync technologies.

The Xbox Companion app, which is already on Windows Phones, will see a new app on Windows 8 desktop that integrates the two devices. Skydrive allows users to sync their data on the cloud so they can have their entire music collection already available on a new phone without having to sync it to a desktop.

Microsoft expects 100,000 apps to be in the Marketplace by the time phone launches. The phone will have native code support, which will allow more powerful apps to be developed for the device as well as easy porting of iOS and Android apps to Windows phone.

Microsoft is also planning to integrate Skype naturally into Windows Phone 8 making Skype calls as natural as non-VoIP calls. Microsoft will provide a basic camera interface that can be upgraded with third-party apps.

Microsoft is innovating in data management with DataSmart. It will attempt to simplify the tracking of data usage. The phone will actively attempt to give Wi-Fi priority and make Bing Maps locate hotspots in a user’s vicinity.

The phone will use a proxy server to feed pages to Internet Explorer 10. This will compress Web pages to reduce the amount of data needed to view a Web site by 30 percent.

For businesses, Windows Phone 8 will add native BitLocker encryption – the same software found on the current Windows desktop OS.

There will also “line-of-business” applications that will allow businesses to deploy “proprietary, tailored software behind their company firewalls.”

What do you think of these supposed Windows Phone 8 changes? Are they enough to compete with the next generation of iPhone and Android devices? Let us know in the comments.

While this is not the first time spending on chips for wireless has beaten spending on chips for computers, it is the first time the margin has been so big. In 2009 spending on wireless chips was also higher, though the two were considerably closer. In 2010 PC chips spending just barely edged out wireless chip spending.

This trend is only going to continue in the coming years, it seems. The study projects OEM spending on wireless chips to continue its surge in 2012 and 2013 – maybe as high as $72.9 billion – while computer spending remains basically the same.

The cause of this trend is easy to identify. The smartphone market has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years, and the introduction of Apple’s iPad in 2010 created a tablet market that has also seen incredible growth. As smartphones and tablets continue to become even more ubiquitous, spending on the microchips necessary to build the devices will only increase. Computers, on the other hand, are already ubiquitous, and unlikely to see anything like the surge we are seeing in the mobile device market.

A survey carried out by dating site Match.com has revealed that if you’re looking to find an easy score, make sure your date’s carrying an Android OS device.

The study breaks the dating crowd into categories based on their types of phones – Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry. Each subset seems to have their own proclivities.

First the Android users. If you’re looking to hook up and leave it at that, Android users are your best bet. 62% of Droiders say that they have gone all the way after just one date. Only 57% of iPhone users and 48% of Blackberry users admitted to that. Moreover, Android users are more likely to either not call you or ignore your call the next day – 55% said that they’ve had a one night stand.

iPhone users apparently like to keep their conquests close. Almost 25% of iPhone users reported having an office fling in the last five years. iPhone users are also the most anxious (read desperate) to make contact after a date – they only averaged a one-day wait to contact the other person after a first date. Both Android and BlackBerry users waited 2-3 days.

Finally, BlackBerry users are going to booze it up. 72% say they will drink alcohol on their first date, a figure which leads the pack. In a possibly relevant stat, BlackBerry users were also the most likely to say they’ve fallen in love at first sight. It makes one think, however: If BlackBerry users are the drunkest, you’d think that their one night stand totals would be the highest. Maybe one stat that wasn’t reported was that BlackBerry users have the tendency to lie about their sexual exploits.

As far as Android users being the sluts of the smartphone world, Digital Life points out that an older survey conducted by OKCupid actually pegged iPhone users as having the most sexual partners by age 30 (11). Android users only averaged 6 partners.

Junk science? Probably. But I bet that you’ll have this in mind when you notice what kind of phone your blind date is fiddling with across the table.

[The Canadian Press via VentureBeat]

February 27th is the big day, which is day one of the Mobile World Congress and people absolutely can’t wait to get their hands on the new padfone. The tablet itself has a 10.1 inch screen while the included smartphone, stashed in a compartment on the back of the tablet, has a 4.3 inch screen. The two devices can communicate wirelessly, so you can go from watching video on your phone then, if you feel you need a larger screen, simply insert the phone into the compartment and voila, you’re watching the same video on your tablet.

