Latest news with #pulseoximetry
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
TNB Tech Minute: Apple Watch Gets Blood Oxygen Feature Back - Tech News Briefing
Full Transcript This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated. Julie Chang: Here's your afternoon TNB Tech Minute for Thursday, August 14th. I'm Julie Chang for the Wall Street Journal. Apple is bringing back the blood oxygen feature for some models of the Apple Watch. The iPhone maker was forced to remove the capability nearly two years ago due to a patent dispute with medical technology company Masimo. The feature known as pulse oximetry measures oxygen saturation in blood. In a statement, Apple said users of some models of the Watch Series 9 and 10, as well as the Ultra 2 will be able to use the redesigned feature with a software update being pushed later today. The tech giant also said it was enabled by a recent US customs ruling. A spokesman from Masimo didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. And the buy now pay later company Klarna saw a jump in revenue in the second quarter. As momentum in the US, its biggest market continues to accelerate. The company posted a revenue of $823 million up from $682 million in the same period a year prior. Last year's figure was inflated by the sale of its online checkout solution, Klarna Checkout. The Swedish financial services company said it added 202,000 merchants over the past year, and it said it's expanding its footprint through partnerships with Walmart, eBay, J.P. Morgan, and more. Finally, Chinese Tech giant Tencent's accelerated second quarter revenue growth shows its investments in artificial intelligence have paid off Citi analysts said in a research note. They said the contribution of high margin revenue streams such as domestic games and video accounts, as well as its disciplined spending on AI has enabled Tencent to continue to grow profits. Tencent's gaming business has become one of the earliest segments to benefit from AI. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Friday's Tech News Briefing podcast.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
Blood Oxygen Measurements to Return to Some Apple Watches
Apple said on Thursday that it would return blood oxygen measurement features to some Apple Watch models, after U.S. Customs approved a revamped version of a technology that had become embroiled in a patent dispute. The tech giant said that it would issue a software update that will restart its Blood Oxygen app on some Apple Watch models in the United States, including the Series 9, Series 10 and Ultra 2. The company had removed that technology in January 2024 after losing a patent case. The software update is the latest twist in a dispute over the origins of the technology used to detect blood-oxygen levels. Masimo, a medical technology company in Irvine, Calif., helped pioneer the technology, called pulse oximetry, and complained to the International Trade Commission that Apple had infringed on its patents. The court ruled against Apple in 2023. Masimo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rather than discontinue sales of the Apple Watch, the tech giant sought and received permission to continue selling the device after removing the feature. It also had its engineers work on a software update that would restore the feature without infringing on Masimo's patents. It needed U.S. Customs approval to begin shipping the software. It's unclear how the patent dispute has affected Apple Watch sales. After the company removed the feature from its watches to comply with the court's ruling, sales declined by 10 percent to $16.58 billion, according to estimates by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Apple first released watches with the ability to detect blood oxygen levels in 2020. The technology was sought after at the time because Covid-19 had the potential to cause low oxygen levels and respiratory issues. In a statement on Thursday, Nikki Rothberg, an Apple spokeswoman, said, 'Apple's teams work tirelessly to create products and services that empower users with industry-leading health, wellness, and safety features that are grounded in science and have privacy at the core.'
Reuters
07-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Apple, Masimo spar over Apple Watch import ban at US appeals court
July 7 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab asked a U.S. appeals court on Monday to overturn a trade tribunal's decision which forced it to remove blood-oxygen reading technology from its Apple Watches, in order to avoid a ban on its U.S. smartwatch imports. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard arguments from the tech giant, medical monitoring technology company Masimo (MASI.O), opens new tab, and the U.S. International Trade Commission over the ITC's 2023 ruling that Apple Watches violated Masimo's patent rights in pulse oximetry technology. Apple attorney Joseph Mueller of WilmerHale told the court on Monday that the decision had wrongly "deprived millions of Apple Watch users" of Apple's blood-oxygen feature. A lawyer for Masimo, Joseph Re of Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear, countered that Apple was trying to "rewrite the law" with its arguments. The judges questioned whether Masimo's development of a competing smartwatch justified the ITC's ruling. Apple has told the appeals court that the ban was improper because a Masimo wearable device covered by the patents was "purely hypothetical" when Masimo filed its ITC complaint in 2021. Irvine, California-based Masimo has accused Apple of hiring its employees and stealing its pulse oximetry technology after discussing a potential collaboration. Apple first introduced pulse oximetry in its Series 6 Apple Watches in 2020. Masimo released its blood-oxygen tracking W1 watch in 2022. Masimo convinced the ITC to block imports of Apple's Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in 2023, based on the commission's determination that Apple's technology for reading blood-oxygen levels infringed upon Masimo's patents. Apple temporarily resumed sales of the watches the next day after persuading the Federal Circuit to pause the ban. The Federal Circuit reinstated the ban the next month, leading Apple to remove pulse oximetry capabilities from its watches in the United States. Mueller told the court on Monday that the ban was unjustified because Masimo only had prototypes of a smartwatch with pulse oximetry features when it had filed its ITC complaint. Re responded that Apple was wrong to argue that a "finished product" was necessary to justify the ITC's decision. The case is Apple Inc v. ITC, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 24-1285. For Apple: Joseph Mueller of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr For Masimo: Joseph Re of Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear For the ITC: Ronald Traud Read more: Apple files appeal after Biden administration allows US ban on watch imports Apple to sell some watches without blood oxygen feature after US court ruling Apple asks US appeals court to reverse Apple Watch import ban
