That’s down to using a sensor on the same side of your body as the light source. You have to do less precise things like measure backscatter. Which is why I doubt Masimo really had significant research into the specific techniques Apple is using, I guarantee all of Masimo’s hardware goes the more conventional route of shining a light through your body. I do wonder how enforceable their patents in general are, though, considering that the basic idea of a pulse oximeter isn’t covered under patent anymore.
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Apple Working on Software Fix to Avoid U.S. Apple Watch Import Ban
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I will do just that if they actually make the blood oxygen measurements worse.
There is no such thing as poaching staff. People are free to apply for any corporation they want.
"Engineers at the company are racing to make changes to algorithms on the device that measure a user’s blood oxygen level" -Mark Gurman
Given that the lawsuit and controversy had been going on for years it's unlikely that the engineers just started a contingency fix days before halting sales. Unless Apple is completely incompetent they would have explored numerous software and hardware technical workarounds already. It's likely they are just deciding on which previously implemented option to use.
Given that the lawsuit and controversy had been going on for years it's unlikely that the engineers just started a contingency fix days before halting sales. Unless Apple is completely incompetent they would have explored numerous software and hardware technical workarounds already. It's likely they are just deciding on which previously implemented option to use.
That makes it sound if they were or were doing something wrong.
They are not a troll and are within their rights of legal pursuit for what I can tell
You read something into my post I didn't say or imply.
Apple should just buy Masimo and be done with it…
Apple Defense Force Army out in full force today.
According to court documents, Masimo held meetings with Apple back in 2013 about using the medical technology company's tools in Apple products, but the talks broke down.
Later, Apple hired two Masimo executives and key engineers away from the company.
Masimo has claimed in legal filings that Apple poached the employees in order to illegally duplicate its technology.
Apple has denied that it violated any Masimo patents, saying Apple consulted with several medical technology companies before coming up with its own version of the blood oxygen tool.
Apple stops selling latest Apple Watch after losing patent case
Apple said sales of its Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches would be halted this week after it lost a case over whether the tech giant stole a patented blood oxygen feature from another company.
www.npr.org
Particularly in California, where both companies are based out of. California has very broad anti-noncompete clauses in its rule books (to the point where California claims to be able to regulate noncompete clauses between California companies and non-California employees). The legislation in question also criminalizes no-poaching clauses.
From the article:
They don’t seem to want money. They are super pissed because they feel that Apple straight up stole this from them after pretending they wanted to make a deal. And now they have a court order backing it up. They want something big.
Masimo’s patents all seem pretty trivial. Stuff like putting a cover over a sensor to block light. An oxygen sensor literally just looks at how red your blood is with a light sensor. Less red, less oxygen. That part can’t even be patented because the technology is 50 years old. I wonder if Apple is switching to analyzing sensor data with Neural Engine instead of more straightforward approaches.
They seem to have a history of litigating against competitors. The technology is really old. Too old to patent.
Do you have a source on that? My gut suggests that you’re probably on the nose (re enforceability), but I would like to be able to point people to a source about their patents.
Outside of those with pulmonary disease or the extreme hiker/mountain climber, I can’t imagine how the pulse ox is useful day to day. I’ve never used mine on my Ultra and I’m not sure most of my peers with Series 6 and up watches are even aware of the feature.
To those saying "just buy them", Masimo's current market cap is USD 6 billion and Apple would have to pay a multi-billion premium over that. The company's products are also exclusively commercial in nature and are used in hospitals and other medical facilities (though they are preparing to enter the consumer market with a smartwatch).
It can be useful for potential Sleep Apnea patterning as well as COPD monitoring, amongst other things.
As someone with a history of sleep apnea (I’m waiting on a pulmonology appointment to determine whether I still have it post-weight loss), I get the impression that it’s probably not good enough for me to use as a sleep air quality tracker (I don’t yet have a sleep watch with the feature, I only upgraded to a watch with it earlier this year). It’s more useful for a quick check in, I’d guess. And I’d imagine whatever technique Apple uses for blood pressure or blood glucose probably won’t replace a blood pressure cuff or a glucose monitor, either. Good enough maybe for people without specific health concerns, but probably not good enough for people with a medical need.
They specialize in this, their algorithms are proprietary, their sensors work on reduced peripheral blood flow and other factors like continuous movement and so on. Their products consistently monitor O2 better than competitor products and Apple basically poached their employees and executives in order to learn how to do it similarly, lol.
If any of this were the case - how come the ITC did what it did? You should also do some more research on Masimo…
So yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and turn off autoupdate and wait this one out.
This is part of why so many leave Apple after 15-20 years to pursue “passion projects” as in they wanna enjoy their work/life without having to work double shifts around the holiday because of this stupid garbage
Not actually illegal under California law, though. If Masimo had as strong of a case as they present, though, I think they’d be filing lawsuits against the two executives for breaching trade secrets. Since they don’t seem to be, I think their case is weaker than they let on.