McDonald’s Happy Meal wearable rubs people the wrong way

McDonald’s has prematurely ended fitness tracker sales in the U.S. and Canada, which came inside the fast-food chain’s Happy Meal.

Intended as a way to get kids active, McDonald’s inadvertently caused a lot of parents to worry what was happening to their child’s skin. It received complaints from customers about skin irritation a few hours after the first day of sales. Within 24 hours, the fitness tracker was removed from all stores.

A McDonald’s representative said the firm is investigating the issue, but we doubt the fitness tracker will return to Happy Meals anytime soon.

McDonald’s isn’t alone in suffering from skin irritation issues, for most of 2014 Fitbit struggled to fix problems with its Force tracker. Intel recently recalled all Basis Peak wearables as well, citing overheating issues.

McDonald’s wanted to capitalize on the Olympics

The wearable was built by the fast-food chain and manufactured in China. It had a pedometer inside to track steps and physical activity, but unlike the pervasive fitness trackers we are used to, the McDonald’s toy had no wireless connectivity.

McDonald’s had lined up the launch of the fitness tracker with the 2016 Rio Olympic games and summer break, two factors that should have more kids playing outside and doing physical activities.

It is a bit ironic that McDonald’s, a fast-food chain known for its high sugar and fat content, giving fitness trackers to kids. However, the company has tried for the past few years to change how its perceived by customers, adding fruit to its menu, improving the quality and sourcing of its food, and taking steps to reduce calories.

Is Apple launching a fitness tracker alongside Watch 2?

Apple might enter into the fitness tracker market in 2017, according to new rumor from Economic Daily News, who suggest the company has been working on a health device for two years.

The wearable is aimed at people that want more fitness and health data from their device. It includes heart-rate and blood sugar level monitoring, alongside other health data, according to the report.

Jay Blahnik, the fitness expert Apple picked up in 2013, has apparently been working on the device for two years. Blahnik has been working on ‘special projects’ for Cupertino since joining the company.

3D touch might be a major feature on the fitness tracker, possibly due to the screen limitations. Macotakara, a Japanese blog, said Apple has found an innovative method to charge the device.

Foxconn, TSMC, and a few other suppliers have supposedly been in discussions about the fitness tracker.

Apple rolling out more health functionality?

Original rumors about the Watch suggested that it would have next generation health functionality, but that didn’t arrive in the final version. Some said the FDA had forced Apple to remove some of the health features, though that has not been confirmed by either party.

We might see the revival of these features with the fitness tracker, but the company would need to show proof that its analytics and sensors work if it plans to add medical level functionality.

Pricing should be competitive with Fitbit, we would assume, though it may price higher as is typically the case.1 We have no date for when it will launch in 2017, we might see it at the start of the year at the March event or alongside the iPhone 7S in September.

Report says Rio athletes want more out of their wearables

Wearables are becoming commonplace in practice games and training, but have received a lukewarm response from athletes, unhappy with the lack of advice or instructions.

Athletes see the advantages of using wearables, according to a report from Lux Research, but want to see wearable providers take more of an active role on the advice side.

That would include analysis on training performance, how to avoid injuries, and how to be healthier. Fitbit, the largest wearable vendor, currently provides limited analytics, outside of a weekly rundown of your efforts alongside heart-rate level and calories burnt during a workout.

“Most wearables today do a great job of reporting factual information but fail to educate consumers on how to modify their behavior to achieve their health and performance goals,” said Noa Ghersin, a Lux Research associate that penned the report.

“The 2016 Rio Olympics have highlighted how wearables can provide technique tracking, not just fitness monitoring. However, other major applications for sports wearables – like team strategy and safety – deserve more attention, too.”

In the MLB, two wearables, the Zephyr Bioharness and Motus elbow sleeve, provide coaches and physicians with detailed performance analytics and data on how hard balls are thrown or hit.

From there, coaches can inquire about lack of practice performance and physicians can check on health issues that need to be addressed before a big game.

