A report published in
Bloomberg today includes interesting and previously unknown information about the Apple Watch. For example, in 2011, an unknown company named Avolonte Health had a small office in Palo Alto where it began working on developing a non-invasive glucometer. This would be a big problem for insulin-dependent diabetics who have to painfully squeeze a drop of blood from a finger, place it on a ridiculously expensive test strip, and insert it into a glucometer to get a reading.
This test should be done every day before every meal to help diabetics get their blood sugar readings. This data is used to help diabetics determine how much insulin they should inject before eating. Too much insulin could cause a hypoglycemic
reaction which could cause the diabetic to lose consciousness. Too little insulin can lead to high blood sugar levels that damage the diabetic’s organs.
The late Steve Jobs was behind Avolonte’s attempts to build a non-invasive glucometer
What no one knew at the time was that Avolonte was owned by Apple and the task for it to develop a non-invasive blood glucose monitor came directly from the
man at the top, the late Steve Jobs, who would soon succumb to pancreatic cancer. In 2015, the man who replaced Jobs as Apple CEO, Tim Cook, unveiled the Apple Watch. The watch, which Cook called “the next chapter in Apple’s story,” was initially supposed to have the Avolonte non-invasive glucometer as a key component. The feature wasn’t ready and Apple continues to work on it to this day (more on that later).
The Apple Watch appears on the wrist of a model on the cover of Vogue in China
Apple is still working on the non-invasive glucometer and Bloomberg reports that Apple spends tens of millions of dollars on this project each year. We called it the holy grail of smartwatch health complications, and given how much Apple spent on the project, it thinks so too.
Apple has almost completed a project that would have added Android support to the Apple Watch
Apple also worked on a plan that would have made the Apple Watch and Health app support Android devices. This was called Project Fennel and would have brought its health initiatives to countries where the company’s market share was low. Apple had nearly completed Project Fennel when the decision was made to cancel it, in part because Apple Watch sales are driving iPhone sales.
A person with knowledge of how Apple made the decision to abandon the project said: “If you abandoned the Watch in favor of Android, you would dilute the value of the Watch compared to the iPhone.” »
Apple has made it clear that it is not interested in “post-illness” healthcare and wants hospitals and doctors to be responsible for caring for patients. What Apple is focusing on is the “well of worry.” Adrian Aoun, founder and CEO of Forward, which runs high-tech in-person and remote clinics, said: “The main takeaway from their whole strategy is that they are moving away from the care itself. »
While he admits that Apple is working on “cool technologies,” he says they are “getting around the problem.” He adds: “Health care is complicated and you have to get your hands dirty. At some point you have to be ready to draw blood.”
