Nokia to debut digital health range this summer
Nokia has generated great interest with plans to re-launch its much-loved classic 3310 mobile phone, but is also looking to return to true innovation with a range of new digital health products.
Nokia acquired the Withings company last year, which included a range of connected health products, including scales, trackers, blood pressure monitors, thermometers, and home cameras.
The core offering will be a redesigned Health Mate mobile app and brand new remote monitoring software, Patient Care Platform.
The Health Mate app will act as a single point of health information gathered from all connected Nokia devices, acting as a 360o view of a user’s health that includes information about weight, activity, sleep, and blood pressure.
The app will also include a series of new coaching programmes designed to help users achieve their designed health goals within an eight-week plan.
The company’s Patient Care Platform will act as a communication platform between patients, doctors and caregivers, letting doctors remotely monitor the health of their patient.
One of the biggest hurdles is gaining proof of its effectiveness, and then persuading healthcare providers to pay for the service in the long-term. To company already has a major pilot underway with the UK's NHS, centering on a 69,000-person study of its use in lowering hypertension rates.
"Nokia is a powerful global brand that is synonymous with innovation, connectivity and great design," said Cedric Hutchings, vice president of Digital Health at Nokia. "Withings joined Nokia because we share a vision to inspire individuals to take control of their own health. With the full power of a brand recognised for trust, reliability and quality, we will reach more people and impact more lives to help the human family be healthier together."
The company has a number of other technologies being developed. It unveiled a major new digital health projects last June with Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki (HUS) to develop remote patient monitoring devices for patients.
Meanwhile its Precision Research Challenge is a partnership with Stanford University to investigate the impact of technology in managing chronic health conditions.
In January, it launched a ‘smart’ hairbrush called the Kérastase Hair Coach, which measures hair quality, and its Withings Steel HR activity tracker. Both products won Innovation Awards at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
