December 2022 - Latest Tech News Blog

December 31, 2022

The 8 Best Apps for Perfecting Your Exercise Form

With fitness and health apps catering to nearly every type of exercise you can think of, whether it’s yoga, strength training, flexibility training, or others, there’s a tool out there that can help you improve your form. If you’re looking to perfect your exercise form to be safe and effective while covering a wide range of workouts and activities, take a closer look at these apps. They’ll fit into your routine and help you step up your fitness goals.

1. Freeletics for Cardio and HIIT Form

With all the features you expect from a high-level workout app, Freeletics is a great option for those who want to skip the gym and all the equipment that goes along with it. Let’s take a closer look at some of its core features:

Freeletics apps offer AI-assisted guided workouts that are designed to offer a HIIT bodyweight workout and gym-like experiences.
Freeletics also allows for user input adjustments, so the experience can be more suited to your needs.
The Community section allows you to connect with experts and other users. Your friends and peers can encourage you and offer advice along the way.
In addition, you can track your progressions and get badges for milestones in the Achievements and Progress sections.

The free version of the app is great for beginners. The premium version gives you access to audio sessions, personalized coaching, training insights, nutrition plans, and access to over 300 bodyweight exercises and fitness activities.

Download: Freeletics for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

2. Alpha Progression for Bodybuilding Form

Alpha Progression is one of the best apps for building muscle strength and enhancing athletic performance. You’ll be able to set up weightlifting workouts that are tailored specifically for your workout goals with custom training plans built for progression. Here are some of the app’s standout features:

You can track your workouts with a variety of options that include both time and reps in addition to tracking your weight loss progress.
With Alpha Progression’s Pro edition, you can create personalized training plans based on equipment, gender, training experience, and more.
Thanks to the app’s progression evaluation feature, you’ll be able to track your progress in the form of charts after each workout, which will help you see how much further along you are on your fitness journey.

The free version offers an extensive exercise library of guided videos to help you get started on your path to success.

Download: Alpha Progression for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

3. Swim Up for Swimming Form

The Swim Up app is designed to help you perfect your swimming technique and speed of movement. The app has features that will help you learn how to properly execute each swimming mode, such as freestyle, breaststroke, triathlon, and more.

The advanced levels give more weight to your legs, arms, and speed while performing the movements, while the easier level gives more weight to developing the correct strokes and technique. You can choose whichever level is best for your fitness goals!

This app offers guided courses based on four levels of difficulty—Personal, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. The free version gives limited access to tutorials. With a premium subscription, you can unlock access to personalized training plans and analytics to track your progress.

Download: SwimUp for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

4. Yang Tai Chi for Beginner Tai Chi Movements

Tai chi is an extremely popular form of exercise around the world that helps you focus your mind and improve your balance, flexibility, and coordination. The Yang Tai Chi app features guided and instructional videos by Master Yang, a renowned tai chi expert, with English narrations.

All you need to do is tap on any of the videos to get a better hang of the exercise form. Turn on the Subtitles by going to the Settings section, and clicking each video to either play or download it for offline use. In addition, you can check out these YouTube channels for learning tai chi.

Download: Yang Tai Chi for Beginners for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

5. Plank 30-Day Fitness Challenge for Balance and Weight Loss

Plank workouts are a very effective form of workout for burning fat faster and losing weight. The Plank 30-day weight loss plan app provides a variety of planks that can help you burn fat, strengthen your core muscles, and improve your posture, metabolism, and flexibility.

To get started, choose a workout across levels from Beginner to Advanced. You can even set up challenges to remain committed to your fitness goals. You’ll have access to step-by-step instructions and video guides that walk you through every step of the process.

Planks can be done just about anywhere, anytime, and they activate nearly all your muscles, from your core and shoulders to your glutes and legs. The free version of the app is supported by ads; however, you can always choose to upgrade.

