Maybe you’ve seen one of those Norman Rockwell paintings of kids in a physician’s office that make it seem as if taking your child to the doctor is an oil-painted slice of Americana. In reality, a pediatrician’s office can be a nightmarish place, rampant with germs and interminable waits. One reason a visit to the […]
Tag Archives: health
Technology Needs to Make Healthy Food Scalable and Affordable
Many have been calling the healthy and organic food category the next trillion-dollar industry. With allergen-free foods experiencing 30 percent sales growth in the U.S. and healthy snacks alone estimated to top $138 billion by 2020, it’s not surprising that 88 percent of consumers say they’ll pay more for access to healthy foods. The demand […]
Jawbone goes into liquidation; founder launches new health startup
Jawbone, once rivaling Fitbit for the top spot in the fitness wearable market, has begun liquidation proceedings after years of lackluster product launches and job cuts. Hosain Rahman, the CEO and co-founder of Jawbone, has already established a new startup, Jawbone Health Hub, which will work on connected products for the health industry, says The […]
Apple Watch to be sold alongside Aetna health insurance plans
The Apple Watch could soon be sold discounted or free to Aetna’s 23 million members, as a way to improve health outcomes and lower insurance costs, according to a CNBC report. Apple held a series of meetings with Aetna executives and hospital chief medical information officers, discussing the possibility of a plan that included the […]
Scientists create comfortable e-skin wearable that lasts for a week
A group of Japanese scientists have created an “inflammation-free, lightweight, stretchable” e-skin sensor capable of lasting for up to a week, published in Nature Nanotechnology this week. The new development could open the way for medical wearables that track heart-rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar throughout the week, without being invasive to the user. See […]
Fitbit looks to health industry for future growth
After disappointing first quarter sales, Fitbit is making a move for the wearable health market. The company said it has a device in development that will be able to detect sleep apnea, a disorder that affects around 18 million American adults. Symptoms of sleep apnea include pauses in breathing, shallow breathing during sleep, and tiredness […]
How IoT could let you better understand your workout data
With the increasing popularity of wearables, like Fitbit trackers and Apple Watches, people are starting to understand their fitness levels much better. By wearing Apple Watches, for instance, we can figure out our average heart rate while exercising; by wearing smart sport jackets, we can tell if our motion tails are correct — frequent use of wearables will […]
Nokia rebrands all Withings products a year after acquisition
Nokia has rebranded all Withings products and will be retiring the brand, a year after acquiring the French health-tech company for $191 million. The three wearables, Go, Steel, and Steel HR, will remain part of Nokia’s portfolio. Go is a simple E-Ink activity and sleep tracker with one year charge, available for $50. Steel does […]
Meet Emma, the wearable that helps people with Parkinson’s
Microsoft has unveiled a prototype watch that helps those suffering from Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative disorder that affects over 10 million people worldwide. The wearable, codenamed Project Emma, is designed to reduce the uncontrollable shaking, one of the early Parkinson’s symptoms. Small vibration motors inside the wearable stop the brain from creating as many tremors. […]
Defining the three Cs of connected health: Communication, collaboration and community
Medicine is a field slow to adopt an innovation; after all, you are dealing with people’s lives and there is a very high bar for discarding old ways. That said, a huge percentage of the medical community will agree that tradition has often hampered the adoption of new technologies that can significantly improve communication, collaboration, […]
Seniors getting helping hand from new wearables
Wearables are now a significant part of corporate wellness and remote patient monitoring programs. However, long-term investment from seniors remains a challenge, despite an increasing need for seniors to have better healthcare options. See Also: Richer, sicker seniors to drive medical wearables market growth Garmin and Tactio Health Group, two major companies involved in telehealth […]
Boston University looks for insights to Alzheimer’s from wearables
Boston University researchers have been working on creating wearable devices that that can detect signs of early dementia and Alzheimer’s. The goal of this three-year research project is to reveal minute physical changes that correspond with the slow mental decline associated with this illness. Right now, it is hard to detect early preclinical Alzheimer’s. See […]
NBA bans teams from using wearable data in contract negotiations
NBA teams will not be allowed to use a player’s wearable data in contract negotiations or transactions, according to a bargaining agreement between the league and the National Basketball Players Association. The agreement ensures that wearable data will only be used for tactical purposes and an arbitrator will be able to impose fines of up […]
Jawbone to end consumer sales, pivot to medical industry
Jawbone might pivot to the medical industry as it exits the consumer market, according to people close to the company. It has already sold all its assets for the Jambox speaker business, and has heavily reduced its customer support staff. The private company is apparently talking to several investors about a new funding round, aimed […]
Samsung skips robots to focus on health wearables
Samsung will focus more on health wearables than robots in this year, in stark contrast to its South Korean rival LG Electronics, which revealed the Hub Robot, a mobile artificial intelligence assistant, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017. The Galaxy mobile maker sees more potential for health wearables in an ageing population than robots, […]
Stanford U: Future wearables to diagnose diseases early?
Wearables of the future might be used as a diagnostic tool to spot disease early, according to a study by the Stanford University School of Medicine. The researchers collected approximately two billion measurements from 60 people for the study, who wore between one and eight commercial wearable devices. Using that data, the researchers were able […]
Consumers want to work out with — not for — their wearables
Most wearables come with some form of fitness and health tracking, some make it the primary reason to purchase the device. Fitbit, Jawbone, and Garmin have sold millions of devices to health conscious consumers, but after a few months, a good chunk of these devices can be found gathering dust in cupboards or on eBay […]
CES 2017: What wearables can we expect at this year’s big event?
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 is on the horizon and ahead of the ReadWrite team heading to Vegas, we are getting ready for another week of announcements and insights into the future of wearables. CES has always been a great event to launch new products, as seen last year with the Under Armour Healthbox, […]
Tech world aims to tackle the mental health issue next
Several months ago, CCS Insight surveyed 2,000 people in the US and UK about what they would most like to have tracked about themselves, and a large portion of them answered with, “stress levels.” It looks as though their requests are being answered. Mental health is a big focus in the tech industry right now. […]
Halo Wearables see hydration tracking as future of wearable market
Halo Wearables, a wearable fitness startup, wants to bring hydration tracking into the mainstream with Halo Edge, the company’s first wearable. Instead of monitoring heart-rate and step-count, Halo Wearables believes tracking hydration will prove more useful for athletes. See Also: Fitbit buys Pebble as wearables consolidation continues “Hydration for us is another element which has […]