Whatever happened to Samsung's Simband? Fast Company has a deep dive today on the story behind Samsung's Simband wearable and SAMI platform, which were announced in a big way back in 2014 but aren't yet available commercially. The article tells the story of how Samsung rushed the program to launch in an effort to pre-empt the Apple Watch, then largely backed off the project once it became clear the Apple Watch wouldn't be the health device most people expected. That's only part of the story, which also includes some drama between Samsung's different business units and an update on the fate of the project: it's still underway in some capacity, but it's safe to say it's not as high as it once was on the company's priority list.
Evolent Health mulls merger. Evolent Health, a healthcare technology company that helps health systems transition to value-based care, is reportedly considering a merger with the Advisory Board, a health research and consulting business that currently has a 6 percent stake in Evolent. Reuters reported the news. Evolent actually launched in 2011 as a collaboration between the Advisory Board and UPMC Health Plan.
Old-school games for health. A new study published today in the journal Molecular Psychology suggests the game Tetris, an old arcade and computer game in which players manipulate falling blocks, could help prevent post-traumatic stress syndrome. In a study with 71 volunteers, people who had just been in a traumatic car accident were either asked to play Tetris for 20 minutes while visualizing the crash or assigned to a control group that performed a less visually-intensive task. The intervention group reported significantly fewer intrusive memories of the event in a one-week follow-up. After a month, however, the effects were no longer detectable.
New Fitbit hits the shelves. The new Fitbit Alta HR, announced at the beginning of this month, was officially made available yesterday. With the Fitbit Alta HR, the wearables company has added the PurePulse heart rate tracking technology from devices like the Fitbit Charge HR to the slimmer fashion-forward Fitbit Alta. The new version of Alta also adds additional features for sleep tracking.
