Measuring Blood Pressure With an iPhone

The smartphone is already the Swiss Army knife of the digital age, replacing the need for alarm clocks, GPS units and even digital cameras with the flick of a finger.

Can it do the same for home medical devices?

On Wednesday night, during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, iHealth Labs, a start-up in Mountain View, Calif., unveiled the iHealth Blood Pressure Dock, an attachment for iOS devices that can measure and record heart rate and blood pressure.

The kit, which costs $100, comes with a blood pressure cuff and a battery-powered dock that doubles as a charging station for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The hardware is available for sale in Apple retail stores, Apple.com and on the company’s Web site. The kit also requires a mobile application to log the results, which is available for free through iTunes.

Dr. Andrew Brandeis, a practicing doctor in San Francisco and a medical consultant and spokesman for the iHealth, said that although the device is primarily aimed at people with hypertension or other chronic health conditions, it can also be helpful for anyone trying to live a healthier life.

“I can give someone a pill for their blood pressure, but what I really want to do is educate them about their habits that cause high blood pressure,” he said. “If you can see your blood pressure is going up, you can try to get an idea about what you’re doing that is affecting it. You start to see correlations between your blood pressure and your life.”

The biggest advantage to those who buy iHealth’s blood pressure system instead of a stand-alone machine, which is much cheaper to purchase, is that it will be incorporated into a patient’s daily routine of waking up and checking their cellphone, the company says.

“You charge your device at night and when you wake up, the blood pressure cuff is sitting right there next to it,” he said.

Taking daily readings at home may also offer more accurate and consistent results than those taken at a doctor’s office, he said.

“White coat syndrome is a term used for what happens when patients come in to see the doctor,” he said. “They are stressed out because they hate going to the doctor and their blood pressure is higher. But if you take it at home, before your coffee and e-mail, get a much more accurate reading.”

Patients can also share their results with a physician, either via e-mail or by showing them the phone or iPad with the data on it during their next doctor visit.

The application can also push readings to Twitter and Facebook as a way to generate positive reinforcement about good readings among a user’s social network, Dr. Brandeis said.

Eventually, the company hopes to also release other home health kits, including a blood glucose monitor and a connected scale.

“This is a doorway to an entire new ecosystem of self-monitoring and gleaning health information about yourself,” said Dr. Brandeis.

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Skype's partner says it is legal in China

Skype's partner in China, TOM Group, said the web-based calling service is complying with Chinese law, even as a crackdown on illegal Internet telephone providers could complicate Skype's operations in the country.

The comments from TOM Group, which is 51 percent owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, came as potential investors in Skype's planned $1 billion initial public offering year fret that any ban on Internet telephone services in China could exclude the company from of the world's largest Internet market.

"The operation of Skype in China is compliant with local laws and regulations," a TOM Group spokeswoman told Reuters on Tuesday. "Currently, it is business as usual while service provision stays normal."

The Ministry of Information and Industry Technology called in a notice on Dec. 10 for a crackdown "on illegal VoIP telephone services" and said it was collecting evidence for legal cases against them. It did not identify any companies.

While that could affect VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) services such as Skype, and privately owned UUCall and Heyyo!, analysts said it was far from clear what companies were being targeted or how strictly authorities would enforce any limits.

"Often these crackdowns are focused on the small domestic companies," said Mark Natkin, managing director of Marbridge Consulting, a Beijing-based company that advises businesses on China's telecom and IT industries. "It doesn't mean that the sky is falling.

"I don't believe that Skype is being shut down, but one never knows."

The Chinese regulator did not respond to a list of submitted questions about its announcement and its spokesman's office did not answer telephone calls.

PROTECTIONISM AT WORK?

Luxembourg-based Skype operates in China through TOM-Skype, a joint venture that began in October 2004 with the TOM Online unit of TOM Group Ltd. Skype and UUCall dominate the VoIP market in China, according to Gartner analyst Sandy Shen.

The government move appeared to be aimed at protecting three government-controlled phone carriers -- China Telecom (0728.HK), China Unicom (0762.HK) and China Mobile (0941.HK) -- which have been losing money on their long-distance businesses.

VoIP calls allow users to make international calls for much less than commercial providers, or even for free if both parties are using VoIP.

Many businesses that use VoIP services to cut down on their international telephone costs could lose access to the cheaper alternative.

"I think it would be hard for MIIT to really enforce things," said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA Consulting, a Beijing-based technology consultancy.

"They would be depriving tens of millions of people of their cheap phone calls. They are sensitive about monopoly gouging, especially with the price sensitivities now."

"It smacks of protectionism for Chinese telcos," added Clark. "That's something I think the government is sensitive to. Sometimes they put these trial balloons out there to see the reaction."

Gartner's Shen said the only way to enforce the ban would be for the government to block access to Skype by shutting down the website, but she sees it as unlikely given that it would be politically unpopular among China's online community, at about 450 million people and growing.

In 2005, Skype was blocked in parts of China as the government sought to ban phone calls made over the Internet.

At the time, Chinese authorities permitted only China Telecom and China Netcom, which has since merged with China Unicom, to conduct pilot programmes for VoIP services in two cities each, said Kan Kaili, a professor at the Beijing University of Posts & Telecommunications.

The pilot programmes never took place, however, and that could make it unlikely for authorities to enforce any ban on Skype, said Kan.

