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Kaiser Permanente Takes Millions Of Medical Records Mobile With New Android App

vertical8 — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:29:01 +0000

We’ve recently written about some exciting new ideas and technology that will transform medicine in 2012 , how mobile technology is playing a role in this transformation , and lauded investor Vinod Khosla addressed the question of whether or not algorithms (and technology) will replace doctors. Younger, smaller companies have flexibility, and can often have a greater impact on innovation and evolution of industries than giant corporations that have been around for decades. When we talk about innovation and technology touching the health industry, it’s hard not to mention electronic medical records (EMRs). As recently as 2009, The New England Journal of Medicine found that only 1.5 percent of U.S. hospitals have a comprehensive electronic medical health system. Practice Fusion, a venture-backed startup we’ve covered recently , has become one of the biggest providers of EMRs in the country, with 25 million digitized to date. While the free web-based system for physicians is making some great progress in this area, and is catalyzing change, it has to be tempered by the prior statistic — there’s still a long way to go. That’s why it’s such great news for the industry, when older, giant corporations — the big kahunas — jump on the bandwagon and show they’re willing to help push their industries forward. Founded in 1945, California-based Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest not-for-profit managed care consortiums and health plan providers in the country, with 9 million members, nearly 170K employees, 15K physicians, 35 medical centers, and 430+ medical offices under its fold. Yesterday, the health care organization announced the release of a free Android app and mobile-optimized website through which its millions of members can access their own medical information on the go. This means that Kaiser Permanente patients can get full access to the company’s health record system and all that comes with it, which they already could do through kp.org, from their mobile devices. In 2011, Kaiser more than 68 million lab test results available online to their patients, and through the Android app and mobile web app, patients can now get 24/7 access to lab results, diagnostic information, direct and secure email access to doctors, schedule appointments, and order prescription refills. The company plans to release an app for iOS in the next few months, but in the meantime, non-Android users can get access to the same set of secure tools through its new mobile-optimized website through their devices’ browsers. What’s more, the apps also make it possible for family members and other care providers to get access on behalf of patients and accomplish the same tasks that they could at kp.org. This is great for people who are traveling and need to receive care from non-Kaiser Permanente providers. The company’s data on how people are accessing its site is very telling, too, as it validates the notion that mobile technology has become an essential part of healthcare, as Kaiser told us that 14 percent of visits to its website now derive from mobile devices, a 46 percent growth since January 2011. The health plan provider has previously released mobile apps for the iPhone, one that helps patients locate KP facilities and another app that encourages people to walk and pursue healthy activities, and while both are great tools, neither have the implications that giving broad access to EMRs does through Android, and soon iOS. Kaiser Permanente has made some great strides in HealthIT, and is set on pushing forward in mobile technology as well. If the other big health plan and healthcare providers follow suit, this can have an enormous effect on the health industry and patient care. It’s already further validation of the importance of EMRs. You can find the Android app here .

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Kaiser Permanente Takes Millions Of Medical Records Mobile With New Android App