Pro sports are embracing wearables warily

Other American sports are embracing wearables, albeit slowly to avoid oversaturation of tech on the field. Unions have also pushed back, worried that coaches will use the analytics as justification for benching or removing a player from the team.

Lux Research spoke to a number of athletes and coaches on three wearables, HTC and Under Armour’s HealthBox, Xmetrics swimming wearable, and Vert’s wearable clip.

For HealthBox, athletes said it needed more “instructive insights” to be a potential replacement for the personal trainer. Xmetrics has to make its metrics easier to understand. Vert should have alerts and recommendations to avoid injuries.

All of these are valid complaints, but part of the reason for low level insights and lack of medical advice is mostly due to regulation. The FDA has come down hard on wearables that attempt to be medical products, something that Apple reportedly found out when it filed its original Watch to the FDA, and had it swiftly denied.

For athletes to receive better insights and advice, U.S. and foreign regulatory bodies need to be more open to wearables outside the traditional healthcare market offering medical advice.

Germans couldn’t be bothered with your fitness tracker

In Germany, almost half of the people that own a fitness tracker have stopped using it and more than 85 percent said they have no interest in purchasing a fitness tracker.

It is dire news for the wearable market, of which fitness trackers make up more than half. Fitbit, the industry leader, sells more fitness trackers than the combined sales of Apple and Samsung’s wearables.

Over 2,500 people were surveyed by DKV, results found that 89 percent don’t own and don’t want to own a fitness tracker and five percent are thinking about it. Out of the six percent left, two percent don’t use their fitness tracker anymore, and 16 people confessed to never wearing the device.

“It’s a clear indication for us: the majority of people in Germany do not see the need to use wearables”, said Clemens Muth, Chairman of the Board of Management at DKV. “We believe that wearables don’t interest healthy people who have an average desire to exercise.”

The profile of the average fitness tracker owner, according to the survey, is young, healthy, and exercises often. That fits with the general profile of people that purchase fitness trackers across the world.

Fitness tracker design at fault?

Asked why they don’t use their fitness tracker anymore, 19 percent said it too difficult to use and 18 percent found it annoying. 15 percent felt that the fitness tracker didn’t give motivation to be healthy or lose weight.

Even though it is lower than the other two, the lack of motivation is a key point that fitness tracker providers need to figure out. Fitbit provides a way to log your food, water, exercise and see improvements, but there is no virtual coach telling you to walk faster, go swimming, or reduce the amount of carbohydrates in your diet.

This functionality could be necessary to keep people engaged and on a clear diet, but to implement it Fitbit (and other providers) need to make an assistant, like a bot, that can pester you to keep fit. It also needs a larger database that can give health warnings when you are eating too much of a certain food type.

Fitbit may be worried about the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), which may block wearables that attempt to control dietary regimes. Apple supposedly had similar problems adding health sensors into the original Watch, which led to underwhelming health and fitness features.

Can a wearable allergy-proof your child?

Having food allergies can be a real drag. For millions of Americans dealing with food allergies, going to a restaurant or eating at a friend or family member’s house comes with the risk of being unknowingly put in contact with something you are allergic to.

Folks with severe peanut allergies have to be careful not only to order foods without peanuts in them, but to be wary of the fact that in a busy kitchen foods often come in contact with one-another. Many restaurants even post signs letting customers know that certain ingredients are used on site.

So, what is the alternative? You could avoid restaurants and family dinners, or you could carry around an allergen testing kit that tests the food you eat for target proteins that you need to avoid. While these kits can certainly help reduce the cases where accidental exposure to allergens in food resulted in hospital visits, not everyone with a food allergy wants to carry around a portable science lab to test their food.

Allergy Amulet – great answer or liability magnet?

Enter the Allergy Amulet, a small, elegantly designed wearable that looks like jewelry and contains testing strips that enable you to test your food for allergens in seconds. The device, a wearable that can serve as a fashionable amulet when worn around the neck, with a bracelet, or carefully tucked away in a specially-designed smartphone case is used with disposable testing strips that, when inserted into food, can detect the presence of allergen proteins in as little as 1-2 parts per million.

