How big data is helping aspiring moms crack the fertility code
photo: Valentyn Volkov
Startup Ovuline uses machine learning to make sense of women’s health data and help couples conceive. Read more »
Fitbit’s Flex wristband goes on sale: harder to lose, easier to track
photo: courtesy fitbit
Fitbit’s newest fitness-tracking device, the Flex wristband, begins shipping on Monday. It’s more conspicuous than clip-on models — which may not be a bad thing. Read more »
It’s not just about big data: here’s why small data matters to your health
photo: Digital Storm
The “digital exhaust” from your mobile phones and other devices could give doctors a valuable window into your wellbeing. Read more »
Cody app makes a play as virtual coach for casual fitness fans
Despite the number of fitness apps already available, Seattle-based Cody believes it can win over mainstream consumers with a virtual coaching app. Read more »
Vamonos! Runkeeper adds support for new languages in global sprint
Fitness tracking app Runkeeper has launched in six new languages in an effort to reach a larger international audience. Read more »
Jawbone brings its UP fitness bracelet to Android, returns to Europe
photo: Jawbone Facebook
Four months after releasing its new and improved UP fitness bracelet, Jawbone has launched an app for Android users. Read more »
Tictrac opens up to help make health tracking more mainstream
Tictrac, a startup that helps people aggregate data from various tracking devices, apps and other non-health tools, this week opened to the public. Read more »
Designing for health tech? Remember the 7 deadly sins
photo: Basis
Public health has long focused on awareness and attitude in promoting behavior change. But health behavior experts and others say that’s not enough — you need to trigger emotion. Read more »
Basis raises $11.5M for health-tracking wristwatch, adds Deepak Chopra to advisory board
Basis Science has raised a $11.5 million for its wristband that uses sensors to track several health indicators. The company also said that Esther Dyson and Deepak Chopra had joined its advisory board. Read more »
Danish ex-Nokians score $267K on Kickstarter for Leikr OpenStreetMap sports watch
The Leikr watch, which features a two-inch color screen, will hit U.S. shores this summer after a successful crowdfunding campaign that set a record for Danish Kickstarter projects. Read more »
70 percent of Americans track their health, but most go low-tech
photo: daniaphoto
A new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project indicates that 7 in 10 American adults tracks a health indicator like weight, diet, exercise or a symptom. But half say they track “in their heads” and about a fifth use technology. Read more »
Why it’s time for a Google smart watch
Google is reportedly looking to bring a smart watch to market. That’s not too hard to believe when you consider it already has one that few people know about. Read more »
Digitizing the doctor’s office: 7 ways technology will shape healthcare in 2013
photo: Brian A Jackson
What does the boom in digital health mean for the health care industry overall? As a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report lists the top issues in health care, we take a look the ways in which technology could shape the industry in the coming year. Read more »
How MiGym plans to quantify the health club workout
photo: Shutterstock / Kzenon
Chicago app developer MiGym is giving health clubs an app store presence, but it has bigger plans. It hopes to make the gym a critical element in the quantified self, tracking members’ workout data and sharing that information with fitness and health platforms. Read more »
5 apps for shaping up your health habits in the new year
photo: Mindbloom
It’s easier said than done to stick to New Year’s resolutions for getting more sleep, exercising regularly or undertaking any other health-related routine. But a growing set of apps help people improve habits through activity tracking, design and networking with communities of peers or experts. Read more »
LUMO Body Tech, maker of Kickstarter-supported anti-slouching sensor, raises $5M
photo: LUMO Body Tech
On the heels of a successful Kickstarter campaign for its smart posture sensor, LUMO Body Tech on Wednesday announced that it had raised $5 million in a Series A round led by Madrona Venture Partners and including Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors and Jerry Yang. Read more »
What we’ll see in 2013 in data
Everyone’s talking about the greatness of big data, but we’re nowhere near the promised land of what’s possible when we turn data loose on our lives. Here are three things to watch that could affect how companies and everday people consume all that info. Read more »
Nike-backed accelerator to support a new wave of digital fitness startups
