Following months of regulatory investigation, the European Commission has officially signed off on Google's $2.1 billion purchase of health-wearable-maker Fitbit. Still, the go-ahead is contingent on a handful of commitments from the tech company that focus on its competitive practices across advertising, digital health APIs and smart device interoperability.
"We can approve the proposed...
Apple is rolling out a new low VO2 Max feature on its Apple Watches, MobiHealthNews has learned. Instead of doing an intense run or workout to capture the measurement, folks can take a walk or a stroll to find out their VO2 Max, which is a measure of overall fitness.
In order to get the measurement users must go through an onboarding process that collects their demographic data and walks them...
Symptom-based COVID-19 screening can be improved by incorporating data collected from wearable sensors into prediction algorithms, an approach that could complement ongoing testing efforts by spotting symptomatic and pre-symptomatic individuals early, according to a research letter recently published in nature medicine.
The findings are part of the DETECT (Digital Engagement and Tracking for...
A new review of Apple Watch-related presentations suggests that the device's abnormal pulse detection feature may be fueling unnecessary healthcare utilization.
"The observation that new clinically actionable cardiovascular diagnoses of interest were diagnosed in only 11.4% of patients following medical evaluation as directed by the treating provider suggests a high false positive rate as a...
Withings, a maker of several consumer and B2B connected health devices once owned by Nokia, has announced the close of a $60 million Series B round. The raise was co-headed by Gilde Healthcare, Idinvest Partners and Bpifrance. BNP Paribas Développement, ODDO BHF Private Equity and Adelie Capital also participated.
The company has also appointed a new global medical advisory board that includes Dr...
Belgium-based FibriCheck, the maker of apps that monitor a user's heart rhythm, announced yesterday that it has developed a new version of its smartwatch offering that is capable of scanning for atrial fibrillation while the wearer is asleep.
FibriCheck said in a release that the updated app is currently nearing the end of user testing, and that it will be available for smartwatch manufacturers...
The past few days have seen 9to5Mac publish a torrent of new features it has spotted within the leaked code of Apple’s next firmware update, iOS 14. While the majority of these details have to do with interface customization, parental controls and the like, two new functionalities will be of particular interest to competitors already offering digital wellness tools.
The first is blood oxygen-...
A handful of fitness and workout chains will begin doling out monetary rewards to members who have connected their Apple Watches or other Apple-branded services to the partner company’s digital ecosystem, according to the Cupertino tech company.
As part of the newly unveiled Apple Watch Connected program, Crunch Fitness, Orangetheory, YMCA and Basecamp have kicked off incentive programs with...
Fitbit users were surprised with an added feature on their wearable this week — the ability to check the variability of oxygen levels in their bloodstream.
Users with any of Fitbit’s Sp02-enabled devices can now access an Estimated Oxygen Variation graph. The Sp2 devices include the Charge 3, Ionic, Versa, Versa Lite and Versa 2, according to Fitbit officials.
The update, which was confirmed to...
French digital health company Withings has unveiled its latest smartwatch dubbed ScanWatch, which will include an ECG and Sp02 sensor.
The watch comes with a PPG sensor, which will continuously monitor the user's heart rate and alert users if there is an irregularity. If any issues are detected, the watch will prompt the user to take an ECG reading. Watch wearers can read the ECG on the screen...