Location-Based Shopping App Shopkick Now 3 Million Users Strong; 1B Deals Viewed

bestcbstore — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:00:18 +0000

Shopkick , an innovative geo-coupon system that is backed by Kleiner Perkins, Greylock, SV Angel and others, is debuting a number of momentum numbers today. The startup’s service now has 3 million active users, up from 2.3 million active users in September. Here’s how Shopkicks works. Instead of checking in, as you would with a geo app like Foursquare, Shopkick automatically recognizes when someone with the free Android or iPhone app on their phone walks into a store. Once a Shopkick Signal is detected, the app delivers reward points called “kickbucks” to the user for walking into a retail store, trying on clothes, scanning a barcode and other actions. Kickbucks can then be redeemed across all partner stores for gift card rewards or for Facebook Credits. User can also receive special discounts on specific products at partners stores like Macy’s, Best Buy or Target. National retail partners in the loyalty program include Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, Crate & Barrel, Old Navy, American Eagle, Sports Authority, Toys R Us, Simon Malls and others, and 20 brands (P&G, Unilever, Kraft, Colgate, Clorox, Disney, HP, Intel). For example, one of the partner retailers is estimating $50 million in measurable incremental revenue as a result of the Shopkick mobile app. To date, Shopkick has seen 1 billion in-app deals and offers viewed, and in December, saw 5 million walk-ins to partner stores, doubling in four months. The app has seen 10 million product scans, up from 7 million in August 2011 and 3 million in February 2011. During the 2011 holiday shopping season, shopkick users interacted with stores through the app more than 3.1 million times per day on average, up from just over 1 million in August 2011. Sixty-four percent of all shopkick users are now women and the average shopkick user is 30 years old. As we’ve written in the past, Shopkick’s technology is helping physical retailers drive traffic and conversions in the store, which has been a challenge of late.

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Location-Based Shopping App Shopkick Now 3 Million Users Strong; 1B Deals Viewed

Steal This Book!

blogger — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:11:48 +0000

Nobody wants to be told that their business model is obsolete. Ask Kodak . Or Hollywood . And the publishing industry is slower on its feet than most. Bookstores don’t want to believe that they’ll ultimately lose 75% of their pre-e-book business to that scourge plus Amazon delivery. (I’m assuming e-book market share will eventually plateau somewhere north of 50%.) Meanwhile, publishers cling to the model wherein readers purchase books individually, usually before they’ve been read: a model so entrenched that many seem to find it literally impossible to believe that alternatives might exist. I’ve been lamenting that paucity of imagination in my columns here for some time now . It’s why publishers have lashed out so ineptly at any suggestion of a subscription model. But I’ve also been saying for five years that publishing’s business model will ultimately become even less restrictive than that. In the end, lo these many decades from now, most books–and all novels–will be free to read, and their readers will decide whether and how much to pay for them after reading them. I know, big talk, no action, right? So: The rights to my technothriller Invisible Armies finally reverted to me last month. It’s my personal favorite among my thrillers; it’s won acclaim from The Economist , Bruce Sterling, and a host of others — and now I’m releasing it and its sort-of-sequel Swarm 1 online, for free, under a Creative Commons license. You can download them to the device of your choice from Feedbooks . (Which, by the way, is awesome. Android users: the mega-popular Aldiko e-reader app is one of several with built-in Feedbooks integration) Links: Invisible Armies , Swarm . (Some Kindle users may have to sideload , I’m afraid. Sorry. Talk to Amazon.) Anyone who wants to pay for either book after they read it can buy an e-copy from iBooks or the Kindle Store 1 at their leisure. (I’m deliberately not linking to either here.) That’s pretty clumsy, I know: I expect that in the future e-books will come with a “Pay What You Want” interface on the very last page. But hey, you have to start somewhere. Obviously I’m far from the first to free my books. The Baen Free Library has been around for years. Tim O’Reilly says , “In my experience, losses due to piracy are far outweighed by the benefits of the free flow of information, which makes the world richer, and develops new markets for legitimate content.” And Cory Doctorow , of course, has been doing it for his entire oeuvre from day one. But Cory is kind of sui generis . The real test is whether a critical mass of hundreds, if not thousands , of writers — especially ones who, like me, have been previously anointed as Real Authors by the almighty dinosaurs of the publishing industry — start doing it. And, well, here’s one more small step in that direction. Let’s see where we all end up. 1 Invisible Armies is about hackers, anti-corporate protestors, globalization, and the surveillance society; Swarm is about fleets of UAVs in The Wrong Hands. 2 Unless you live in Canada, where HarperCollins still claims those e-rights. Sorry. The whole international-publishing-rights thing is a colossal mess, and will remain that way some time.

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Steal This Book!

