Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

A leading company in mobile medical technology, LifeWatch AG, will introduce a new medical smartphone model in Azerbaijan.

The cost of smartphones will be 600-700 manats ($763-$891).

Yair Tal, CEO of LifeWatch Technologies, a subsidiary of LifeWatch AG, said the company was determined to present the new model in Azerbaijan, expecting great interest of local consumers.

LifeWatch Technologies plans to obtain a certificate in two or three weeks to enter the Azerbaijani market.

Menu bar of the phones will be first in English, while the Azerbaijani and Russian languages will be available in the future.

The company plans to present the new model at the international telecommunications exhibition BakuTel 2012 on November 6-9 in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.

The LifeWatch V Smartphone is a fully featured android-based phone which supports the user's well-being in many ways, including medication intake reminder, a pedometer application, planning the diet, exercise and weight.

Placing fingers on the sensors the LifeWatch V's users can measure and track their medical condition, take corrective action, plan meals, activities and more, which previously required the use of dedicated devices.

The LifeWatch V tests not only electrocardiogram (ECG), body temperature, blood glucose, heart rate, oxygen saturation, body fat percentage and stress levels (heart rate variability). It contains health tests and apps, tests result delivery, historical data analysis and even physician connectivity.

The smartphone tests blood glucose with no additional devices. Test strips can be inserted in a special area on the phone's stainless steel frame. The ECG test is automatically analyzed by a smart algorithm and analysis is presented within seconds.

Each test result made by this smartphone will be automatically and securely saved to a remote server or shared in a report format with a third party, via email or text message.

LifeWatch AG chairman and CEO Yacov Geva said the smartphone will be especially useful to help manage many aspects of a chronic medical condition such as diabetes. For health-conscious consumers, the device can also remind you to take vitamins or measure footsteps, plan diet or log workouts.

LifeWatch AG announced the upcoming availability of the world's first healthcare smartphone in the summer.

The LifeWatch V smartphone is powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and packs a single-core Qualcomm MSM7227Turbo processor.

It also comes with a 4.3-inch LCD capacitive touch screen that supports 480 x 480 pixels resolution and 16 million colors. There is also a 5-megapixel rear photo snapper and a VGA front-facing camera for video calls.

On the inside, the device embeds 1GB of ROM, 512MB of RAM and microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB). Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, as well as built-in GPS are included as well.

LifeWatch Technologies, headquartered in Neuhausen am Rheinfall and listed on SIX Swiss Exchange (LIFE), Switzerland, is the leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative telemedicine products and technologies for those who are concerned about health conditions, such as obesity, on-set diabetes, COPD, hypertension and cardiac problems, and those who are in need of medical supervision and monitoring.

LifeWatch services cater to individuals, ranging from high-risk and chronically ill patients, to consumers of health and wellness products. LifeWatch has subsidiaries in the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Israel.

TechFaith Wireless Communication Technology of China will manufacture the smartphones for LifeWatch based on the Israeli specs and industrial design. Interface will be available in Hebrew, English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese.

LifeWatch expects to launch sales after receiving the European CE mark and Israeli regulatory approvals; and in the United States next year, following clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).