BIOS: Technology Means Business

Bluetooth wireless technology is expanding beyond consumer electronics and will soon be used in medical, health and fitness devices.

These new wireless devices are expected to help detect medical problems early and potentially save millions of dollars in medical bills.

New uses of the short range radio frequency communication technology may soon allow medical products like blood pressure cuffs, weight scales and cholesterol monitors to communicate with one’s mobile phone or PDA, and can also send doctors personal health information on their patients.

Technology experts predict that this form of communication could be put to use in managing chronic disease or reminding people to take their medications. Those striving to improve their personal health through diet and exercise will benefit from this technology as well, by wirelessly monitoring weight, heart rate or tracking exercise performance.

“Awareness of Bluetooth technology continues to rise and more consumers are beginning to understand the full functionality of the technology,” said Michael Foley, Ph. D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “As consumers are relying more heavily on their mobile phones, they are turning to Bluetooth technology as a convenient way to send and receive information.”

Television network CBS is leveraging file transfer in its new billboards in New York’s Grand Central Terminal to beam show clips and trailers to interested people’s mobile phones, smartphones and PDAs. Bluetooth-enabled billboards also appeared in a Toronto subway as part of a promotion for the Lord of the Rings musical, offering consumers the chance to download ringtones of songs from the show.

This application apparently provides an unobtrusive way to reach consumers as users must make their mobile phone discoverable and accept the file before the information is transferred to their mobile phone.

[Bluetooth technology in healthcare video] [WMV, 4.51MB]

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