Medicine and smartphones pt. 2

Never again do patients have to worry about their doctors being unavailable. Never again do med students have to worry about not having the right answer.

It’s hard to imagine that doctors still carry around pagers, a device that’s all but extinct, but it’s unfortunately true. Thankfully, smartphones have begun to replace the outdated gadgets and are using a technology that’s far more useful. Sure the smartphone can relay messages, but they are much more complex than that. The great thing about smartphones are the screens. Doctors can now receive EKGs on their smartphones and diagnose a patient. It’s no longer necessary for a doctor to log in to a computer to access the files he or she needs. A patient’s information is sent directly to the doctor.

Some people might worry about the screen size, though. Let’s face it, smartphones have small screens that make reading a trial let along looking at an important images and information to diagnose a potentially serious issue. Fear not. Tests have shown that doctors have accurately read the data 90 percent of the time, which is equal to live readings.

One issue with this convenience is the convenience. Do you really want your doctor taking a look at your information and diagnosing you while stuck in traffic? Or on a bathroom break at a family dinner? Doctors might be tempted to diagnose while distracted.

Med students on the other hand won’t have to worry about running out of the room to double-check something before they tell a patient. Learning is hard. It becomes even harder when the information isn’t readily available. Students can continue speaking with patients while they look something up. But, there’s a downside as always with this new technology. As a patient you’ll just have to trust that the student attending to you is working and not playing on the his or her smartphone.

Medicine and smartphones pt. 1

The more apps there are for smartphones the more convenient those inconviences in life become. Now you can use your smartphone to make doctors’ visits easier.

Going to the doctor is often a hassle, especially if you visit multiple doctors. With certain apps doctors can simply share medical records and doctors and patients can correct errors in these records with little to no hassle. Blue Cross sent out an app to more than 5,000 patients so they can carry their medical information and history with them.

Other apps all prescriptions to be sent from the doctor to drugstores, both chains and independent pharmacies. No more dropping off the prescription and hanging around Walgreen’s or waiting to get a call for the medicine to be ready for pick up. You can use apps to make sure there won’t be any adverse interactions between medicines or that allergies won’t be an issue.

Diabetics can even use an app to keep track of what they eat, blood sugar and insulin intake thanks to an undergraduate at Princeton University who wrote the app with his brother. The app takes the information inputed and then graphs the data. Thanks to a recent grant, the app should soon be able to be shared over the Internet so doctors can access the information and help patients.

E-mail money

PayPal has become a popular way of paying for purchases online. Most sellers on eBay or Etsy want buyers to send money through the e-commerce site. Now that idea is become more evolved so that people can send money to e-mail addresses or cell phone numbers. PayPal already lets users e-mail money.

According to Business Week, PNC, Bank of the West and other banks are starting to add person-to-person payment options for customers. In all likelihood this won’t be a free service, although it might only cost mere cents per transaction. After you send the money, your friend can decide if he or she wants to deposit the money or put it on a credit card.

This won’t be too hard for banks to start doing, after all Mercatus data shows that for people under the age of 35, a little more than 30 percent have used a cell phone to make a purchase or transfer money. Banks already send alerts and allow people to bank from their cell phones, this is just the next step. ABI Research predicts that person-to-person payments will triple over the next two years.

What about hackers? Well, if you feel comfortable banking from your phone then it’s no difference to send money to a friend from your cell. The same company will be handling the money. Business Week reported that cellular networks are hard to hack into and so mobile banking might be more secure than banking online.

If this is something that interests you then PayPal already as an app for iPhone and Android users. Then the next time you lend someone money for lunch, you don’t have to wait until the next time you see them, they can just send the money to your cell phone.

Swype faster than type

New technology is created to make our lives easier. Cell phones mean you can talk on the go. Then laptops meant you could do work anywhere. Smartphones mean you can do anything you desire anywhere the urge hits you. Technology is constantly getting, to quote Daft Punk, harder, better, faster, stronger. And more convenient.

Sometimes something comes out that I wonder if we’re all ready for just yet. Take Swype. It’s definitely innovative. It will definitely make typing quicker. But that’s contingent on if Swype is easy to use.

The concept is simple: instead of individually pressing on keys to type out words you drag a stylus across the touch screen, starting with the first letter of the word and then tracing a path to the rest of the letters. To be honest, I can’t figure out how it works. How does it not register all the other keys swyped over?

Don’t understand? Watch this video. You can skip to 1:23 to get to the demonstration portion.

It looks interesting but you better believe I won’t buy it without trying it extensively. This could be the kind of technology that peole love and makes things so much easier. Or Swype could be cumbersome and more trouble than it’s worth.

Smartphone no brainer

Really only one phone comes to mind when I think smartphone: the iPhone. I don’t own it, I think it’s a bit pricey, but let’s face facts: it’s the best out there and although Droid is cool, at this point it’s too new. But, while the iPhone makes up just over half of the smartphone market, Android smartphones, which have really only been out for two months, already make up one-fourth. That’s right, these two operating systems combined are 75 percent of the U.S. smartphone market.

I’m not terribly surprised. But I did find it interesting just how quickly Android’s numbers are building. I suppose that partly has to do with the fact that initially there was only one Android phone out and then just two weeks ago two more were added and onto the Verizon network to boot.

