Bell is developing wearable-device technology it claims that it is better than the Apple Watch or Fitbit.
After the technology measures its wearer’s heart rate, speed temperature, and location, among other features. The telecommunications head is looking at rolling out a version for use by the general people, as well as features for the elderly and the diabetics, and some that could be used to monitor parolees and prisoners.
Bell will be the first Canadian telecom to launch a wearable technology device.
“The point of difference between the Bell is proposing and what’s already there in the market would be the quite unique,” said Jonathan Peake, a senior lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology.
Bell has applied for the patents in the U.S. and Canada that layout a bigger vision for how its wearable technology could be used by both individuals looking to monitor ill loved ones, and by institutions wanting to track large populations.
The U.S. patent application, which was filed in December 2018 and became public in June, discusses how the telecom can build a wearable watch. However, the company explained The Logic it no longer intends to produce its own hardware and is instead hoping other firms will integrate its technology into their devices.
“We are not building a new device, but the network technology toolkits for application developers and third-party device manufacturers to use direct cellular connections for their devices, and specifically for providing connectivity to Bell’s LTE-M network,” said by Marc Choma.
The telecom’s patent application claims its technology is batter than the Apple Watch, Fitbit and Life Alert, due to its long battery life and direct connection with the cellular network.
“The usefulness of some wearable devices may be inhibited by short battery life, particularly for long-term usage situations such as those involving the elderly, where the wearable device has to be recharged the battery after few days,” reads the application.
“The LTE-M network provides fewer battery connections for a broad range of (Internet of Things) applications, and in the case of medical monitoring solutions for seniors, it can provide life-saving alerts for a variety of conditions,” Choma said.
“The smart bracelet may be used to tracking the prisoners’ location or monitoring them, tracking their location with low power consumption and also being able to measure other parameters such as their heart rate, which may indicate that the person is using some high stuff ” reads the patent.
Bell’s patent application suggests the device’s battery life would be more by using a less text-rich screen.
“The wearable device provides a simple user interface comparatively, for example using LEDs rather than a full display to reduce power consumption, so that the wearable device may monitor the user for a long period of time without requiring to remove for recharging,” reads the document.