On Monday, Nike announced the launch of a new Nike+ Accelerator, powered by TechStars. Through the program, ten startups that use Nike+ technology will received mentorship, coaching, office space and other benefits. Read more »
With sensors, apps & data, my smartphone is (almost) my doctor
Walking and running centric personalized health devices like Nike FuelBand and Jawbone Up will soon have company in the market place, thanks to Scanadu, which is making a vital health signs monitor, Scanadu Scout. Soon to follow, Scanadu Flu and other gadgets, FDA willing, of course. Read more »
Don’t do it! The gimmicks developers use to make their apps stickier
photo: Annette Shaff / Shutterstock.com
There’s a vast market for apps that tap into the human desire for self-improvement. But Boris Wertz of Version One Ventures says designers need to avoid relying on trendy gimmicks to woo potential users. Read more »
With $8M, Retrofit focuses on data, not dieting, to help people lose weight
Retrofit, a Chicago-based company offering a data-driven, expert-led weight loss system, on Tuesday announced that it had raised $8 million in Series A funding, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and including Correlation Ventures and Hyde Park Angels. Read more »
Note to startups: Don’t forget the ‘skinny jeans’ health trackers
Health tracking doesn’t need to involve high-tech apps and devices. According to early results from a Pew Internet & American Life Project study, 7 in 10 Americans could be considered self-trackers, if you consider those who monitor health with notebooks, journals and mental notes. Read more »
So you’ve collected oodles of personal data: Tictrac helps you actually use it
Tictrac, a U.K.-based startup, integrates with data from a range of third-party apps and tools — from those that monitor health and activity to those that track social activity and fundraising — to help users make the most of their personal data. Read more »
Will monitoring our health be like managing a stock portfolio?
photo: argus
Stephen Wolfram, the scientist and innovator behind Wolfram Alpha and Mathematica, has spent decades tracking his personal information. As the collection of personal data becomes more mainstream, he believes people could watch their health in a manner similar to how they manage their financial portfolios. Read more »
Healthrageous nabs $6.5M for personalized data-driven health support
Healthrageous, a Boston-based startup, has raised $6.5 million in Series B funding to enhance its mobile and desktop platform that gives patients a personalized, data-driven way to track and improve their health. Read more »
Subscriber Content
How emerging technologies will influence collaboration
Already, workplaces are changing because of trends like BYOD and gamification. But other emerging technologies are also altering what our workspace looks like and how we collaborate. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Analyzing the wearable computing market
With the growth of sensors and microelectronics, the potential uses of wearable-computing technologies now reach to health and fitness, gaming, fashion, disabilities and augmented reality. Most importantly, the widespread adoption of wearables will drive the form function and market for mobiles in vital ways. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Wired cashes in on health tech boom with new conference, online vertical
photo: Christos Georghiou
As investments in health tech and consumer interest in health-tracking devices and apps continue to rise, Wired magazine said it is partnering with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to host its first conference on digital health and the future of healthcare. Read more at paidContent »
Why Silicon Valley is addicted to adventure
While most of us are getting ready to coast into the weekend, maybe making plans to hit up happy hour later, Neal Mueller is setting out with three other men to become the first people to row across the Arctic Ocean. Why? Read more »
Startup HealthRally hopes social is the secret ingredient for wellness
HealthRally is what you get if you crossed Facebook with AMC’s Intervention . The startup, which raised $400,000 in seed money from noted angels and launches Thursday, allows you to reach personal wellness goals by getting friends and family to pledge cash to support you. Read more »
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Connected world: the consumer technology revolution
Connectivity changes everything. That’s the credo driving just about every corner of our day-to-day lives. As human beings, we are now connected to one another through not just our social networks but also our cars, the books we read, the albums we download and even our own health and wellness habits (to name just a few areas). With that in mind, GigaOM Pro has singled out certain areas in the technology industry where we see this shift to constant connectivity taking place most drastically. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