The strips are made with molecularly imprinted polymer that contains the impression of a target allergen protein. These protein molecules can then become trapped in these channels, sort of like a lock-and-key, resulting in a chemical reaction that alerts the Allergy Amulet to the presence of an allergen. The amulet then alerts the user so they can avoid what could be a risky snack.

This device would act as part of an overall strategy for preventing allergen exposure. The user would still need to remain vigilant about what is in their food. What this technology can do is help to reduce the number of accidental exposure that happens from hidden allergens that are present in prepared foods that the diner, waiter, and possibly even the chef are unaware of.

In theory, this is an incredibly useful technology. There is still a lot of work to be done, however.

Currently the technology is being tested with peanut allergens, however plans are in place to create strips that target other problematic ingredients such as egg, gluten, soy, shellfish, and more.

There are also huge legal hurdles to contend with. This is being designed as a potentially life-saving device, and its users will undoubtedly become reliant on it as an additional measure of protection. Accuracy is absolutely critical to the Allergy Amulet’s success.

With over 6 million children estimated to suffer from food allergies in the United States and over 200,000 emergency room visits each year resulting from contact to allergens, devices like the Allergy Amulet could provide much-needed peace of mind.

Zika-Fighting, Genetically-Modified Mosquitoes Are Coming to Florida

As far back as the Zika episode developed, individuals have been humming about the likelihood of utilizing hereditarily changed mosquitoes to battle against the bug-borne malady. Presently the Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to test these bugs out in the US, which means a large number of the lab-outlined mosquitoes could soon be discharged on a little island in the Florida Keys.

Oxitec, a UK-based biotech organization that started at Oxford University, has been offered endorsement to do a field trial of its hereditarily altered Aedes aegypti mosquito, called OX513A. The Aedes aegypti is the species that transmits both Zika and dengue, yet the Oxitec variant conveys a quality that causes them to cease to exist before they can form into flying, gnawing, sickness spreading grown-ups.

By discharging a sufficiently high thickness of male OX513A into a populace, incidentally shielded from the impacts of the quality by a counteractant, the mosquitoes will go on the fatal quality to the wild Aegypti populace and, hypothetically, wipe out the numbers.

Oxitec has done field tests some time recently, with achievement—the organization says a trial in Brazil decreased the Aedes aegypti populace by 96 percent in six months. Be that as it may, this is the first run through the bugs will be tried on US soil. The FDA did a broad natural effect evaluation and open remark period before giving the green light, and presumed that the test would have no huge effect on the nearby environment (other than, preferably, diminishing the number of inhabitants in malady spreading mosquitoes).

The trial ought to be quite generally safe, since the majority of the mosquitoes discharged are intended to cease to exist, and the area is on Key Haven: a little island off of Key West, which is topographically kept by the sea. At the end of the day, these mosquitoes aren't going to spread to whatever remains of Florida, and the US, unless we need them to. 

Also, we exceptionally well may need them somewhere else. As of this current week, Zika has been transmitted locally in 68 nations and domains, as indicated by the World Health Organization, including the US. At this moment, Puerto Rico is amidst a gigantic episode, and specialists anticipate that Zika will keep on spreading all through the southern states. In spite of the fact that the lion's share of individuals contaminated with the infection don't become ill, it's been appeared to bring about to birth imperfections in the offspring of some pregnant ladies who get to be tainted. It's likewise been connected to Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a confusion which can bring about transitory loss of motion.

Oxitec mosquitoes have yet to be demonstrated on an extensive scale, however the innovation is a promising expansion to the battle against the infection. Analysts are likewise in a race to build up an immunization, with great results in this way. Everybody from researchers to promoting offices are attempting to assist of-the-case thoughts like reused tire mosquito traps and mosquito-executing boards. These are all incredible strides, however as one of the analysts right now building up a Zika antibody let me know, this flare-up is an update that new infections are always developing. On the off chance that we need to remain focused of mosquito-borne flare-ups, at some point or another, we must manage the vector.

