Samsung announces open health care platform with modular hardware, cloud-based software
Less than a week before Apple is expected to take the stage at WWDC and unveil a health-focused addition to iOS, rival Samsung on Wednesday announced a healthcare initiative of its own with a $50 million innovation fund and new hardware and software platforms.
Samsung's Simband PCB
"Samsung's Digital Health Initiative provides an exciting opportunity for the brightest minds in the technology world to come together to develop the products that will, for the first time, put individuals in the driver's seat in understanding their own health and wellness," Samsung executive Young Sohn said in a release.
To jumpstart development, Samsung unveiled a wearable hardware reference design -- dubbed Simband -- and an accompanying cloud-based software architecture the company is calling the Samsung Architecture for Multimodal Interactions, or SAMI.
Simband is a modular hardware solution designed to maximize battery life and allow for new form factors and advancements in noninvasive sensing technology. SAMI, meanwhile, will act as a secure repository for storing unstructured personal health data in the cloud, in contrast to recently-failed programs from Microsoft and Google which focused on structured medical records.
Samsung said that it does not intend to sell products based on the Simband or SAMI platforms commercially, instead offering those technologies freely to developers.
The Simband sensor module
The fund, called the Samsung Digital Health Challenge, appears to be aimed at providing a foundation for development using the nascent hardware and software platforms. Apple made a similar move in the early days of iOS, partnering with venture capital firm KPCB to launch a $100 million iFund. The iFund strategy paid off both for Apple and KPCB, with the latter doubling it to $200 million two years later.
Many Apple watchers expect the company to show off new features in iOS 8 geared toward the same goal of collating and displaying health data from a variety of "quantified self" devices. The company is also thought to be deep into the development of a so-called "iWatch" that would sport an array of biometric sensors for personal health and fitness tracking and integrate closely with existing iOS devices.
Samsung's Simband PCB
"Samsung's Digital Health Initiative provides an exciting opportunity for the brightest minds in the technology world to come together to develop the products that will, for the first time, put individuals in the driver's seat in understanding their own health and wellness," Samsung executive Young Sohn said in a release.
To jumpstart development, Samsung unveiled a wearable hardware reference design -- dubbed Simband -- and an accompanying cloud-based software architecture the company is calling the Samsung Architecture for Multimodal Interactions, or SAMI.
Simband is a modular hardware solution designed to maximize battery life and allow for new form factors and advancements in noninvasive sensing technology. SAMI, meanwhile, will act as a secure repository for storing unstructured personal health data in the cloud, in contrast to recently-failed programs from Microsoft and Google which focused on structured medical records.
Samsung said that it does not intend to sell products based on the Simband or SAMI platforms commercially, instead offering those technologies freely to developers.
The Simband sensor module
The fund, called the Samsung Digital Health Challenge, appears to be aimed at providing a foundation for development using the nascent hardware and software platforms. Apple made a similar move in the early days of iOS, partnering with venture capital firm KPCB to launch a $100 million iFund. The iFund strategy paid off both for Apple and KPCB, with the latter doubling it to $200 million two years later.
Many Apple watchers expect the company to show off new features in iOS 8 geared toward the same goal of collating and displaying health data from a variety of "quantified self" devices. The company is also thought to be deep into the development of a so-called "iWatch" that would sport an array of biometric sensors for personal health and fitness tracking and integrate closely with existing iOS devices.
Comments
Oh Sami, have some shame...
Been sitting on this one for a while.
Yeah, Samsung is the first company that comes to mind, when I think about storing my medical info and using their health platform.
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And how pathetic is this timing? Don't tell me that it's just a coincidence, because I wouldn't believe you.
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The SAMI acronym should've been saved for something with lasting value.
Reference design => nothing really developed yet, but we're First! (until the Apple patent applications begin to show up from 18 months prior)
I was beginning to worry with, WWDC so close now, how come Samsung still hasn't come out with its preemptive, sloppy, cobbled-together, last-minute, First! product.
Personally, I'll buy the first to be placed on the market, especially if it is Samsung that manufacture it since I am very pleased with their products.
they're only "expected to take the stage at WWDC"? they haven't confirmed they'll actually be presenting anything? i thought the keynote was confirmed and being live-streamed? oh well, we can always hope.
to paraphrase clancey ... "that's some good writin', boys".
You spamming every thread with Beats jokes got old a long time ago. Stop being a douche.
You realize that everyone here knows you're a Samsung astroturfer, right? Stop spamming threads with your pathetic shilling, and go learn some English.
I predict that the peoples over 40 years will have interest to bear such health wearable.
Personally, I'll buy the first to be placed on the market, especially if it is Samsung that manufacture it since I am very pleased with their products.
BS. Nobody who values their health and also happens to be sane would trust Samsung.
jpd514, we over 40s peoples know who you are. Go try to fool children, it's your only (grubby) chance.
Less than a week before Apple is expected to take the stage at WWDC and unveil a health-focused addition to iOS, rival Samsung on Wednesday announced a healthcare initiative of its own with a $50 million innovation fund and new hardware and software platforms.
At least they are innovating, right?
You are absolutely right. Since You bring the subject, you will be happy to learn that news:
Facing a crisis due to the reduced order for Apple application processors (AP), the foundry business of Samsung Electronics has reached a new turning point. Global fabless customers have been continuously placing orders since Samsung Electronics (SEC) integrated the next-generation fab platform, such as 14nm FinFET, with Global Foundries. Whether the allied forces of SEC and Global Foundries will threaten the absolute power in the foundry market, TSMC, attracts our attention.
http://english.etnews.com/device/2961952_1304.html
Samsung's thinking they're onto something big, when it's simply going to be a niche market that people will dabble in for a day or two (hello gym memberships after the New Year!), then throw away in the closet next to the eight pairs of Nikes with empty iPod Sensor slots.
Unsurprisingly, Samsung will spend 83x on marketing, where x is the amount they will make on it.