Why a smartwatch may feel…de trop

December 2, 2014 | by

De trop —French, adjective, meaning too much, too many, unwanted

Have you noticed that many early adopters have skipped smartwatches? Other wearables such as fitness trackers have taken their place successively on the wrists of your favorite Quantified Selfer or weekend warrior. (A sign: they are now mass market at drug stores like CVS and sports stores for the holiday.) But how many people are looking forward to a special delivery of an Apple Watch, Samsung Gear S or even the well-reviewed and well-priced LG G Watch R in Santa’s pack? Having just returned from the NYeC Digital Health Conference, I saw few on the wrists of DH mavens. Smartwatches (and clothing wearables) also faded out at CES Unveiled [TTA 21 Nov], a complete turnaround from June’s event.

If you’ve been wondering too, you’ll be nodding like a bobblehead at John Nosta’s blog post in Nuvium, The Death of Wearables. (more…)

Yesterday’s Apple intros and implications for health monitoring

September 11, 2014 | by | 1 Comment

A knockout or a catch up? Now that the Hype Dust is settling (along with Apple’s stock price), let’s take a look at what we know today about the new, larger iPhones and the Apple Watch regarding health monitoring.

Where it was a catch up:

  • Size and screen in phones. Apple got the message: squinting at tiny type and swiping to enlarge is rapidly becoming yesterday’s pain. As smartphones and larger screens knocked out the Blackberry, Samsung led the way in sizing up and higher resolution–and others followed suit. The awful fact is that the smartphone market is aging, both in users and who’s left in the market to grow it, and we want to see, not squint.
  • [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/apple-watch-beauty-shot.png” thumb_width=”150″ /]Finally (drum roll), a sleeker smartwatch with fitness tracking, out sometime next year–and not just a sports model. The basic model is a rubbery Sport watch, the mid-line has a sapphire crystal, stainless steel case and (proprietary) swappable bands. The beauty is the upmarket version in gold with a leather band (left, courtesy re/Code).
    • Here Apple is up against multiple in-market competition from Fitbit to Moto to Withings to Samsung Gear–whose pricing is well below the starter Apple Watch at $349 in the $200 and below range.
    • The Apple Watch looks seriously great, distinctively thinner and it’ll be a prestige item. But does it track more and better? No. According to reports (updated today) this is what it has: heart rate monitor, pulse, daily activity for which you need the phone. No sleep monitoring. It also has to be charged every night. There may be other features from developers, but they are under wraps for now and will likely require phone tethering. (re/Code) It’s not a comprehensive lifestyle watch–yet.

Where it could be a knockout in healthcare:

  • Finally, a compelling reason for health care providers to ditch the old iPhone and not go Android. Healthcare providers in the US are heavily wedded to iOS: (more…)

Breaking news on the Apple phones & smartwatch

September 9, 2014 | by

Breaking News from the CNet live coverage moving along in real time:

  • New iPhone 6 phones are both retina display. Phablet is 5.5″ screen (iPhone 6 Plus) and standard is 4.7″
  • Big play on NFC-driven mobile payments: Apple Pay at 220,000 locations, via 83 percent of US banks plus American Express (international?)
  • Security: Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet software and services–We’ve integrated security from software and hardware. We create a device only account number and put it in the Secure Element. No longer have the static code on the back of the card.
    • One time only use and claim no tracking on your purchases, no card info shared with retailer (!!!) Implications for healthcare payments?
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Activity.jpg” thumb_width=”200″ /]
  • Here comes the Apple Watch (not iWatch)—CNet commentator says it’s like iPod Nano with sexy design upgrade. Health implications to follow. (more…)