Apple launches app to let users enrol in health studies
Google to buy Fitbit for $2.1 billion
Cigarette smoking rate hit record low
Apple bans vaping apps from the App Store
A pple Inc. recently launched an app that will let users of its devices to enrol in three health studies, allowing them to share health-related data for medical research. The studies are conducted in partnership with research institutes, including Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. People who download the research app would be able to enrol in studies including Apple Women’s Health Study, Apple Heart and Movement Study and Apple Hearing Study.
A lphabet Inc.’sGoogle agreed to buy smartwatch maker Fitbit Inc. for $2.1 billion US in cash, a move that could shore up the internet giant’s hardware business while also potentially increasing antitrust scrutiny. Google will pay $7.35 USD per share for San Francisco-based Fitbit, according to a statement by the company. That represents a 71 per cent premium to Fitbit’s stock price before Reuters reported Google had made a bid on the company on October 28th. The deal is sure to attract regulatory scrutiny. State and federal authorities are investigating Google for potential anti-competitive practices related to how it handles consumer data and operates in the digital- advertising market. Though Google isn’t a leader in smartwatches or fitness trackers, regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere will likely have questions about what Google intends to do with the data Fitbit users have shared over the years, including intimate health and location information.
C igarette smoking in the U.S. hit another record low last year as more people attempted to quit, according to a recent annual study published from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 13.7% of U.S. adults, or 34.2 million people, said they smoked last year, according to the CDC’s study analyzing data from the 2018 National Health Interview Survey. That’s down slightly from 2017, though the change is not statistically significant. Use of tobacco products overall remained largely the same. The findings present both good news and bad news. Good news is that cigarette smoking is at the lowest level since the CDC started measuring it in the 1960s however, the bad news is that use of e-cigarettes among adults increased to 3.2% in 2018 from 2.8% in 2017. These products are billed as a less harmful alternative for people to consume nicotine.
A pple has announced that it will ban vaping- related apps from its App Store and has removed all 181 vaping-related apps currently available. The move comes amid reports of thousands of vaping-related illnesses and 42 vaping-related deaths. The sale of tobacco and vaping cartridges has never been allowed through the App Store. The newly banned apps are instead a mix of store apps, games and hardware companion apps that let users regulate things like the lighting and heating of vape pens. Apple device users who have already downloaded the apps will be able to continue using them. However, Apple started to separate itself from vaping-related apps in June of this year, when the company stopped accepting new apps that promoted the use of vape products.
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DECEMBER 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • DECEMBER 2019
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