Download: Plank 30-Day Fitness Challenge (Free, premium version available)

6. ASICS Runkeeper for Running Form

The Runkeeper app is one of the best apps out there for all of your running goals. With the app, you can track your runs, get training plans, participate in group challenges, and stay motivated. You can use the ASICS Runkeeper app to track your progress over time and participate in challenges happening around you, whether they’re 5K, 10K, or marathon runs.

You can also answer questions related to specific goals to get a customized training plan. These plans are designed by professional trainers for runners at all levels of experience—from beginners who want to improve their fitness levels gradually to experienced athletes. The app supports a plethora of additional activities and is easy to use with an intuitive interface.

You can set up audio cues for keeping up to speed with your speed, distance, heart rate data, and more. The app offers several unique features, such as a shoe mileage tracker, Auto Pause, and guided workouts. The premium version of the app comes with exclusive, personalized insights to guide you on your fitness journey.

Download: ASICS Runkeeper for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

7. StrongLifts Weight Lifting Log for Strength Training Form

StrongLifts Weight Lifting Log is designed to help you with your weightlifting routine. This app contains five programs focused on specific muscles and movements: squat, deadlift, bench press, barbell row, and overhead press.

The app allows you to view your workout history on a calendar. It also provides for workout tracking by allowing you to add the details of your workout, and it incorporates Progress and Notes sections.

The pro version of the app gives you access to over 100 tutorial videos showing how to achieve the best results possible for your body shape and size. You can also toggle on the Google Fit integration to monitor your workouts.

Download: StrongLifts Weight Lifting Log for iOS | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)

8. Asana Rebel for Yoga Form

With hundreds of workouts, from energizing HIIT routines to moderate, yoga-centric guided programs, Asana Rebel helps you get the most out of a yoga workout. A variety of music for focus is available, including binaural sounds and dreamy soundscapes. And you can increase the difficulty level and frequency over time, offering a consistent challenge and torching calories in the process.

Download: Asana Rebel for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

Perfect Your Fitness Form to Get Into Shape

There are a host of apps that you can use to gain greater insight into your fitness goals, and track the progress of your form. Whether you’re looking for something that can provide you with workout motivation or perfect your exercise technique and form, these apps will help you get started on the right foot. Try each of these apps to find the one that’s best for your goals!

December 31, 2022

Critical Windows code-execution vulnerability went undetected until now

Researchers recently discovered a Windows code-execution vulnerability that has the potential to rival EternalBlue, the name of a different Windows security flaw used to detonate WannaCry, the ransomware that shut down computer networks across the world in 2017.

Like EternalBlue, CVE-2022-37958, as the latest vulnerability is tracked, allows attackers to execute malicious code with no authentication required. Also, like EternalBlue, it’s wormable, meaning that a single exploit can trigger a chain reaction of self-replicating follow-on exploits on other vulnerable systems. The wormability of EternalBlue allowed WannaCry and several other attacks to spread across the world in a matter of minutes with no user interaction required.

But unlike EternalBlue, which could be exploited when using only the SMB, or server message block, a protocol for file and printer sharing and similar network activities, this latest vulnerability is present in a much broader range of network protocols, giving attackers more flexibility than they had when exploiting the older vulnerability.

“An attacker can trigger the vulnerability via any Windows application protocols that authenticates,” Valentina Palmiotti, the IBM security researcher who discovered the code-execution vulnerability, said in an interview. “For example, the vulnerability can be triggered by trying to connect to an SMB share or via Remote Desktop. Some other examples include Internet exposed Microsoft IIS servers and SMTP servers that have Windows Authentication enabled. Of course, they can also be exploited on internal networks if left unpatched.”

Microsoft fixed CVE-2022-37958 in September during its monthly Patch Tuesday rollout of security fixes. At the time, however, Microsoft researchers believed the vulnerability allowed only the disclosure of potentially sensitive information. As such, Microsoft gave the vulnerability a designation of “important.” In the routine course of analyzing vulnerabilities after they’re patched, Palmiotti discovered it allowed for remote code execution in much the way EternalBlue did. Last week, Microsoft revised the designation to critical and gave it a severity rating of 8.1, the same given to EternalBlue.