There is also the possibility that any ban could stir up memories of China's recent dispute with Google (GOOG.O).

"Whether the government will make any direct move against Skype has to be seen, because Skype is so internationally popular and there's the factor of international politics," Kan said.

"I think that the government might think twice after what happened with Google last year."

After a months-long stand-off over censorship, China finally gave Google approval in July to keep operating its Chinese search page. The case caused a row between Washington and Beijing.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Online health info popular but often unchecked

The number of people looking for health information online is set to soar as workers return from holiday breaks, but few will check where the information comes from, according to an international survey on Tuesday.

A report by researchers at the London School of Economics (LSE) commissioned by the private healthcare firm Bupa said that with smartphones and tablet computers set to outsell personal computers by 2012, more health information is available online and there are more ways to access it than ever before.

The Bupa Health Pulse survey questioned more than 12,000 people in Australia, Brazil, Britain, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and the United States and found that 81 percent of those with internet access use it to search for advice about health, medicines or medical conditions.

Russians search for health advice the most on the internet, followed by China, India, Mexico and Brazil. The French search for online health information the least, according to the survey's findings.

It also found that 68 percent of those who have access have used the internet to look for information about specific medicines and nearly 4 in 10 use it to look for other patients' experiences of a condition.

"New technologies are helping more people around the world to find out more about their health and to make better informed decisions. However, people need to make sure that the information they find will make them better, not worse," said David McDaid, a senior research fellow at the LSE.

In Britain, where Bupa predicted there would be 40 million hits on health websites this week as people make New Year's resolutions after their Christmas break, experts warned that much online health content is unchecked and people would struggle to know what to trust.

The survey found that of the 73 percent of Britons who say they go online for health information, more than six in 10 look for information about medicines and more than half of them, or 58 percent, use the information to self diagnose.

Yet only a quarter of people say they check where their online advice has come from.

"Relying on dodgy information can easily lead to people taking risks with inappropriate tests and treatments, wasting money and causing unnecessary worry," said Annabel Bentley, a medical director at Bupa.

"Equally, people may check online and dismiss serious symptoms when they should get advice from a doctor."

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Chinese website selling iPad2 cases, ordered to remove ads

Protective cases for the second generation iPad are being sold on Chinese e-commerce website Alibaba -- even before Apple has launched the new device -- and suggest the next model will have a camera.

Alibaba spokesman John Spelich told AFP on Tuesday the company had been asked to remove the listings, which showed brightly coloured silicon cases with a small hole in the back on sale for less than three dollars each.

"Shortly after we were made aware, through blog reports, of the presence of these listings, we received a legitimate take down request and we have been doing so since last week," Spelich said, without naming the complainant.

An AFP search for iPad2 cases found seven listings on Alibaba -- a trading platform for small businesses -- mostly from suppliers based in southern China who were accepting orders for a minimum 200-500 units.

Apple's iPad touchscreen tablet computer allows users to watch video, listen to music, play games, surf the Web and read electronic books, but the next model is also expected to feature a camera and USB port.

The company is predicted to launch iPad2 this year after selling more than eight million of the original devices between April, when it went on sale in the United States , and the end of September, Apple's last reporting period.

In China -- the world's biggest Internet market with 450 million users, according to the last official count, and the major producer of Apple products -- hundreds queued for the first official iPads when they were launched in the country in September.

Goldman Sachs predicts iPad sales could top 37.2 million units in 2011 and technology research firm Gartner forecasts total tablet computer sales of 55 million units this year.

Some observers had expected Apple to unveil iPad2 at the US International Consumer Electronics Show, which starts Thursday.

But the California-based company is shunning the massive electronics trade show, which attracts tens of thousands of buyers and sellers from around the world to Las Vegas.

Apple is notoriously secretive about new products but it's security system has been breached in the past.

A prototype of Apple's 4th generation iPhone turned up in Vietnam in May, a month before the gadget's global launch.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Firefox most used web browser in Europe: StatCounter

Web browser Firefox garnered the highest market share in Europe in December, pushing Internet Explorer to the second spot, reveals a study.

"Firefox overtook Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) to become the No.1 browser in Europe in December 2010... In December, Firefox took 38.11 per cent of European market share, compared to Internet Explorer's 37.52 per cent," website analytics firm StatCounter said today.

Once the most-used browser in many countries, Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) is facing stiff competition, especially from Google's Chrome.

In March last year, European Union's competition authorities and Microsoft had agreed to allow web users in the region to choose from many web browsers.

"This is the first time that IE has been dethroned from the number one spot in a major territory. This appears to be happening because Google's Chrome is stealing share from IE while Firefox is mainly maintaining its existing share," StatCounter's CEO Aodhan Cullen said in a statement.

"We are probably seeing the impact of the agreement between European Commission competition authorities and Microsoft, to offer EU users a choice and menu of browsers from March last year," Cullen said.

In Europe, Google Chrome was in the third place with a market share of 14.58 per cent in December, data compiled by StatCounter's research arm StatCounter Global Stats showed.

The findings are based on data from a sample of over 15 billion page views per month, including those from North America, collected from a network of more than 3 million websites.

Since the beginning of March, Microsoft offered Europeans the option to choose from among 12 browsers on the more than 100 million old and new PCs that use its Windows software.

Globally, Internet Explorer's share slipped to 46.9 percent in December, while Firefox was at 30.8 percent and Google was at 14.9 percent, StatCounter said.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us