Qardio today announced that its QardioArm Smart Blood Pressure Monitor is rolling out to Apple retail stores around the world. As of this week, the QardioArm is available in more than 30 countries, including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, with the accessory set to roll out to the United States and additional countries in the near future.
The QardioArm is a Bluetooth-connected blood pressure monitor that's able to deliver real-time data on blood pressure to an accompanying iPhone app. It measures both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, along with heart rate, and it is able to detect irregular heartbeats. It has been approved by the FDA and its accuracy is clinically validated to meet U.S. and European standards.
Powered by 4 AAA batteries, the QardioArm measures in at 2.7 x 1.5 x 5.5 inches, making it small enough for travel. The accompanying app includes features for setting goals and reminders, tracking irregularities, and more, plus it can deliver information to the Apple Health app on the iPhone.
"We are very happy to extend our working relationship with Apple into retail. Qardio and Apple share a vision that brings together technical excellence with beautiful design and a delightful user experience. QardioArm embodies that vision: a medical-grade blood pressure monitor that actually makes people want to take control of their heart health and helps them do so," said Alexis Zervoglos, Chief Business Officer. "We are excited to be reaching more people than ever and to be building further on our many successes."
The QardioArm joins several other health-related iPhone-connected products Apple offers, like the iHealth Wireless Blood Glucometer, the Swaive Thermometer, the Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor, and the iHealth Wireless Pulse Oximeter.
As part of a Black Friday promotion, Qardio is currently selling the QardioArm at a 20 percent discount on its website, dropping the price from $99 to $79.20. Until the discount ends, those looking to purchase a QardioArm can get a better deal from Qardio than through the Apple Store.
Update 12/8: Qardio's QardioArm is now available from Apple's online store in the United States and Canada.
Top Rated Comments
1) You can set multiple reminders and have them repeat on whichever days that you choose.
2) You can start a measurement from your watch and it will display readings there, though to be honest I have not really used this functionality even though I do own a aWatch.
3) No, the app does not need to be open in the background, only when you are taking a reading. It does not do automatic readings, they have to be triggered within the app or on the aWatch.
All in all I have found the device very usable. It is fairly compact and easy to travel with. It takes a few AA batteries, which I have not had to replace yet since receiving the device. The app does a pretty nice job of tracking your readings and presenting that information. My only issue with the device has been that on occasion it doesn't seem to connect via bluetooth and I have to switch off bluetooth on my iPhone (6s+), but that always resolves the issue. As far as the privacy concerns, I have a separate email account setup just for these types of things and don't provide it my real data and it's been just fine that way. Regardless, not too worried about someone getting my BP data.
If you have any other questions, I can try to answer them the best that I can.
/sarcasm off
I also appreciate that some folks live outside the U.S. and aren't familiar with our health care system. In our system, individuals like independent contractors can find it difficult to get affordable insurance, even post-Obamacare. Small and large businesses alike can be charged very different rates for health insurance based on the demographics of their employees. There are very real monetary incentives for both insurers and employers to get access to individual health data. Just because software says it's "HIPAA Compliant" doesn't mean there's any legal obligation for the company to keep data confidential, because software companies are not health care providers and the privacy rules under the HIPAA act don't apply to them.
Finally, there's no technical reason whatsoever for these data to be put onto proprietary corporate servers. iPhones are perfectly capable of doing all the computations involved, and iPhone data is easily backed up through iTunes keeping it completely local, or through Apple Healthkit which is end-to-end encrypted. Remember, those corporate servers are typically in data farms outside the U.S. (or Europe), where rates are cheaper but U.S. and EU law don't apply. These corporations are small and poorly capitalized, and therefore at risk of bankruptcy or takeover which means your data goes "poof" and your must-have-corporate-cloud device becomes worthless.
In short, there are LOTS of reasons why MANY customers can and should find this business practice objectionable. No tin foil hats, just thoughtful folks who may have a bit more experience.