CVE-2022-37958 resides in the SPNEGO Extended Negotiation, a security mechanism abbreviated as NEGOEX that allows a client and server to negotiate the means of authentication. When two machines connect using Remote Desktop, for instance, SPNEGO allows them to negotiate the use of authentication protocols such as NTLM or Kerberos.

CVE-2022-37958 allows attackers to remotely execute malicious code by accessing the NEGOEX protocol while a target is using a Windows application protocol that authenticates. Besides SMB and RDP, the list of affected protocols can also include Simple Message Transport Protocol (SMTP) and Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) if SPNEGO negotiation is enabled.

One potentially mitigating factor is that a patch for CVE-2022-37958 has been available for three months. EternalBlue, by contrast, was initially exploited by the NSA as a zero-day. The NSA’s highly weaponized exploit was then released into the wild by a mysterious group calling itself Shadow Brokers. The leak, one of the worst in the history of the NSA, gave hackers around the world access to a potent nation-state-grade exploit.

Palmiotti said there’s reason for optimism but also for risk: “While EternalBlue was an 0-Day, luckily this is an N-Day with a 3 month patching lead time,” said Palmiotti. “As we’ve seen with other major vulnerabilities over the years, such as MS17-010 which was exploited with EternalBlue, some organizations have been slow deploying patches for several months or lack an accurate inventory of systems exposed to the internet and miss patching systems altogether.”

IBM’s writeup of the vulnerability is here.

December 31, 2022

iPhone 15 Ultra: What it may look like, and what to expect in 2023

iPhone 15 Ultra to have a new curved edge

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The iPhone 15 Ultra is a bit less than a year away, but reports are already pouring in about what to expect. Here’s what the rumor mill thinks is coming, and a first glance at what it may look like.

Rumors about the iPhone 15 lineup began in the middle of 2022. Despite the early start, they have been much more realistic than early iPhone 14 rumors.

The generational jump for the iPhone 14 Pro was a little wider than others. Cameras were improved across the board, a new cutout for the sensor housing was introduced, and the display gained always-on capabilities.

However, Apple didn’t change the external design by much. The Dynamic Island is an interesting software feature, but little else is noticeable unless the iPhone camera bumps are side-by-side.

Rumors suggest the iPhone 15 Pro will get some significant external design alterations along with much-needed upgrades. The 6.7-inch iPhone Pro Max may be referred to as the “Ultra,” which is the focus of this rumor roundup.

Rumored iPhone 15 Ultra design

Apple tends to find a design it likes and stick with it for several years. The current flat-sided design debuted with the iPhone 12, and while some elements have changed, it has remained mostly the same.

A curved edge made from titanium would have a premium look and feel

The iPhone 15 Ultra is expected to iterate on this design by curving the bottom edge. The sides will remain flat, but the part that connects to the back glass would resemble the corner of a MacBook Pro.

The back would still be made from glass so MagSafe and wireless charging could work. But the edges are rumored to be made from titanium.

This would make the phone lighter but tougher overall. The curved edge would also provide more protection from drops.

The camera bump may need to shift to accommodate the curved edge

Until more rumors are shared, we expect the camera bump to remain the same. It may have to shift to accommodate the new curved edges depending on how Apple implements the design.

Rumored iPhone 15 Ultra features

Outside of design changes, there are some increasingly obvious feature updates coming too. A port transition is expected, and Apple may finally improve its telephoto camera.

USB-C port, Thunderbolt

Apple’s move to USB-C has been predicted for years, but, for the iPhone 15, it may not be a choice. The EU has passed a law forcing smartphone manufacturers to adopt the universal port, and Apple has to comply by 2024.

The iPhone 15 Ultra could finally get USB-C with Thunderbolt speeds

Some had speculated that Apple would go port-less before adopting USB-C, claiming that Lightning and MagSafe were necessary proprietary fixtures. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case, as the transition to USB-C has already begun in other products.