Google Commerce Starts The Year Off With A Reorganization

user — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:11:42 +0000

Some of Google’s core product areas , like search and YouTube, have the enviable duty of retaining market dominance. Others, like its Android mobile operating system, get to be the free-wheeling disruptor. Google Commerce, meanwhile, has the perennial chore of trying to gain ground versus a vareity of well-established payments competitors ranging from PayPal on the web to Apple’s iTunes and Amazon on mobile. So, it’s not that surprising to hear about a reorganization within the commerce area as Google tries to figure this space out, as we and others did yesterday. Stephanie Tilenius , one of the two executives that Google poached from PayPal a couple years ago, has been moved to the side, according to two industry sources I’ve spoken with. Google PR gave us and All Things D the same statement regarding the matter, and didn’t say much more: “Stephanie is moving to a new role where she will oversee global strategy and work with key partners to expand our commerce efforts internationally.” Her title hasn’t changed, and no one has been promoted to take her spot. But here’s what I’ve pieced together. She was previously overseeing Google Checkout, which has been folded together with Google Wallet. The other PayPal executive who came over with Tilenius, Osama Bedier , is also in charge of Wallet. They previously had relatively shared duties, with Bedier being the “functional lead” and Tilenius above him on the org chart. Due to the change, Tilenius, Bedier, and the other functional leads in commerce, like Sameer Samat for Offers and Shopping, are all reporting directly to Jeff Huber, Google’s senior vice president for Commerce and Local. So, she’s not in charge of things that she used to be. Tilenius has over a decade of payments industry experience, but her two years at Google haven’t been as mind-blowing as the company no doubt hoped when it hired her — a third industry source also tells us that she’s gotten mixed reviews inside and outside the company. As of today, only two phones from one mobile carrier currently support Wallet, and Verizon has blocked it, as Business Insider notes. And it probably hasn’t helped that PayPal owner eBay sued Google over the allegation that Tilenius and Bedier brought its trade secrets with them . Maybe this reorganization will help Google finally make the payment market share it’s been trying for through all these years?

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Google Commerce Starts The Year Off With A Reorganization

In Face Of Protests, Congressmen Begin To Abandon SOPA Ship

Achilles — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:27:27 +0000

In case you haven’t noticed, a lot of sites like Reddit and Wikipedia are blacked out today in protest. Google blacked out its logo and is running a huge advertising campaign (including on TechCrunch) to get Internet users to sign petitions and oppose the bills. We’ve changed the TC logo in support, which links to another petition if you click on it, and you can learn more about the issue by reading our SOPA coverage . The online uproar against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in Congress is already causing some in Washington to abandon the SOPA ship. The tide began to turn this weekend when a hearing scheduled for today was canceled and the White House pushed back on some of the more controversial portions of the House bill and its Senate counterpart, the Protect IP Act (PIPA). Already, a couple of co-sponsors of the bill are pulling their support. Representative Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) is no longer a co-sponsor, and Representative Lee Terry (R-Neb.) is also planning to remove his name from the co-sponsor list, according to Politico . One Congressman, Representative Justin Amash (R-Mich.) is even joining the protest movement. He changed his Facebook profile picture and added the added the note below to his Facebook page . Excerpt: On Wednesday, January 18, I will join others across the Internet in a 24-hour “blackout” to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate. These bills give the federal government unprecedented power to censor Internet content and will stifle the free flow of information and ideas. In protest, I have changed my profile picture and will temporarily disable your ability to post independent content on my Wall (although you still may comment under this post). Demand that Congress and the President keep the Internet open and free. Please borrow my profile pic, share this message, and contact your Representatives and Senators in Congress to urge them to protect your right to free speech by opposing SOPA and PIPA. Dude, you are a Congressman . You keep the Internet open and free, and tell the people you work with to do the same thing. Thank you. Okay, who’s next?