But speaking of Verizon and Apple, I missed the little tidbit that Apple is interested in bringing the iPhone over to Verizon as well when the exclusivity contract with AT&T expires. It’s an incredibly smart move. Just based on my own actions I know that if I had a job (student life is tough) and the iPhone was on Verizon, I would buy it. But I’m not switching over to AT&T, which I kind of hate based on what I’ve seen from friends who are on the network, just for a phone. That would be ridiculous. But if that phone came to me…

Fun fact: worldwide two systems also account for 75 percent of smartphones but the two are the iPhone and Symbian. Android has sold considerably less worldwide with only 11 percent of the market.

Following something mobile on a mobile

What?

In many cities food trucks have taken over the streets. NYC (among the many cities) food trucks boast everything from the traditional ice cream to cupcakes, tacos and dumplings. However, since food trucks are mobile, they are usually on the move and difficult to find. Thankfully, social networking comes to the rescue again.

Van Leeuwan ice cream truck

Now, these trucks can use Twitter and Facebook to keep their fans happy. Tweets will appear listing the location of the truck and sometimes a recommendation. For instance, today, Wafles & Dinges is promoting apple cider. Now any time the truck moves people can be instantly updated. It’s convenient for customers, but it’s better for the company because they won’t have to wonder how many people will find them.

You can even be on the streets looking for the truck and get the latest update of where it is. And there are food trucks all around the country. Know your favorite one but not where it’s going to be? Odds are pretty high that they have some sort of social media account to make announcements for your convenience.

When things are free

It’s a sign that technology is become more and more common place when it can be offered for free. In 47 airports around the U.S. there will be free Wi-Fi until January 15 and it will also be available on Virgin America flights. And it’s being offered by Google.

So how does this benefit Google? Think of all the new users that will be experiencing free Wi-Fi thanks to the company. They are able to get a hands on experience without committing to the company. And Google looks good because it’s not just free stuff that’s being offered, this is also a charity promotion.

When a user logs in, he or she will have the chance to donate some money. And Google will match that donation up to $250,000 at each airport.

So get into the holiday spirit. Thanksgiving is coming up and then Christmas and Hanukkah. It’s prime time for people to be flying to family, so take advantage of the free Wi-Fi, and maybe donate a little.

Waiting for the tablet explosion

When I first heard about tablet computers I didn’t know what they were and I didn’t see the purpose. But slowly tablets are becoming the newest technology that people are keen to get their hands on and companies all want to create one of. Tablets, for those who don’t know, are touchscreen computers and all sorts of companies are making them, such as Intel and Dell, Apple, and TechCrunch.

I can’t help but wonder if tablet computers, while interesting, might be obsolete almost as soon as they become big. With how much phones are able to do and the affordability of netbooks, tablets might have no place in the market. Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch and the creative force for the CrunchPad, had one thing in mind when he began to conceptualize his tablet “a very thin and light touch screen computer, sans physical keyboard, that has no hard drive and boots directly to a browser to surf the web.” It seems as though tablets are a mix between smartphones and netbooks; the size and capabilities of netbooks with the physical attributes (namely being touchscreen-based) of most smartphones.

They do look nice though.

The CrunchPad is thin and sleek. It seems that netbooks and tablets will eventually merge together to become one. And I believe that all computers and phones will have touchscreens a few years down the road. It can’t be denied that touchscreens are the technology of the future, they cut down on bulk and can actually make working faster (provided the touchscreens are top of the line and not just average). Some day we might all be just like the characters of Star Trek.

One-dimensional device

There are constantly new devices that connect people to one another and there are always new platforms – first there was MySpace, then Facebook and now the age of Twitter is upon us – for people to, as my middle school yearbook reminds me, keep in touch. With apps, smartphones and netbooks it’s easier than ever for people to access all of these platforms when they’re on the go. And the best thing is that one device does everything: you can browse the Internet, make calls, send e-mails and log in to Twitter or Facebook.

So I can’t help but wonder why someone would want to buy an additional device that does only one of these things. It’s a downgrade, it’s a step back technologically speaking. The theory is that the new TwitterPeek is for people who don’t want or don’t have a smartphone that can access Twitter. But let’s face it, for $99.95 for six months and an additional $7.95 a month or $199.95 for lifetime service, you’re probably better off getting a new phone that can access Twitter for cheaper than $7.95 a month or for free.

And who does TwitterPeek help exactly? My mom isn’t likely to get a smartphone when all she really needs a cell phone for is making calls to one of five numbers (the house, my dad, my sister, my sister’s house and me). She’s even less likely to use Twitter. Most people who use Twitter regularly are technophiles, people who like new technology. I can’t imagine there’s a very large group who will be willing to shell out the money for a device that only works with Twitter.

Even when it’s free the commenters at TechCrunch seem to dislike the TwitterPeek.

Endless Spiral

Earlier I went through Apple’s available apps and found out there were more than 90,000 apps. Now, things at the Apps Store have gotten a little weird. There are so many apps that there are now apps to find what apps you should get. A little ridiculous?

New to iPhone? Don’t know which apps are worth getting, especially ones that cost a fee? Well there are now apps that can recommend which apps your friends use so you can see which of the 90,000+ are worth a download or worth the price.

I’m not big on apps, mostly because I don’t see a use for most of them. Do I really need to sound like T-Pain? Sure it’s probably fun, but how often would I use something like that? Some of the apps, like ones for Facebook or navigation, are useful, but others are either poorly made or completely useless. I guess the question you have to ask yourself is, do you trust your friends’ taste? Or do you know that you have to take their favorites with a grain of salt?