Moving to a USB-C port doesn’t guarantee faster speeds, but rumors suggest the port will offer more than convenience. Apple could use the USB 4/Thunderbolt spec in the iPhone 15 Pro, at least according to Ming-Chi Kuo.

That would allow wired data transfer speeds of up to 40 Gbps, an approximate 80x increase over the USB 2.0 speeds used by iPhone today. Thunderbolt speeds would be a massive improvement for creatives, especially those working with massive ProRes video files.

Two selfie cameras

The iPhone has only one front-facing camera alongside an array of sensors used for Face ID, but that could change in 2023. The 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Ultra is rumored to have two selfie cameras.

This addition would be limited to the larger iPhone, likely due to space considerations. So, the smaller iPhone 15 Pro would likely retain the dot-dash Dynamic Island cutout.

Two selfie cameras could serve multiple purposes, perhaps for better depth data collection or a wider depth of field. The rumor didn’t specify what this hardware would be used for.

Apple may want to differentiate its most expensive “Ultra” model since the standard iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, and iPhone 15 Pro will all likely have a Dynamic Island with no notch.

One rumor suggests that Apple could hide Face ID components below the display, which would change how the Dynamic Island would display itself in software. That change could be tied to adding a second selfie camera, but it isn’t clear if the rumors are related.

Periscoping telephoto lens

Rumors of a periscope telephoto lens have been around for years. It seems Apple is working on the technology internally, but it never makes the final cut.

The telephoto camera could get a big upgrade with a periscope lens

The iPhone 15 Ultra could get a periscope lens for much better optical zoom. Ming-Chi Kuo seems to suggest the lens would only be used in the iPhone 15 Ultra model, then the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Ultra would both get the periscope lens.

The technology works by stacking a series of lenses “folded” so it fits vertically within the iPhone case. A mirror reflects the image from the outward-facing lens and optically zooms using the periscope-like lens stack.

Samsung and other smartphone manufacturers have been using periscope lenses for years, so Apple would be entering the market with a more mature initial version. It could enable zoom ranges like a modest 10x optical zoom or even the incredible 100x zoom found in some smartphones.

Other rumors

In September 2021, Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that the iPhone 15 would get an under-display Touch ID sensor. He pulled back that rumor in March 2022, stating that the 2023 and 2024 iPhones wouldn’t have the feature, as Face ID with a mask is a good-enough solution.

Apple will likely stick with Face ID, no Touch ID for iPhone 15

Kuo also stated in an October 2022 note that iPhone 15 could get solid-state buttons. They would replace the physical volume and power buttons, which may increase device rigidity and water resistance.

Sony to provide new camera sensors that improve exposure clipping at the high and low ends. This would reduce overexposure or underexposure in certain settings.

iPhone 15 Ultra release date window

Apple tends to announce its iPhone lineup during a September Apple Event. Depending on supply chain constraints, all models could release at the same time or take a staggered approach based on availability.

Expect the iPhone 15 Ultra to cost a premium with its new design, periscope lens, and other improved technologies. High-end models with 2TB of storage could cost well over $2,000.

December 30, 2022

InnoView INVPM701 Monitor | Review

If you’d like a different view of your online work productivity and game-playing perspectives in 2023, InnoView makes your upgrading choice easy with its recently released 27″ desktop monitor.

InnoView’s new desktop display adds to a series of portable monitors, such as the InnoView 15.6″ 4K HDR touchscreen portable monitor we reviewed last spring.

This 27″ full desktop option provides an FHD 1080p gaming display with an ultra-thin screen that is HDMI and VESA capable, has a refresh rate of up to 100Hz, and a contrast ratio of 4,000:1. It comes with an adjustable tilt stand and built-in speakers.

