One Per Cent

Time is finite

The doctor will see you… soon. The frustration might be over for patients waiting seemingly indefinitely. A pair of New York University students has developed MedTimers, which analyses staff logs of patient visits and uses the data to estimate wait times for those still in the queue. A hospital in St Louis, Missouri, has already begun using the system and New York health facilities are considering it.

“Beer, sex, run away from home”

Three of the 800 phrases that a parental-control app called Smart Relief reports if used in messages. According to the AP press agency, South Korea’s telecoms regulator has ordered apps of this kind to be installed on all smartphones belonging to minors

Robo barista

Need a morning pick-me-up? There’s an app for that – and a robot. Hong Kong start-up Café X is building a robotic coffee shop. Orders placed through the app go to the nearest booth, where the drink is prepared by a robotic arm. Café X claims that its coffee “meets or exceeds the standards of top specialty cafes”. It plans to set up booths in Hong Kong, China and Singapore by the end of the year.