Tag Archives: Apple Watch

What it is: Stanford University and the Swedish School of Sport and Health Services determined that the Apple Watch has the most accurate heart rate monitor of any wearable computer.

Wearable computers first got attention with fitness enthusiasts and athletes, which is why wearables like Fitbit proved so popular. While wearable computers can be useful for tracking heart rates, the real key is how accurate those heart rate sensors might be. After all, it doesn’t do anyone any good to have an inaccurate reading.

To test different heart rate sensors, Stanford University and the Swedish School of Sport and Health Services compared different wearables to an electrocardiograph (ECG) for measuring heart rates. According to the study, the Apple Watch had the lowest median heart rate error at 2 percent (1.2% to 2.8%), while the Samsung Gear S2 had the highest error rate at 6.8 percent (4.6% to 9%).

The Apple Watch was also more accurate at measuring heart rate during the walking test than competing products. While measuring calories burned, no device was accurate but the Apple Watch proved the best.

Based on this research, it appears that if you want a wearable device, you can choose from multiple options. However, if you want accurate data, you want an Apple Watch. Other products may be less expensive, but saving money to buy a less accurate device makes little sense if you want a wearable computer that monitors your health. Inaccurate data simply gives you a false perspective that can be useless at best or dangerous in a worse case scenario.

What competitors to the Apple Watch are discovering is that real-time health sensors require quality to work properly. If companies try to sell products based on cost, they’ll wind up cutting costs by using less expensive and less accurate health sensors. That will simply drive people away from their products.

Many people still think they don’t need an Apple Watch, yet everyone can be concerned about their health. By monitoring your health in real-time, you can get an accurate view of how your activity may be affecting your health. In the future, Apple will likely include additional health sensors so you’ll be able to see how certain foods you eat affect your health positively or negatively.

Real-time health monitoring is the main advantage of wearable computers. The more people understand this, the more they’ll rely on wearable computers like the Apple Watch to maintain and improve their health.

To read more about the accuracy of Apple’s heart rate sensor, click here.

What it is: Non-Invasive glucose monitoring could be a revolutionary product to help millions of people suffering form diabetes.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, recently made an odd comment about wearing a glucose monitor but taking it off to attend a public event. That seemingly innocuous comment can be interpreted in multiple ways. One way is to assume he’s wearing a glucose monitoring system such as one made by a company called Dexcom. Their glucose monitor involves jabbing a needle under your skin and keeping the device strapped to your stomach. Then the device sends data to your iPhone.

Here’s a far more interesting possibility. Dexcom’s glucose monitor must break the skin to detect glucose levels, but Apple’s been working on a non-invasive glucose monitor that works through a sensor that touches the skin. If Apple can get such a non-invasive glucose monitor to work as well as today’s current glucose monitors, that would immediately be attractive to the millions of diabetes sufferers who need to monitor their glucose levels.

The big question is why would Tim Cook mention a glucose monitor if it’s made by another company? Tim Cook doesn’t promote the type of car he drives or the brand of toothpaste he uses, so it’s likely that he casually mentioned wearing a glucose monitor because it has something to do with Apple’s ambitions. Possibly Tim Cook is testing Apple’s non-invasive glucose monitor to make sure it works reliably on different people.

All of this means that if Apple perfects a non-invasive glucose monitor (and they’re currently researching this possibility), Apple’s fortunes would shoot through the roof and make the Apple Watch a must-have purchase for millions of people around the world. Today’s glucose monitors are expensive, costing several hundreds of dollars. What if Apple’s non-invasive glucose monitor not only doesn’t need to break the skin to work, but costs far less? That would mean companies like Dexcom that sell glucose monitors that break the skin will go down while Apple’s stock and sales of Apple Watches will skyrocket. In a world where you have to compete directly with Apple, chances are good you’re not going to succeed as much as if you were competing in a market where Apple doesn’t exist at all.

Watch for companies like Dexcom to plummet if Apple releases a non-invasive glucose monitor. Then watch for people to suddenly discover the real-time health monitoring benefits of the Apple Watch that have been there since the beginning.

Real-time health monitoring is the real purpose of wearable computers. The more the Apple Watch embraces this advantage, the more people will buy an Apple Watch.

The future is clear. It’s just a matter of when that future will arrive.

To read more about Apple’s possible non-invasive glucose monitoring research, click here.

What it is: Apple is rumored to be working on a non-invasive glucose monitor for the Apple Watch.

Many people still wonder what the Apple Watch is for, just as many people used to wonder why anyone would need a mobile phone in the early days, or why anyone would need a personal computer way back in the 80’s. The reason for the Apple Watch is simple. The Apple Watch is a real-time health monitor. While athletes and fitness enthusiasts were the first to adopt wearable computers in the form of fitness trackers, ordinary people often don’t see a need for a wearable computer.

What will make a huge difference will be Apple’s non-invasive glucose monitor. Right now, the most common way to monitor glucose levels is to prick the skin and draw blood. Some companies, such as Dexcom, offer a non-invasive glucose monitor but it’s expensive and still involves digging slightly under the skin. If Apple can perfect a sensor that can read glucose levels through the skin using light, without breaking the skin and without costing too much, they’ll create an entirely new market for the Apple Watch that can read everyone with diabetes around the world.

That’s potentially millions of sales just to people with diabetes alone. Now imagine if Apple’s sensors can detect other medical conditions and you suddenly have people with various diseases willing to buy and wear an Apple Watch to monitor their health.

Health insurance companies will likely offer discounts on premiums to people who wear real-time health monitoring computers because that will lower risks and detect problems ahead of time when they’re cheaper and more treatable with a greater chance of success. In short, real-time health monitoring is the key to the Apple Watch and wearable computers.

While Apple pursues real-time health monitoring, its rivals are simply missing this opportunity staring at them right in front of their face. Android Wear smart watches may be able to mimic the Apple Watch, but how many companies are making a profit selling Android Wear smart watches? Even more telling is how many companies are working on non-invasive health sensors to pair up with Android Wear?

By ignoring real-time health monitoring, rivals are completely unprepared for the next wave of success in the wearable computer market. Microsoft tried and then gave up with their fitness tracker called the Microsoft Band. Android Wear poses little threat to the Apple Watch, unlike Android conquering the smartphone market compared to iOS. When Apple perfects and markets non-invasive health sensors with the Apple Watch, that’s when Apple will skyrocket and that’s when rivals will suddenly realize they’re far behind with little chance of catching up in the wearable computer market.

The future of the Apple Watch and wearable computers is real-time health monitoring. It’s obvious now and it will be more apparent in the future. Apple doesn’t have a head start in the real-time health monitoring market so much as their rivals haven’t even realized this market even exists yet. Once Apple dominates the real-time health monitoring market with the Apple Watch, expect rivals to be befuddled and confused as they try to cobble together a similar solution that won’t work as well and won’t be as popular as a result.

To read more about Apple’s rumored non-invasive glucose monitor, click here.