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L'Oreal's wearable sensor tracks UV, pollen and pollution
L'Oreal isn't a brand you'd usually associate with medical technology, but over the past few years it's been making major inroads in skin protection innovation. There was My UV Patch, designed to inform wearers how their skin was being affected by the sun, and then UV Sense, a thumbnail-sized smart device that helped monitor sun exposure. Now, it's launching a battery-free wearable electronic that tracks your exposure to UV, pollution, pollen and humidity.
'Pokémon Go' starts tracking steps using HealthKit and Google Fit
Pokémon Go players can finally unlock rewards without keeping the app open or using the game's Plus tracking dongle. The Adventure Sync option ties into Google Fit or Apple Health tracking to dole out bonuses based on all the movement players do throughout the day. That should mean earning more Buddy Candy and hatching Eggs, all without even opening the app. Players will still get a push notification for rewards, which should also help Niantic keep more casual fans engaged. A support page for the game explains how to make sure your account is linked, as the feature started rolling out today, arriving first for players at higher levels. Currently, anyone level 35 and above should be good to go, and once the rollout is complete it will be available for all players once they're past level 5 in the game.
'Pokémon Go' will track your activity without launching the app
Pokémon Go has encouraged more than a few people to step up their physical exercise, and Niantic wants to reward that. It's launching an Adventure Sync feature in its augmented reality games (starting with Pokémon Go) that syncs with Google Fit and iOS' HealthKit to translate steps into game progress without having the app open or using a smartwatch. If you regularly go for a run before work, you'll see that reflected in more Pokémon candy or more efficient egg hatching. You'll get weekly milestones, too.
More iOS apps are on the way to help with your health regimen
At the end of March, Apple announced a new feature coming alongside iOS 11.3, Health Records, which gave users access to their medical data and allowed them to share it with a running tally of hospitals and clinics. Today at WWDC, the company released an API for developers and researchers to make their own 'ecosystem of apps' to harness Health Records information, and implied that some would arrive as early as this fall.
Apple watchOS 5 will automatically detect your workouts
Apple introduced HealthKit during its WWDC 2014 keynote and since then the company has continued to add more health-focused tools to its devices. The release of iOS 11.3, for example, brought along the capability to view official medical records on your iPhone while the Apple Watch can monitor your heart rate. Today, Apple announced more features for the Apple Watch including automatic workout detection and more measures for runners.
Lumos bike helmet adds Apple Watch gestures to control turn signals
It's been almost three years since we first came across the Lumos smart cycling helmet, which got our attention with its cunning automatic brake lights and wirelessly-controlled turn signal indicators. The helmet has since been shipping as of late 2016, but the Hong Kong startup didn't stop there. Today -- which happens to be the first day of Bike Month -- Lumos is releasing an update that adds gesture control for the helmet's blinkers via Apple Watch, along with Apple HealthKit integration for automatic cycling tracking.
Apple will open its own medical clinics for employees
Apple is launching its own medical clinics called "AC Wellness," in a move that will allow it to take employee healthcare into its own hands. Following similar news about Amazon's venture with Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, Apple plans to offer what it calls the "world's best health care experience" to workers. It quietly published a website for the venture with a careers page seeking a primary care doctors, nurses, an exercise coach, "care navigator," and on-site lab test personnel.
Nokia might give up on wearables (updated)
Less than two years after spending millions repositioning itself in the consumer health market, Nokia has announced a strategic review of its digital health business which comes after news that the company could shed up to 425 jobs in its home country of Finland. Nokia acquired French fitness tracker manufacturer Withings for $191 million in 2016 as part of its new digital health strategy WellCare, which is not dissimilar to Apple's HealthKit. The deal came amid a spate of acquisitions by Nokia, buoyed by investment from Microsoft following their Windows Phone agreement.
Your health insurance might score you an Apple Watch
Apple will exclusively provide its Watch, iPad and iPhone products to Aetna for new app-oriented fitness tracking program, the US insurance giant announced. A cornerstone of the project is health tracking, so Aetna will subsidize the cost of a Watch for select customers and offer it free to its 50,000-strong workforce starting next year. Apple will also help Aetna develop new apps around medication reminders, billing (with Apple Wallet) and care management.
Apple Watch could soon track your sleep and fitness levels
The Apple Watch is billed as a fitness-focused device, but it doesn't really make sense of fitness data -- you're supposed to interpret the numbers yourself. However, Apple might soon give its wristwear some added smarts. Bloomberg sources claim that the Apple Watch will get apps that track sleeping patterns and fitness levels. It's not certain how the sleep tracking would work (most likely through motion), but the watch would gauge your fitness by recording the time it takes for your heart rate to drop from its peak to its resting level.
Apple bought a company that tracks chronic health issues
Apple has purchased Gliimpse, a startup that helps users collect and personalize their health records, according to Fast Company. Apple confirmed the deal, which reportedly happened earlier this year, but was coy as usual. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," a spokesperson told Fast Co. However, it will likely be integrated into its HealthKit research app to help doctors improve treatment for chronic diseases.