That photo is his Facebook profile picture. On January 5, Kyle Lynch’s relationship status changed from “single” to “in a relationship”.

He added dozens of friends.

And, finally, his Facebook status was updated to read:

“Kyle Leslie Lynch is getting out sooner than yas think boys. Its gonna be on!”

You see, Kyle Leslie Lynch was in a Tasmanian prison when all that activity took place. And, with that January 5 status update, he announced to those 57 people that he was leaving prison.

And, on Saturday, January 21, that’s exactly what he did.

Lynch and another man, 22-year-old James Peter Sampson, were noticed missing at regular check at 6:45 PM on Saturday. A statewide manhunt is underway.

Prison officials say that no prisoner has access to Facebook from within the prison. There are two prevailing theories about Lynch’s Facebook access. One is that Lynch had someone open the Facebook account for him, and that person posted the status update. The other is that someone smuggled a smartphone into the prison for him and he did the updates, friend requests/accepts, etc. himself.

It is difficult, but not impossible, for someone to smuggle a phone to a prisoner. But, one way that is not uncommon is for the phone to have been bought from a prison guard.

In late 2010, inmates at seven Georgia corrections facilities in the United States staged major, nonviolent strikes in protest of prison policies about work. Those strikes were coordinated within and between prisons using cell phones that were both smuggled in and bought from prison guards. Inmates reported buying $20 cell phones off guards for $400.

Of course, those with older plans are not required to switch. AT&T allows older plans to be renewed indefinitely as long as customers don’t make changes to their data plans. Case in point, I’m still carrying around a vintage 2008 unlimited data plan on my iPhone 4S, even though the plan was discontinued in 2010. So, if you’re happy with your current data plan and want to keep it you can, provided you never need to upgrade.

The new plans go into effect on Sunday, January 22nd.

According to a new infographic from NM Incite and Oxford Communications, mRoby wasn’t the only company whose plan to bring in a big name backfired (Bieber was reportedly paid $100,000 for his appearance). While the celebrities who put in appearances at CES generated a lot of buzz, almost all of it was about the celebrities themselves. Of all the tweets mentioning celebrities at CES, a paltry 15% included any reference to the brand or product they were there to promote.

The infographic also includes some other interesting tidbits about CES. Apparently Samsung was the most talked-about brand, while tablets were the most talked-about products (followed by smart phones and TVs). Check out the full infographic below and let us know what you think in the comments.

Sony announced during CES their first LTE smartphone, the Xperia ion. The phone is significant for more than just its specs. It’s the first phone from Sony to drop the Sony-Ericsson label in favor of just Sony.

The Xperia ion features a 4.6-inch HD display at a 1280 x 720 resolution that is sure to provide brilliant video. While it’s not as crazy as the HTC Titan II, the Xperia ion has a camera that more than makes for up its smaller size at a not-too-shabby 12 megapixels by featuring Sony’s new Fast Capture technology that has the phone going from standby to shoot mode in 1.5 seconds. Both the front and rear cameras provide HD recording capabilities as well.

“With Xperia ion, we’re bringing together several firsts that will take users beyond the smartphone,” Paul Hamnett, President, Sony Ericsson North America said. “Designed to deliver a seamless experience across the multiple screens we use to play, watch, listen, and share, Xperia ion is the gateway to entertainment when and – most importantly – where you want it.”

Xperia ion will also boast its access to the massive Sony Entertainment Network. Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited provide tons of choices for consumers. The device is also PlayStation certified so it will offer some of the best gaming experiences that a smartphone can deliver.

The phone’s innards feature a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 16GB internal flash storage and runs on Android 2.3.

The most interesting feature is the devices’s ability to display on a variety of screens using DLNA, HDMI or Sony’s own Bravia sync service. This means that users will be able to transfer the display and information from their phones onto their TV, tablet, laptop or other smartphones.

CES 2012 is already proving to be the year that every manufacturer tries to bring something new to the smartphone arena that is actually worthwhile. Sony has made one of the best cases so far for their new device. The ability to transfer a phone’s display to a TV or any other device for that matter might end up being a major game changer for smartphones, but we have yet to see.

Expect to see the Xperia ion from AT&T in the second quarter.