Page 24 - aruba-today-20180915

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 15 September 2018
The Apple Watch is inching toward becoming a medical device

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE possible flood of new EKG
AP Technology Writer data from patients — nor
CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — how useful they will find the
Apple is trying to turn its electronic files.
smartwatch from a niche Eric Topol, a cardiologist
gadget into a lifeline to and director of the Scripps
better health by slowly Research Translational Insti-
evolving it into a medical tute, warned that the EKG
device. feature could spur more
In its fourth incarnation, tests than necessary, result
called Series 4 and due in unnecessary prescrip-
out later this month, the tions for blood thinners and
Apple Watch will add fea- overwhelm doctors with
tures that allow it to take calls from patients who
high-quality heart readings probably don't need treat-
and detect falls. It's part of ment. He said that while the
Apple's long-in-the-making feature will probably save
strategy to give people some lives and prevent
a distinct reason to buy a strokes with early detection
wrist gadget that largely of heart trouble, "the ratio
does things smartphones between the benefits and
already do. the costs remains a big un-
Since the Apple Watch known."
launched in April 2015 , most Apple said the EKG feature
people haven't figured out will be available to U.S. cus-
why they need to buy one. Apple CEO Tim Cook discusses the new Apple Watch 4 at the Steve Jobs Theater during an event tomers later this year, an in-
Apple doesn't release sales to announce new products Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018, in Cupertino, Calif. dication that it may not be
figures, but estimates from Associated Press ready for launch.
two analysts suggest the Fall detection could also
company shipped roughly Two years later, Apple heartbeats and can de- subsidize the cost of an Ap- be significant, especially
18 million watches in 2017. called its watch "the ulti- tect when the wearer has ple Watch, Nguyen said. for elderly users. The new
Apple sold almost 12 times mate device for a healthy fallen, the company said. That would help defray the Apple Watch claims to be
as many iPhones — 216 mil- life," emphasizing water re- EKGs are important tests of $400 starting price for a able to tell the difference
lion — last year. sistance for swimmers and heart health and typically device that still requires a between a trip and a fall —
Worldwide, about 48 mil- built-in GPS for tracking require a visit to the doc- companion iPhone, which and when the latter occurs,
lion smartwatches are ex- runs or cycling workouts. tor. The feature gained an can now cost more than it will suggest calling 911 (or
pected to be sold this year, In February, the company onstage endorsement from $1,000. the equivalent outside the
compared with nearly 1.9 announced that the watch Ivor Benjamin, a cardiolo- Apple's watch will use new U.S.). If it receives no re-
billion phones, according would track skiing and gist who is president of the sensors on the back and on sponse within a minute, the
to the research firm Gart- snowboarding runs , includ- American Heart Associa- the watch dial. A new app watch will automatically
ner. ing data on speed and ver- tion. He said such real-time will say whether each read- place an emergency call
Apple CEO Tim Cook has tical descent. data would change the ing is normal or shows signs and message friends and
long emphasized the The latest version, unveiled way doctors work. of atrial fibrillation, an irreg- family designated as emer-
watch's health and fitness- Wednesday, is pushing the Gartner analyst Tuong ular heart rate that increas- gency contacts.
tracking capabilities. The health envelope even fur- Nguyen said the feature es the risk of heart compli- Only certain Apple Watch
original version featured a ther — in particular by tak- could turn smartwatches cations, such as stroke and models support cellular
heart-rate sensor that fed ing electrocardiograms, "from something people heart failure. calls, but those that don't
data into fitness and work- or EKGs, a feature given buy for prestige into some- Apple says the heart data can still make emergency
out apps so they could sug- clearance by the U.S. Food thing they buy for more can be shared with doctors calls when near a paired
gest new goals and offer and Drug Administration, practical reasons." through a PDF file, though iPhone or Wi-Fi service.
digital "rewards" for fitness Apple said. The watch will It could also lead some it's not yet clear how ready Apple says it monitored
accomplishments. also monitor for irregular health insurance plans to doctors are to receive a some 2,500 people — mea-
suring how they fell off lad-
Beyond fake news? Facebook to fact check photos, videos ders, missed a step while
walking or got their legs
caught in their pants while
NEW YORK (AP) — Face- agency AFP. Now, it will getting dressed. It used
book says it is expanding its send all of its 27 third-party that data to separate real
fact-checking program to fact-checkers disputed falls from other heavy wrist
include photos and videos photos and videos to verify. movements, such as clap-
as it fights fake news and Fact-checkers can also find ping and hammering.
misinformation on its service. them on their own. The feature is available
Malicious groups seeking to Facebook will label images immediately worldwide
sow political discord in the or video found to be untrue and will turn on automati-
U.S. and elsewhere have or misleading as such. cally for users 65 and over.
been embracing images Facebook says the fact- Younger people can acti-
and video to spread misin- checkers use visual verifica- vate it in the settings.
formation. tion techniques such as re- "I can see kids buying one
The company has been test- FILE- In this May 1, 2018, file photo Facebook CEO Mark Zucker- verse image searching and for their parents and grand-
ing the image fact-checks berg makes the keynote address at F8, Facebook's developer analyzing image metadata parents," analyst Patrick
since the spring, beginning conference in San Jose, Calif. to check the veracity of Moorhead of Moor Insights
with France and the news Associated Press photos and videos.q said.q