Apple entices its first big drug company to ResearchKit
Although Apple's ResearchKit is almost two years old, the platform has mainly been reserved for clinical studies hosted by universities and medical researchers. Hundreds of thousands of people are already contributing data for studies focusing on asthma, diabetes, breast cancer, autism, epilepsy and melanoma, but now drugmakers are getting in on the act. Almost a year after it said it was readying studies using Apple's health data-collecting tool, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has confirmed the launch of a new research app to help monitor patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Nokia bought Withings to take on Apple's HealthKit
Nokia just reentered the consumer market by acquiring well-regarded fitness tracker manufacturer Withings for $191 million. But why now, and why wearables? Nokia President Ramzi Haidamus explains that Nokia has been developing a digital health strategy called WellCare, something that sounds similar to Apple's HealthKit. He says that the acquisition of Withings -- which makes not only wearables but also scales, blood pressure monitors and other medical devices -- will accelerate its plans.
Use Feverprints to better understand your body temperature
The Apple Health app will autonomously track your steps and other wellness data, sure, but Boston Children's Hospital wants its iOS app Feverprints to help you keep an eye on something else throughout the day: your temperature. What Feverprints hopes to achieve by using vast amounts of anonymized data is gaining a better idea of what the normal range of temperatures for a human is, at different times through the day. This could eventually lead to better care and diagnoses of fevers. Simply judging your readings against the standard 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and calling it good doesn't quite cut it when that temperature isn't the baseline for everyone.
Calorie counting made easier with this pretty lunch box
Today's technology can do fitness tracking without much manual input, but that's not the case with food tracking. There's simply no "smart fork" just yet that can measure your nutritional intake, and the best solutions right now require you to follow a food plan or log the information yourself, neither of which is ideal without some way of properly quantifying the food you're eating. With that in mind, a startup has come up with the Prepd Pack, which is a good-looking modular lunch box that comes with professional recipes tied to iOS' HealthKit. In other words, simply fill up the box with one of these recipes and your iPhone will know how much nutrition you're gobbling up; and if you like, you'll also get the added convenience of preparing lunches for multiple days in one go.
Pebble smartwatches get a built-in fitness tracking app
If you've wanted to use your Pebble smartwatch as an activity tracker so far, you've had to grab a third-party app -- unlike Apple or Google, you didn't have anything built-in. Well, that won't be an issue after today. Pebble is rolling out a firmware update to the Time, Time Steel and Time Round that introduces Pebble Health, a native fitness tracking app. It continuously tracks your step counts and sleep, like the earlier apps, but you now have coaching (built with help from Stanford University) to see where you need improvement. Your results won't exist in a vacuum, either, since they plug into Apple's HealthKit, Google Fit and (soon) third-party watch apps.
Misfit's Flash fitness tracker will switch on your lights, shame you for being lazy
Misfit's wearable devices are know for their nice aesthetic, but it's the company's ongoing support, that keeps them joining the rank and file fitness trackers. Today, it's a trio of small, but handy updates to both the Shine and the Flash. Most notably, the introduction of a web interface to view your fitness or sleep data online, so you're no longer tied to the mobile app. Back in January, Misfit announced Flash would join FitBit in working with IFTTT's web automation tools, and also be able to control smart home devices via Logitech's Harmony Home Hub. Both of those features arrive today (though Misfit already had some IFTTT integrations). Last up, one for the iOS users. Misfit already feeds your step-count into Apple's HealthKit, but starting today, your sleep and weight data will (if you wish) be included too. So, we're getting mixed messages here? Misfit's saving you a walk to the light switch, but making it harder to hide from your (now lower) step count. Thanks... we think?
IBM's cognitive computer will help solve your health problems
Just because you can collect a lot of information about your health doesn't mean that you can easily make sense of it. How do you connect the dots between, say, your smartwatch and your medical records? IBM thinks it has the answer: it's launching Watson Health Cloud, a platform that uses the company's cognitive computer system to help companies and doctors make decisions based on data that might otherwise prove daunting. They could recommend a change in your prescription, for example, or outline your surgery recovery plans.
Nike's iPhone Fuel app no longer needs a FuelBand to track activity
Nike is finally taking advantage of all those health tracking sensors in your iPhone for its flagship Fuel app, which previously required one of its Fuelbands to work. The latest version of the free Fuel app includes support for Apple's HealthKit platform, which means it'll take in the data that's already being tracked on the iPhone 5S and newer models. Conversely, you'll also be able to see your NikeFuel points (its unique way of counting your activity) on the Apple Health app. Nike already supported HealthKit with its standalone running app, so it was only a matter of time until it brought that functionality to the Fuel app. Of course, Nike also needs to make sure its flagship app is ready for the Apple Watch, which also tracks HealthKit data and is expected sometime in the next few months. And, after the company laid off most of its hardware team last year, it's not like we'll be seeing new Fuelbands from Nike anytime soon.
Reuters: more than half of top US hospitals are trialling Apple HealthKit
When Apple announced HealthKit, one of the more interesting features was the ability for Doctors to check your health data remotely. HealthKit has already been trialled with health professionals monitoring patients with Type 1 diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Reuters suggests that these trials are moving away from Universities, and into hospitals. It claims that over half (14 of 23) the "top" hospitals (including eight on the News & World Report's Honor Roll) it contacted were running pilot programs that leveraged HealthKit data.