"Do we truly need to have such an emergency attitude for each new infection or microscopic organisms that appears?" said Col. Nelson Michael, a restorative specialist and exploration who is at present part of a group of researchers building up a Zika immunization at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. "Perhaps the diversion isn't to make an immunization for each pathogen. Perhaps the amusement is to figure out how to keep us safe from the vectors that spread those infections."

Basis Peak watches recalled, service shutting down due to overheating

Basis Peak, a fitness watch tracking your health and sleep habits, is now being recalled by the company after reports of overheating.

The Intel subsidiary first sent a statement about the overheating issues mid-June and is now asking customers to stop wearing their watches and is shutting down service “immediately.”

“We had hoped to update the software on your watch to address the problem,” the company said in a statement. “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we aren’t able to develop such a solution without completely compromising the user experience. As a result, we are asking that you return your Basis Peak watch and authorized accessories for a full refund at your earliest convenience.”

Many of those who’d purchased the watch tweeted their disappointment at having to return the watch.

However, according to the company, the overheating issue has caused burns and blisters on approximately 0.2% of customers. Basis apologized in the statement, saying it was now concerned for customer’s safety.

Customers will still be able to access their data from the watch until the end of the year. They will also be issued a full refund for their purchase by visiting https://support.mybasis.com or calling one of the designated country numbers listed here.

Parent company Intel bought Basis for $100 million in 2014.

Philips launches ecosystem of connected health wearables

Philips unveiled a suite of new connected health devices on Monday, in a move to bolster its position in the personal healthcare market.

The firm said all four devices have been built “with leading doctors and psychologists,” according and connect to the company’s HealthSuite app.

The first device is a health watch, with similar functionality to the Apple Watch or Fitbit Blaze. It tracks the user’s heart-rate, activity, and sleep patterns, automatically recognizing different workouts.

All information will be available to view on the HealthSuite app, letting users check detailed analytics of their fitness progress.

Philips estimates the health watch can last for four days without charge. It has an always on display showing the time, your heart-rate, and other metrics. It is available to purchase for $250.

The next two devices are much more health focused, blood pressure monitors for the upper arm and wrist. The devices let users measure systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart-rate. Data collected can be sent to doctors through the HealthSuite app.

Philips plans to sell the upper arm device for $100 and the wrist for $90.

Having a complete setup that works seamlessly is welcoming, especially in healthcare where devices can often times be analog or incompatible. That’s why Philips launched a body analysis scale to go alongside the health watch, letting users check their weight, BMI, and body fat and then save the results in the HealthSuite app.

The connected scale is available starting today, at $99.

The last device is an ear thermometer, which can accurately measure temperature in two seconds. Another health device aimed at health clinics, rather than consumers. It is available for $60.

Philips wants the range of health devices to be purchased by middle aged consumers to reduce the likelihood of chronic illnesses. It claims that 90 percent of chronic conditions can be prevented through a lifestyle change, and the four devices could push people to be more active.

There won’t be an ‘Uber for healthcare’ anytime soon

The passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act created a perfect storm of disruption in the healthcare industry. All at once came massive systemic changes, from the expansion of Medicaid and guaranteed issue to minimum essential benefits and the creation of exchanges.

In the wake of ACA, nearly one hundred companies sprang up to fulfill the promise of Obamacare and make healthcare a consumer-driven, retail industry, where old work rules would be broken, novel business models established and new companies could command billion-dollar valuations in a short span of time.

There was a surge of excitement, and, as of June 2016, the U.S. healthcare space had eight “unicorns” (companies valued at over $1 billion), including 23andMe valued at $1.03 billion,Theranos at $9 billion and Zenefits at $4.5 billion.

But healthcare is a stubborn space. Think of it like a Rubik’s Cube, where every move has a ripple effect, and solving multi-faceted problems is par for the course. In these conditions, innovative models battle strong headwinds — a fact many VCs and founders overlooked as they rushed to build businesses following the patterns of technology-driven disruption that have transformed industries such as shopping, transportation and entertainment. Those companies that approach this three-dimensional problem with only two dimensions — by cutting corners or finding “shortcuts” — have found themselves lost.

