This week, how implanted microchips and sensors are changing the lives of amputees and those with spinal cord injuries, hands-on with the Belkin Qode Ultimate Pro keyboard case, Apple announces a recall of the Beats Pill XL speakers, and an ASL interpreter channels Eminem.

Brain implants help people control prosthetics

When you take a step, your leg and foot make countless adjustments during the movement. For someone with a prosthetic leg, though, that’s difficult to do, even if the joints are fully articulated.

But Össur, an Icelandic company, has come up with the Proprio Foot, which can receive information sent by the brain into the leg by sensors implanted in the leg itself.

The result is more natural walking because the Proprio Foot can make rapid adjustments in the same way a flesh foot would.

Meanwhile, a tetraplegic man in California has controlled a robotic limb using a brain implant. As reported by the BBC, two sensor chips monitor the activity of about 100 neurons (our brains have some 100 billion neurons in total). With practice, the man is becoming more adept at controlling the limb.

Hands-on with the Belkin Qode Ultimate Pro Keyboard Case

There’s one thing that keeps me from getting rid of my laptop for an iPad. I need to be able to type on my lap when I’m at press events. WIth the Qode Ultimate Pro Keyboard Case from Belkin, I can.

It’s a two-piece setup, including a lightweight back case for your iPad Air 2 (it also works with the first iPad Air) and a separate keyboard. Belkin’s used magnets to hold things together. You can place the iPad into the keyboard partition in either landscape (horizontally) or portrait (vertically).

And while the magnets are strong enough to keep the two pieces together, it’s easy to pull them apart, too, if you want to use the iPad in tablet mode. Apple’s Smart Cover fits nicely over the Qode back, too.

And the keyboard automatically powers down when the iPad is pulled away, conserving power.

The responsiveness of the nearly full-sized keys is remarkable, and the keyboard can pair with two Bluetooth devices — your iPad and your iPhone, for example — and you can switch back and forth with the press of a simple key combination.

The Qode Ultimate Pro Keyboard Case is US$150, and it’s worth the expense. Belkin has a couple of variant Qode keyboard cases, but in addition to being heavy, they don’t come close to providing the same level of functionality.

Apple recalling Beats Pill XL speakers

Anyone who purchased a Beats Pill XL speaker is being asked by Apple to stop using it. Customers who return their speakers can get a refund of Cdn$395.

There is a risk, the company says, of the battery overheating, which is a fire hazard.

If you’ve got a Beats speaker and aren’t sure what model it is, the Pill XL has the words “beats pill XL” on the handle of the device. It came in five colours: black, metallic sky, pink, titanium, and white.

While Apple acquired Beats last year, the Pill XL was released in November 2013.

Apple has a web page with details on how to return a Beats Pill XL.

Another reason the interwebs are amazing

There are so many reasons that our digitized world is astounding, and one is that nothing ever gets deleted. So videos like this one, which was posted last September, can resurface and get some recognition.

Shelby Mitchusson reportedly created the video as part of an application for a job with the American Sign Language (ASL) team at Austin City Limits.

In it, she signs to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” and proves that a skilled interpreter can perfectly convey tone and content for a deaf audience. Why shouldn’t they appreciate music, too?

A warning that the song that is signed in the video below contains explicit language.