The InnoView 27″ can VESA mount or attach to the included base. | Image Credit: InnoView

The INVPM701/27” FHD/1080P is available from the InnoView store on Amazon for US$159.99. A 24”version is also available at Amazon for $119.99. The models have similar features.

Inner Workings

This large screen has an upgraded, ergonomic design and ultra-wide viewing angle that provides crisp, clear, detailed images from any angle. Its black metal body, sturdy thin metal stand, and ultra-thin frame are simple and elegant.

You can adjust the vertical screen angle from -5° to +20°, which reduces the burden on the shoulders and neck during long periods of screen time for work or play.

The maximum display resolution of 1920 x 1080 makes the screen content clearer when combined with the 4,000:1 contrast ratio.

Users will find the 100Hz refresh rate is an asset for game-playing and viewing video and other graphic images. Picture changes are faster and smoother as the graphics card and monitor refresh rate are synchronized to eliminate stuttering.

The InnoView 27″ screen’s vertical angle adjusts from -5° to +20° | Image Credit: InnoView

The result is smooth stitched video and real-time motion in fast-paced action scenes. The monitor’s response speed is 8ms, which contributes to eliminating blur, tearing, and ghosting. Its low blue light and HDR technology help eliminate eye fatigue in long-term use.

What I normally would consider a borderline weakness is the desktop monitor’s brightness rating of 250 cm2 (equivalent to 250 nits). However, its much higher contrast ratio makes a big difference in improving overall performance.

Coverage of 99% of the sRGB color gamut falls within acceptable standard norms. The 8-bit grayscale for over 16.7 million colors on the 27″ monitor delivers vivid details and finer image quality.

Outer Design

This desktop monitor has a matte finish and a black display screen, and it works with most ordinary graphics cards.

An HDMI cable is included in the box, but if you use a VGA cable to connect your current monitor, you can use that with this display. Though for standard setups, HDMI is the way to go.

On the rear of the panel are one VGA port and one HDMI port for connecting to PCs, laptops, Chromebooks, game consoles, and other devices. This monitor also has an audio-out port to connect headphones.

InnoView INVPM701/27” Rear Ports | Image Credit: InnoView

Its on-screen display (OSD) menu provides access to various use cases. You can switch settings for screen sharing, image or video editing, movie watching, and games.

Poor Sound Quality

My only disappointment is the monitor’s speakers.

I first connected the monitor using my existing VGA cable to test the video quality. Obviously, the 27″ monitor’s two tiny internal speakers did not work at that point because VGA does not carry audio signals.

To test the sound, I connected the HDMI cable to the HDMI ports. Still, the results were less than satisfying. Even after cranking up the onboard volume setting to maximum, the output sounded tinny and flat.

I changed the audio output to the laptop’s internal speakers, which resulted in better sound quality. But neither compared to the deep, rich sounds produced by the external speakers connected to my docking station.

If the monitor’s speakers are the only option, gamers and users needing loud and clear audio for video calls or audio playback will be very disappointed.

Final Thoughts

This 27″ monitor is impressive and well worth the purchase price, and its large display improves my normal computing routine.

My primary desktop is connected to a 24″ monitor. My laptop is tethered via a docking station to another 24″ monitor and several peripherals. That combination lets me use the laptop’s 15-1/2″ screen as a second monitor, which comes in handy when I need to work with windows displaying data I need to view while working with other open windows on the larger monitor.

The 27″ display makes it much easier to display more and larger windows on the external screen. The additional screen real estate provides for better productivity and can eliminate the need for a smaller laptop screen.

Photo by Author

My desktop has a touchscreen, but I rarely reach across the desk to touch it. Therefore, I do not miss having a touchscreen with this InnoView desktop monitor.

What is an annoyance, however, is the tiny, hard-to-find OSD buttons on the underside of the bottom bezel. The plastic button tops are hard to find when my fingers slide around searching for them.

Overall, InnoView’s 27″ desktop monitor is an almost perfect way to get the productivity boost from a larger monitor. The bigger picture provides a much more enjoyable computing experience at an affordable price.