WirelessDoc

Moving: too busy to blog

See you on the other side.

Very viral: Microsoft designs iPod box video

The minimalist design with good function typifies the Apple brand strategy.

It works.

Other handheld manufacturers take note.

Technorati: iPod; Wikipedia: iPod

Running shoe iPod

Looks like the iPod Nano is now being configured as a wireless monitor to track your workouts.

From a story today in the WSJ, "When Nike Met iPod":

Apple Computer Inc. and Nike Inc. yesterday said they have teamed up to create a wireless system that connects Apple's iPod nano digital music player to certain Nike-compatible sneakers. Using a small sensor that's inserted into the sole of a new Nike running shoe -- the $100 Air Zoom Moire -- the system lets runners record the distance, time, pace and calories burned during each workout. Nike is also rolling out workout clothes that are made to carry iPods, and other compatible shoes will be launched later in the summer.

The is following the trend of using the must have/must carry handhelds (usually cell phones) as wireless monitors for either chronic disease or health maintenance purposes. But, in this case there will be tie-ins as the apparel mentioned above, and i-Tunes will be offering the musical workout routines of such sports luminaries as Alberto Salazar or Lance Armstrong.

The next step (all start-ups listen up), is to have the device interface with a database that will record your workouts and be able to show trends over time. Also, you could have your wireless monitor interface with your favorites treadmill or Nautilus machine.

The great thing about the Nano is that it uses flash memory instead of a hard drive, so it can take the jolts and knocks associated with vigorous exercise or dropping it on the ground. Also, there are not too many smart phones that are sweat resistant.

I'll have to talk with the folks at BodyMedia to see if they have anything in the works similar to this.

This series of photos on Flickr show Steve Jobs wearing the above mentioned running shoes. The photographer, Tien Mao, covered this press event yesterday with a great blog post.

Technorati: iPod; Wikipedia: iPod

.mobi domain name; The Future is Mobile

Wish I had time to elaborate on this story about the proposed .mobi domain name which will identify those sites which are optimized for the smartphone browsers, but I'm running at high speed today. You can check out this WSJ story that's been slashdotted (Is this verb in the dictionary yet?).

Om points to a Biz 2.0 story, "The Future is Mobile." I find that is enough to work with what we have at the present. Why is prediction elevated over implementation anyway?

Bluetooth SIG announces Medical Devices working group

The Bluetooth SIG is promoting Bluetooth wireless technology growth in medical, health and fitness sectors by the formation of this new WG.

The Bluetooth SIG today announced the formation of a Medical Devices Working Group. This team, made up of 19 member companies including IBM, Intel, Motorola, Nonin Medical, Philips Electronics and Welch Allyn, will work together to create and ratify a Bluetooth Medical Device Profile that will expand the use of Bluetooth technology into the medical, health and fitness markets. The new profile will ensure a comprehensive, yet easy, user experience and optimized interoperability between health-related devices and personal consumer electronics products such as mobile phones, PCs and PDAs where Bluetooth technology is already common.

Technorati: bluetooth; Wikipedia: bluetooth

Technorati: wireless monitoring; Wikipedia: wireless monitoring

Palm offers 700p deals for Treo users

For those who own a Palm handheld or smart phone, you will receive a free 1 GB SD card when you purchase a Treo 700p by June 11th.

http://News.palmnewsletters.com/cgi-bin13/DM/y/efYB0POXRt0FmE0OuQ0Gy

If you're upgrading from a Treo 650, you're eligible for a $150 rebate. You have to send your phone to Palm, and they'll check to see if it's in working condition. It might be a better bet to put the Treo 650 on Ebay once you receive your new 700p.

http://News.palmnewsletters.com/cgi-bin13/DM/y/efYB0POXRt0FmE0OuR0Gz

Technorati: Treo 700p; Wikipedia: Treo 700p

Wireless home monitoring: 2 large-scale studies announced

Boston Scientific Corp announced 2 large-scale studies testing their LATITUDE Patient Manangement System in managing heart failure patients.

The system includes the Cardiac Rhythm Management industry's first and only wireless weight scale, wireless blood pressure cuff and monitoring of patient symptoms. It is also the industry's only system that provides automatic alerting to physicians of heart failure conditions using a wireless weight scale. An abrupt change in weight could indicate worsening heart failure.

The first study, DECODE, will evaluate the data produced by LATITUDE and RENEWAL 3 RF (an implanted wireless-enabled cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator [CRT-D]). It is believed that such monitoring will result in better management of heart failure patients resulting in fewer hospitalizations.

The second study:

RAPID-RF is a multi-center, prospective registry investigating physician and patient responses to notifications automatically transmitted from the patient's home via LATITUDE Active Monitoring.

Wireless IQ fills in some of the details about these products, including, "RENEWAL 3 RF telemetry operates on the Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM) band without interference from cell phones and other commonly used radio frequency devices."

Technorati: wireless monitoring; Wikipedia: wireless monitoring

NB: For each of the tags that I create for the Wikipedia, if there is not article relating to this heading, I'll just go ahead and write a short piece as a start. Eventually, all of my tags with have articles associated with them. Over time, I (and let's hope others) will add to these articles.

Corporate Podcasting Summit: June 20-21, San Fran; Mobile Imaging Summit: Oct. 25, Monterey

Alan Reiter (Wireless Podcast Report, Camera Phone Report, and Wireless Muse blogs) will be speaking about wireless podcasting at his session.

He's also scheduled for a Mobile Imaging Summit in Monterey, October 25th.

I'm trying to clue him in about the possibilities for clinical use of the camera phone such as this example provided by Partners Telemedicine. There are medical podcasts being produced. I regularly listen to the Johns Hopkins Podcast.

UPDATE: Alan e-mails that he has been following this topic:

http://www.wirelessmoment.com/2005/03/german_medical_.html

http://www.wirelessmoment.com/2005/02/swiss_researche.html

http://www.wirelessmoment.com/2004/02/uk_research_gro.html

Technorati: podcasting; camera phone; medical cell phone Wikipedia: podcasting ; camera phone; medical cell phone

Apple Store 5th Ave NYC

When I got there about 5:30pm, I had to wait in line for 15 minutes to enter. I made it for the very last drawing for a macbook. They did 24 drawings each hour. It's spacious enough to try out the products, and enough help to answer questions, but that's it. There's nothing special to see there unless you're in the market for an Apple product. It's not like a book store where you could browse for something new while you're sipping a latte.

I thought that I'd try out the YouTube.com service. The embedded player is below. This company is supposedly laying out >$1 million/month to host this free service. There's no clear idea on how it will make a profit at this burn rate.

Technorati: Apple Store; Wikipedia: Apple Store

MobiVoip for Treo 700p

VoIP and Gadgets Blog is reporting on MantraGroup's mobiVoIP service which provides VoIP for Palm OS smart phones (via Wi-Fi for the Treo 650, and EvDO for the 700p).

I'd like to hear Andy Abramson's take on this.

Technorati: Treo 700p; Wikipedia: Treo 700p