My cellular medical monitoring article -- more prescient than I thought? Apple's fitness patents

Earlier this month I wrote my weekly CMP “Internet Evolution” column about the development of medical monitoring products and services for cellular.  Perhaps I was a bit more prescient than I thought because Apple might be developing something a bit similar.

According to AppleInsider, Apple is developing a variety of products for fitness/health uses, including medical monitoring.  The publication has posted about 20 photocopies of potential features, with multiple screen shots (see below). 

The article says, “A series of patent filings discovered by AppleInsider this week provides an overview of four distinct components that will comprise the system, including an iTunes-like software application, hardware-based heart rate and physiological sensors, a rewards tracker, and a component to facilitate synchronous group activities.

“Akin to a more advanced version of the company's Nike + iPod sport kit, the companion system would utilize a new software application for Macs and Windows PCs that would serve to ‘interview’ the user via a series of dialogs.”

Nokia’s efforts

Nokia is arguably the most innovative cellular phone manufacturers and conducts a tremendous amount of research.  It has debuted a beta version of a health application, Sports Tracker, for keeping records of workouts (see below).

Sports Tracker works with GPS devices to plot the location of jogging and walking.  The software is compatible with many Nokia Nseries and Eseries handsets as well as other models, such as the new N82, which I discussed in my camera phone weblog.

(As I was researching the Sports Tracker, I came across an interesting post from Jenifer Hanen, a Web designer and blogger who takes lots of photos with Nokia phones, including the N82 and N95.  She writes how the Sport Tracker could be used as a camera phone photo application with GPS tracking.)