Some cool tech enters the market. Consider the Apple introduction of the HealthKit (for the health care industry) and the smartwatch which joins the Pebble (which helped fuel interest in smartwatches) and Samsung smartwatches. Intel found smartwatches intriguing enough to sponsor a clinical trial in conjunction with Parkinson's disease. Why? Smartwatches (and smartphones) contain accelerometers that enable the device to determine sudden motion -- like detecting a fall, gyroscope and compass to detect whether you're on of the 61 million people out there running. And they are able to determine location by enabling GPS position of the device. These devices have geofencing capability -- used in Apple devices for setting up a Location Reminder when you arrive at or leave a location (don't forget to do such-and-so errand).
Philips Lifeline has had, to say the least, an unusual week. First they launch a smartphone PERS application that makes no sense. The press release quotes the Philips/Georgetown GSEI study that repeats that tiresome cliché that "seniors want to stay as independent as possible as they get older" -- really, no kidding. Therefore smartphone-enabled seniors would want this $13.95/month service. Since they put out a press release and sought media attention with this app, it is safe to say that want us to know about it. And in volume, this would be a nice incremental revenue stream and another use of their highly trained call center reps. But what volume? 19% of the 65+ population owns a smartphone -- that's a market of 8 million people. But two-thirds of adults with smartphones download no apps -- using only those which came with the phone. Now we're down to 2.8 million in an available market.
Philips introduces the Philips Lifeline response app, the company's latest innovation designed to empower seniors to live independently while aging well. Offering a direct connection to the company's leading U.S.-based call center, the mobile app gives seniors 24-hour access to emergency assistance.
One Call Alert expands its line of personal emergency response systems (PERS) with the debut of ResCube, a fully-mobile wearable device that connects customers to the help they need with just one push of a button, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
ResCube can go anywhere—whether inside a home, around town, or cross country. It operates on the T-Mobile nationwide network like a cell phone, so it doesn’t need to be plugged in to work.
Cambridge, MA - July 15, 2014 - BioSensics is pleased to announce the release of ActivePERS, the only personal emergency response system featuring patented and clinically validated automatic fall detection algorithms combined with step counting and adherence notifications for continuous monitoring of user activity. ActivePERS technology was developed with support from the National Institute of Health (NIH), and in collaboration with University of Arizona Medical School and the Arizona Center on Aging.
I, for one, am tiring of the Apple iWatch. And it is not even out yet. A Morgan Stanley analyst predicts that the $300 iWatch will sell between 30 and 60 million units, but wisely, like the 50-50 chance of rain, also notes 'there is a chance that the iWatch will fail.' Apple is bringing in multiple athletes to test the thing, including an unnamed player from the Red Sox (unnamed is probably for the best, these days.) So who will buy a $300 smart watch, will they leave their iPhone and their iPad home? What will they use to take a picture? Hopefully it will be of good quality and look less awkward than photographers holding up iPads to point and shoot. Though will we hold our wrist up before our eyes and look like we are blocking the sun? Out from our arm and look like we are signaling a left turn?
TAMPA, Fla. – The University of South Florida (USF) has exclusively licensed its Wireless Emergency Reporting System technology, US Patent 8,045,954, to EmergenSee, Inc., a leader in mobile technology that enables users to turn a smartphone or tablet into a personal security system.
PERS devices and wearables – what will bring them together? Now that the Washington Post has declared that Apple and Google will solve our health problems, aren’t you relieved? Oh, you’re a bit concerned about your privacy, the fact that all of your outside-of-Facebook web searches are by default accessible to Facebook – that you have to opt out on a completely separate website in order to terminate tracking of this activity? As you wander around Google, Yahoo or through iTunes, your searches about health topics, those are all now relevant for advertisers as provided by Facebook! And extra-special, what do you think about the fact that Apple lobbied away any need for FDA approval for anything health-related? Feeling safely healthy now?