Theranos struggled to back up its claims and has been given bans from U.S. regulators. Zenefits has been accused of selling insurance products without proper licenses. And not long ago, 23andMe failed to secure regulatory approval before making claims about the medical legitimacy of their devices. All of these companies have since faced financial problems — Theranos is nearly worthless.

This string of high-profile debacles reveals a simple, but crucial fact: Disrupting healthcare is not a sprint; it’s not even a marathon — it’s a grueling decathlon with hurdles every step of the way.

In addition to nailing all the prerequisites of a modern startup (an emphasis on exemplary design, scalable technology and sterling customer support), new entrants wanting to move fast must navigate healthcare’s laundry list of regulations, abiding by specific federal and state regulatory requirements and the labyrinthine rules of the FDA.

Can we really expect true disruption, the game-changing disruption that companies likeUber and Airbnb have brought to transform their respective industries? In a space that demands that new companies file 50 different sets of forms for each state, the regulation inhealthcare is unrivaled by any other industry.

Beyond the regulations, which are nearly damning to disruption in and of themselves, we have to realize that the healthcare environment is one in which trust is essential — which isn’t unreasonable, given purchasers are making decisions that literally involve life and death.

Building the necessary level of trust, however, takes a lot of time, and startups too often project growth based upon metrics driven by earlyadopters. But this category of customers is especially elusive inhealthcare. As an example, telemedicine is a brilliant solution that delivers fast, reliable care at a fraction of the price of a normal doctor visit, and yet it’s taken years for telemedicine to really register on the U.S.healthcare radar.

The education and hand-holding necessary to achieve results might work for a shoe or taxi company, but changing people’s fundamental behaviors is difficult, especially when it comes to their health and well-being. Strategies like creating incentives to eat healthier meals, go to the gym more often or wear activity trackers produce exciting, flashy results, but don’tdo much to create long-term improvements in overall health.

Finally, consumer choice within healthcare is fundamentally limited to certain key decisions. They can choose their insurance plan, but only from the options provided by an employer or through an intermediary such as an exchange. They still must buy an insurance plan or face a penalty. When you take choice out of the equation, when consumers aren’tempowered to select the most efficient and affordable option for themselves, the challenges facing B2C healthcare startups are apparent.

To be sure, there have been signs of success in the industry. Despite the challenges of changing people’s behavior, Omada Health has been tackling chronic disease with a slow and steady approach, which notably included Omada publishing its own clinical two-year study in the Journal of Internet Medical Research demonstrating the efficacy of their model. Such a move is slow and time-consuming, but it goes a long way in developing trust in theirproduct.

service, has slowly grown itself by offering tangible cost-saving measures that promote patients’ using less-expensive care options such as telemedicine and emailing with doctors to diagnose a problem instead of booking a costly office or ER visit.

As much as people agree that healthcare in America is in major need of repair (a recent poll found the majority of Americans would even prefer a “Medicarefor all” healthcare solution), healthcare startup founders can appreciate there will never be an Uber ofhealthcare. Uber turned consumers from one transportation method onto another, effectively selling champagne to the masses. They’ve been able to change consumer behavior in a short period of time. But in the realm ofhealthcare, there are too many regulations, constraints and basic laws of human behavior to overcome.

But for the innovators who have the patience to follow through on their vision, and who don’t presume to cut the Gordian Knot of healthcare with a marketing gimmick or shiny app, there are fortunes to be made. Even more importantly, those innovations will facilitate lower costs, increased access and better outcomes to the U.S. healthcare consumer — what every American deserves.

IoT could soon be calling BS on your gym workout

The Internet of Things (IoT) may be coming to your gym workout, with a new app dedicated to bringing all equipment online and monitoring the status, popularity, and potential issues in real-time.1

Life Fitness, an industry leader in gym equipment, has built an app for gym owners, called LF connect Protect. This should, according to Life Fitness, provide gym owners with alerts before a machine goes offline, allowing them to fix the issues before gym members start complaining.