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In Face Of Protests, Congressmen Begin To Abandon SOPA Ship

Citi Backs Gift Card Exchange Plastic Jungle

admin2 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:18:25 +0000

Plastic Jungle , which operates an online gift card marketplace , has received a strategic investment from Citi Ventures , Citigroup’s investment arm. The size of the capital injection was not disclosed. The startup has previously raised over $23 million in financing from Jafco Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and First Round Capital, among others. Plastic Jungle allows people to sell unredeemed gift cards for up to 92 percent of the gift card value, or purchase gift cards at a significant discount. The San Jose, California-based company says it exchanged “hundreds of thousands” of gift cards and “tens of millions” of gift card value across 400 brands in 2011.

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Citi Backs Gift Card Exchange Plastic Jungle

Bionic Panda Builds A Social Gaming Business On Android, Raises Funding From Top Investors

A D M I N — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:54:02 +0000

If you’re trying to build a mobile game for the hardcore crowd, you’re going to want things like at least moderately elaborate graphics … you’ll probably choose to build on iOS first. But if you’re trying to build a casual-style game that anyone can play easily, that reaches as many people as possible, Android is looking better and better. That’s at least the thesis behind Bionic Panda , the Android-focused gaming company from veteran entrepreneur Charles Hudson. The company is today announcing some growth numbers and a founding round — in other words, its strategy seems to be working out so far. Its first game, Aqua Pets , will be familiar to anyone who has played the many popular aquarium care titles on Facebook over the years. You feed fish, buy pretty new ones, clean your aquarium, etc. Since launching early last year, the title has managed to get 3 million downloads on Android, and is one of the platform’s top 100 grossing apps. The company, meanwhile, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Norwest Venture Partners , Google Ventures , 500 Startups , and angels Craig Sherman and Kal Vepuri , as well as from SoftTech VC , where Hudson is a Venture Partner . “We’re not doing the Kabam/Kixeye thing,” Hudson explains, contrasting Bionic Panda’s approach to building social games with the action and violence-themed RPGs and simulations those developers build for hardcore gamers on Facebook. Instead, he says, “we’re focused on casual. The nice thing is that these games tend to have big mass market hits — which gives you the ability to benefit from volume and scale on the Android platform.” What he means is that the Android operating system now has the most market share of any OS in the US , with the same trend happening around the world. Even if it offers fewer development possibilities, it offers potentially bigger market opportunities. A big existing issue, of course, is payments. Similar to other free-to-play social games, Aqua Pets relies on users getting hooked (har) on the free play, then deciding on their own to buy fish and accessories. Hudson tells me the company is a believer in Google’s payment product, Wallet (which now includes Checkout), even with the relatively lower monetization rates per user versus similar iOS games, because Google is working hard to improve it, and because he’s seeing it catch up. The current problem is that Wallet has far fewer credit cards on file than iOS. As of last year, Apple said it had some 200 million credit card-connected iTunes accounts , which it has been accumulating over the past decade, largely through digital music sales. While any of these users can make one-click purchases, Android users who want to pay via Wallet most likely don’t have an account yet, so they’ll have to deal with the friction of setting one up. Hudson, who is also a social gaming industry expert — he’s the co-author of the Inside Virtual Goods reports — notes that many developers report two to four times higher revenues per user on iOS versus Android. But this problem, as he said, is allayed by the company’s casual focus, by Android’s increasingly large market size, and by the gains in its payments systems. But it’s not only focused on the Google world. Hudson is openly interested in Amazon’s Kindle implementation of Android, and given his company’s overall goal of reaching as many users as possible, he’s not opposed to moving on to iOS at some point. Next up are two more games from the company (presumably for Android first): Poker Farm Pets and Angry Zombies.

