Vatican reveals the ERosary

[FaxModem1]

CNN

Vatican launches $110 'click to pray' wearable rosary
By Gabrielle Sorto, CNN

Posted at 3:04 PM ET, Wed October 16, 2019


(CNN) — The Rosary is going mobile.
The Vatican announced the launch of the "Click to Pray eRosary" Wednesday. October is the month of the Rosary.
The eRosary is an app-driven device that can be worn as a bracelet. To activate it, all you have to do is make the sign of the cross, similar to how Catholics begin praying the Rosary.
Once activated, the wearer can choose between three different options to pray. There is the standard rosary, a contemplative rosary or a thematic rosary, which will be updated every year. The device shows the users progress throughout each prayer and keeps track of each rosary completed.

The interactive device is a push from the church to reach tech-savvy millennials and Gen Z.
It "serves as a tool for learning how to pray the rosary for peace in the world," according to a news release from the Vatican.

The project -- part of the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network -- brings together the best of the Church's spiritual tradition and the latest advances of the technological world, the Vatican said.
The eRosary is available to buy now for $110.

Just going to point out that this is very weird to me. What are your thoughts on this development?

[RogueIce]

It looks like a Fitbit for Catholics, basically. If regular prayer is your thing, then it seems like a useful tool. "Pray the rosary" is in fact a specific kind of prayer, so having the app to guide you through it isn't a bad thing. And it has other spiritual stuff as well.

Also it helps you track your steps so like I said, literally Catholic Fitbit. Just focused on prayer rather than exercise.

Personally I don't see anything terribly wrong about it? If you want to pray more regularly, it helps you do it. I don't know about the price but eh, guess it depends on where that money is going and all. Maybe it'll come down as the technology matures. There are expensive Fitbits and cheap Fitbits, after all.

[Broomstick]

The whole concept behind a rosary is a memory aid to use while praying so yeah, it seems like an updated version of that.

[bilateralrope]

Vatican eRosary app hacked multiple times just days after launch

A new gadget aimed at getting more young people to pray has been hacked at least three times in the days since its launch.

The Vatican unveiled its "smart" Rosary bracelet in mid-October.

It is activated by making the sign of the cross and connects to the "Click to Pray" eRosary app, which is designed to "engage young people" in prayer.

But just days after its launch, security concerns emerged.

One security researcher — who reportedly hacked the app in just 15 minutes — claimed on Twitter that he had contacted the Vatican afterwards so they could fix the issue together.

According to the report, a security flaw in the mobile application could allow an attacker to take over the account of the victim and get the victim's personal information just by knowing the person's email address.

The gadget's Achilles' heel was nestled in the authentification system, which sent a pin code for the user to log in. A hacker could access the pin code to log in as the victim.

A Holy See representative told Euronews that the "Click to Pray" application has been subject to at least three breaches since the launch, adding that the app developers had resolved each vulnerability "in less than 24 hours".

Frédéric Fornos, director of the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, explained that the eRosary "combines the best of Church tradition with the best of technology".

Fornos also said the device was "good for young people who seek to learn how to pray and who don't really know how to" because it "reminds them three times a day".

Once connected to its application, the Rosary has specific content, such as thematic prayers, allowing fervent users to record and share their spiritual activity.

But the price is nothing to laugh at: developed in partnership with Korean GadgeTek, the eRosary is listed on the Italian website Acer for €99.

Many have criticised the price, including Abbot Pierre Amar who is one of the authors of a French online blog run by priests. He denounced it as a scandal.

[Ace Pace]

As others have said, this is basically a fitbit but for religious practices. So pretty neat product from the Vatican, with all the learning pains that come from running a large online service.