The app is programmed to recognize system updates, which could provide meaningful upgrades on the current service for rowing machines or treadmills. The activity tracker can also give gym owners a better understanding of what machines its members are using, what the peak times are, and how long equipment is used per person.

LFconnect Protect requires fitness equipment capable of connecting to the internet, meaning some older devices may stay offline. Life Fitness claims to be working with 10,000 facilities globally.

Will a connected gym amp your workout?

Life Fitness also provides another app, LFconnect, which gives gym members a better workout routine that provides an customized outdoor workout. Instead of just running on the treadmill for 20 minutes or lifting weights, LFconnect will push you to new equipment and routines that you haven’t tried before, mixing up your workout.

On the iOS App Store, users have reported issues with the app in its current form, claiming that information provided from LFconnect is very basic and there isn’t any real progression for gym members.

Life Fitness is determined to make the gym a connected zone, where owners and members can work in harmony. It has already integrated fitness trackers and apps into its platform, and in the future we may see support for smart clothes and other emerging technologies. 

How IoT can cool down a hot problem

In October 2015, a refrigerator thermostat at Stanford Children’s Health failed, spoiling ten different types of vaccines and causing 1,500 kids to receive ineffective vaccinations. Unfortunately, failed thermostats are not an unusual issue and can cause ruined blood samples, vaccines and other important tests, costing millions of dollars and placing lives at risk.

To prevent lost bio samples, hospitals are now turning to IoT-monitoring platforms which deploy sensors to alert hospital and lab administrators of temperature irregularities in real-time, helping them fix the problem before it starts.

One solution to losing bio samples: connected thermostats

DataToWeb is an IoT monitoring platform from the company based in Montreal, Canada, that reduces the risk of losses, facilitate the management of regulation complacency and reduce workload related for the management of temperatures in hospitals, laboratories and pharmacies by automating temperature readings and alerting when there is a deviation.

I spoke to their CEO, Hakim Rouab, about their services. Like many startups, temperature regulation through IoT was not their original intention; rather, they pivoted from home energy monitoring.

Roubac was prosaic in admitting that it was great to being in a sector where we can provide a business solution to an identified problem. “We’re bootstrapped. we are very happy because we struggled with energy monitoring and now we are very lucky to have found a business where customers pay for the service that we provide,” he said.

In discussing the need for temperature monitoring, he said:

“We’ve heard so many bad stories about what happens when a laboratory or hospital’s fridges and freezers are not at the right temperature. 80% of our customers previous to our services, were having a person go around several times a day (usually between two and four) and manually check the temperature of each fridge or freezer.

 There are significant consequences if hospitals fail to meet basic monitoring standards, and they cannot operate if they do not monitor their supplies accurately. There’s also the need in many instances to monitor room temperatures and humidity. Every time there is a big issue in hospitals, it is typically just before national holidays, we heard of an example when someone in maintenance just shut down the entire supply of Co2 for their incubators throughout the entire hospital.”

 

It’s easy to predict a media outcry if patients realized the need for “do-over” tests due to incorrectly stored samples. Roubac noted:

“When someone has a liver biopsy or blood sample, you don’t really want to ask ‘Can you come back for another test, we had the throw the first one out!'”

DatatoWeb also has the advantage of being within the health industry but not subject to the restrictions of regulation due to the nature of their data. “We don’t store patient data, only machine data, so we don’t require all of the regulation around privacy of people” he explained. “Our system is safe to hacking, people cannot access data from our server.”

I asked what would happen if their service failed, as technology is wont to do very occasionally.

“We’ve used the services of  Compose since 2015, we had problems with our previous databases, so we now use mongo DB,” he replied. “Because this is an alert system, we really don’t want to have downtime. We had downtime once with our previous database and it wasn’t great. Luckily, our customers typically use back-up.”

The next step for DatatoWeb is to scale their business outside of Canada and expand their customer base.