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Bionic Panda Builds A Social Gaming Business On Android, Raises Funding From Top Investors

HTC And Sprint Working On Software Updates That Remove Carrier IQ

jos — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:08:57 +0000

Most of the furor surrounding the Carrier IQ diagnostic software has wound down by now, but that doesn’t mean that the companies involved have already forgotten. HTC has confirmed to The Verge that they were working with Sprint to push out maintenance updates that would remove the Carrier IQ software from affected devices. The rollout already seems to have begun, albeit slowly — a recent update for the Evo 3D has indeed removed Carrier IQ, along with packing some battery and performance fixes. There’s no word yet on when other devices will soon experience life without Carrier IQ, though I imagine it’ll take some time to bake up an update for each particular handset. Samsung couldn’t be reached for comment at time of writing, but hopefully they’re working on something similar as more than a few of their Android handsets have been revealed to run the Carrier IQ software. Sprint has been in something of a holding pattern recently where Carrier IQ was concerned. Back in December, representatives from the country’s third-largest wireless carrier confirmed that Sprint would no longer be “tasking” devices for diagnostic data, although they made no mention of any efforts to remove the software. Well, no public mention anyway. Geek.com reported at the time that Sprint had entered into back-room talks with several of their hardware partners (HTC included) in which they stressed the importance of removing the Carrier IQ software from affected devices on the network as soon as possible. Not a surprising move considering the kerfuffle they and other companies were embroiled in thanks to Carrier IQ’s initial PR blunders, but announcing that they were taking steps to remedy the issue via software update could have scored Sprint some serious brownie points. If I had to guess, it all came down to an issue of timing — if Sprint made it publicly known that they and their hardware partners were working on a fix with no ETA, they would open themselves up to scores of emails, forum posts and blog entries about why the company has yet to deliver. Rather than risk another PR headache, Sprint (perhaps wisely) kept their collective head down until things blew over, and are now working to make things right.

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HTC And Sprint Working On Software Updates That Remove Carrier IQ

IK Multimedia Adds MIC Cast, STOMP and MIX to their iRig Line

kram412 — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:59:29 +0000

IK Multimedia unleashes a plethora of new hardware this week at CES 2012 within their iRig line. This triumvirate of products look to make it easier than ever to use iOS devices, live and inline, with analog musical instruments like guitars, bases, vocals and regular DJ consoles. I have used several of their devices in the past with excellent results, so I am stoked to see how this new group of products perform. First up, the iRig MIC Cast This miniature microphone looks to be a smaller, more compact version of their previously released iRig MIC (which I have to say I love). I have the older, larger version right here in my computer bag and use it constantly for recording interviews and voice overs. The tight pattern noise cancellation on the original iRig MIC is excellent and is extremely useful in loud situations (like CES). The new, smaller iRig MIC Cast promises similar noise canceling, in a smaller more compact package. If matches the original in that arena, it stands to be an excellent in-the-field microphone for mobile devices. Check back for updates after I get my hands on one. Here are the detailed specs straight from the press release: Features a stereo mini-jack headphone output which enables real-time monitoring of what is being recorded using headphones or speakers. Offers a mini-switch that provides two different sensitivity settings to record close-up or distant sources. Includes an adjustable desktop stand for convenient iPhone/iPod touch positioning during recording. Has a bumper-friendly mini-jack connector that fits the majority of iPhone/iPod touch cases. Has an ultra-compact profile that can be carried anywhere with ease. Like other IK Multimedia microphones, it includes 2 free apps: iRig Recorder, an easy-to-use voice recording/editing app, and VocaLive, a multi-effects processing app for singers. Works with all regular phone calls and any Voice-Over-IP app. Is compatible with iPhone/iPod touch/iPad. Offering live monitoring is a nice touch and very useful for interviews. You definitely don’t want to record a whole conversation only to find out you had the microphone too far away, etc. iRig MIC Cast costs $39.99/€29.99 (excl. tax) and will be available in Q1 2012 from electronic and music retailers around the world. For more information: www.irigmiccast.com Next up, the iRig STOMP This interface for using IK Multimedia’s excellent AmpliTube guitar modeler, finally makes it practical to use your iPhone as a tone source for live guitar or bass use. The form factor of the iRig STOMP is that of a traditional Stompbox guitar pedal, which allows for “hands free” use. More press release specs: Compact, durable yet lightweight, aluminum-cast enclosure integrates easily into any traditional pedalboard. Can be used inline with other effects pedals, or directly connected to amplifiers or PA systems using regular ¼” guitar cables with no need for adapters. Allows precise adjustment of the signal for perfect guitar and bass levels with its large input gain knob. Active battery-powered output circuit improves headroom, especially when used with high-gain amplifiers in the AmpliTube app reducing feedback and crosstalk when recording. The bypass switch allows engaging or bypassing the AmpliTube app chain of effects –like a traditional stompbox – for seamless integration into any existing rig. Ultra-compact form-factor can be easily carried on the road. Features a 3.5mm/1/8” jack for silent practicing with headphones. Includes AmpliTube FREE app and can be used with any other guitar processing app that uses the iOS mini-jack I’ve toyed with the idea of using AmpliTube as the sole source for playing upright bass at small gigs, but the inability to truly “bypass” was always a deal-breaker for me. This could enable that scenario. We’ll see. iRig STOMP costs $59.99/€44.99 (excl. tax) and will be available in early Q2 2012 from electronic and music retailers around the world. For more information:    www.irigstomp.com And lastly the iRig MIX which the makers tout as “The first mobile mixer for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad for DJ’ing anytime, everywhere.” Again, IK has developed hardware that mimics traditional setups for DJing, yet added an easy way to use iOS devices as the source, enabling compact setup. I doubt this will ever actually supplant the true sounds and art of vinyl DJing, but surely anyone that has shlepped a huge stack of records to a show could appreciate the smallness going on here. In any event it looks like it could be one part of a DJ setup. Pricing and availability is as follows: iRig MIX costs $99.99/€74.99 (excluding taxes) and will be available in February 2012 from electronic and music retailers around the world. Pre-orders are already available from the IK Multimedia online store and other selected resellers. For more information:   www.irigmix.com

