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.
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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
(View all)With respect, who cares about your blood pressure levels?! I get your bank details (but they are on the "cloud" as you put it), but who cares about your heart rate, blood, weight, etc.
Insurance companies. Unscrupulous employers in at-will-employment jurisdictions who wish to limit absences caused by ill health. Potential employers with the same motivation. It's not as if these things haven't happened before even in the pre-Internet era. This is why health data privacy laws exist (or, at least, how they were promoted).With high blood pressure being the 'silent killer' & mine not being the lowest at times, I'm interested.
I actually own one of these and have been using it now for about 6 months. I checked it' accuracy just recently at my doctor's and it was in what I believe to be an acceptable margin of error, which seems to be maybe about 5 points high.amazon UK have sold these on Prime for over a year so I guess the unit is same but now its in apple stores, thats the 'news' can I just confirm:
1/ you can set daily notifications to check blood pressure, and info will be sent via bluetooth to iphone 6?
2/ being an apple watch user, what interaction if any does an apple watch play in all this, does it interact with the app with pulse?
3/ does the app always need to be open in the background.?
thanks in advance.
ps
I do have access to a monitor for free, so could be sold on saving £79.00 & setting my own reminder.
The cloud personal info doesn't bother me. thanks
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.
They want your information so it can be capitalised on. It's very common that devices and solutions are designed just so that the "customer's" private data ends up in the hand of the "provider".
Yup. That'll teach these people. Don't buy it. Even if it helps your health, resist. It's better to scorn these people than to do something that might prevent a heart attack or stroke.Greedy bastards.. :)
/sarcasm off
With respect, who cares about your blood pressure levels?! I get your bank details (but they are on the "cloud" as you put it), but who cares about your heart rate, blood, weight, etc....how do you think everything syncs together?
Insurance companies --> Banks.I think you're reading into the conspiracy theories a bit too much....