#Pelotonad. Peloton has found itself in the middle of controversy as a recent television ad released by the company was panned by many as sexist. The roughly 30-second video, in which a husband purchases the connected exercise bike for his wife as a Christmas gift, has generated a backlash consisting of Twitter hashtags, viral parodies and a roughly 10% drop in Peloton’s stock price; however, the...
Apple's high on health. Apple CEO Tim Cook was pleased as punch with his company’s latest quarterly and yearly report, which he said on an investor’s call yesterday was Apple’s “highest revenue in a September quarter ever” at $64 billion. Thirty-three million dollars of this was in iPhone revenue — a 9% decline over last year that he felt was a significant step up from the 15% decline seen...
Alphabet serious about health wearables? Alphabet has reportedly put in an unspecified offer to buy out Fitbit, according to anonymous sources talking to Reuters. The news comes roughly a month after another report from the outlet suggesting that the wearables maker had brought on investment firm Qatalyst Partners to explore a potential sale, in which Alphabet was name dropped as a potential...
Medicare Advantage plan reimbursing for Apple Watches. Startup Medicare payer Devoted Health will be offering Apple Watches to its members as a fitness benefit, according to a report from CNBC that MobiHealthNews confirmed with the company. Devoted Health wrote in its marketing materials that it will be covering $150 of the cost of “wearable devices like an Apple Watch” per year alongside other...
Sixth time's the charm? Roche’s Accu-Chek Connect Diabetes Management App has notched its sixth device recall from the FDA, this time due to meter-to-app data transfer issues for users with Android OS 8.0 and above. According to the agency’s posting, Roche notified partners, users and call centers of the issue and released and update addressing the problem before the end of that month.
Prior to...
Even more ECG. Electronics hardware company Asus pulled back the curtain on its latest health and fitness smartwatch today at IFA 2019 in Berlin. Engadget, TechRadar and others report that the VivoWatch SP includes a built-in ECG sensor alongside a PPG sensor, GPS tracking, an altimeter and roughly 14 days of battery life. The company is aiming for worldwide availability before the end of the...
Eggs, milk, remote care. Thanks to a partnership between Texas grocery chain H-E-B and Reliant Immune Diagnostics, consumers seeking a mobile telemedicine consultation can purchase an appointment while stocking up the fridge.
The free-to-download MDBox platform offers symptom-driven video consultations and prescriptions from licensed providers for a flat, upfront fee. Now, patients can visit the...
Trouble in Cupertino. Morale is low and tensions are high within Apple’s health team, where conflicting ideas and strategies have led to a number of high-profile departures, according to a new report from CNBC.
While the company’s primary focus has so far been on new features for generally healthy users, anonymous employees said that some team members wanted to tackle major healthcare challenges...
Sleep tracking, iOS support comes to Google Fit. Google Fit saw an update on Friday that allows the health tracking app to connect with sleep apps and services, thereby allowing users to monitor their rest within Google’s product. The tool’s iPhone app has also received a boost that brings the run, hike or biking route summaries of the Android version those pairing an iPhone with a Wear OS...
Peloton pulls the plug. Owners of the first generation of Peloton’s exercise bike touchscreens will no longer be receiving new software updates for their device, the company announced in a message on its support page. The touchscreen will still be able to access content, but the company is recommending that these users purchase a hardware upgrade so that they may continue to receive new feature...