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IK Multimedia Adds MIC Cast, STOMP and MIX to their iRig Line

Developer Sells iPhone App On eBay, Starting Price: $1

ACMAir — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:34:53 +0000

Mobile app developer Neal Schmidt, maker of the scavenger hunt game Buckshot , is selling his iPhone app on eBay where it had a starting price of just $1.00. The app was posted to eBay on December 29th, and, according to the listing is for “complete ownership” of the game, including both the free and paid versions. As of today, the app has received 17 bids and is currently up to $202.50. According to the seller “ nSchmidt7 ,” the multi-player photo scavenger hunt game now has attracted 20,000 registered players since its May 2011 launch. It generates $300/month in revenue from sales and iAds in the free version. In addition, the Amazon cloud server the app runs on is a little more than $2/day. The developer also claims its the “easiest thing in the world to maintain” – which of course begs the question, why sell the thing? That piece of information is notably missing from the app’s listing. A guess? The longtail of mobile app development in this case wasn’t profitable enough to be worth the effort, as minimal as it may be. But the sale is apparently legit. Both the developer’s Twitter account and the app’s Facebook Page link to this blog post detailing the eBay sale, which also showed up via tips. The seller’s account has been an eBay member since March 2008 and has a 100% positive feedback rating (61 reviews). According to the listing, the sale will end on January 5th. We’ve reached out to Schmidt directly to ask why he’s decided to move on from Buckshot, and will update when we hear back . Update : Neil has responded explaining why he’s selling the app. He says he’s tired of paying $99/year to use iTunesConnect, is tired of Apple’s 30% cut of everything he generates and is tired of waiting in line for a week or more with the Apple Review Board every time he has an important update. (Ouch!) Going forward, Neil says he will invest his time in HTML5 development instead. Selling complete ownership of my iPhone App on eBay: loggingpass.com/index.php/ipho… — Neal Schmidt (@nSchmidt7) December 30, 2011

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Developer Sells iPhone App On eBay, Starting Price: $1