connector at the end to plug into an iPhone or iPad. Launch the Withings app, tap the Start button and you’ll feel the accessory tighten around your bicep and slowly loosen up until the app gives you a reading of your blood pressure.

During my demo here at the Consumer Electronics Show, I scored a blood pressure of 160/90 — pretty high, but expected because this convention’s pretty stressful. After it took my pressure it gave me the option to look at my blood-pressure history in a 2D chart — nifty for monitoring progress.

“In the near feature, 30 percent of Americans will have to follow their blood pressure, so we think we have a big audience,” said Eric Carreel, chairman of Withings, a French company specializing in health accessories.

Withings is among a wave of new gadgets taking advantage of features inside mobile devices to monitor health anywhere and anytime. A similar device we saw last year was an insulin meter that connected to an iPhone for diabetes patients to plan out their meals and insulin injections using live data.

The Withings accessory ships this month for $130; the iOS app will be a free download in the App Store.

See Also:

• Wired.com Readers’ Best iPhone Dongleware Inventions
• Special-Purpose iPhone Accessories: Where Are They?
• iPhone 3.0 Wish List: Accessory-Powered Apps We Want

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Authors: Brian X. Chen

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