Doctors are going to rely on their iPods to tell if a patent has a heart problem.

Apparently an iPhone App which costs $1.19 is replacing stethoscopes. More than 3 million doctors have downloaded a $1.19 application, which was invented by Peter Bentley, a researcher from University College London. Bentley introduced a free version of the app, which is being downloaded by more than 500 users a day.

Experts say the iStethoscope software, a major advance in medical technology, has saved lives and enabled doctors in remote areas to access specialist expertise. The thought of relying on gear which does not work when you hold it the wrong way to tell if you are alive or dead will send a chill down the spine of many hypochondriacs out there.

After all if you hold it to your ear the iPhone cuts out or needs a rubber band to work. We are not sure how reliable it would be for something important such as telling if someone is alive or dead. Fortunately the medical system has a few checks and balances. It is easier to develop technology than it is to get permission to use it.

Bentley said that he could create a mobile ultrasound scanner and an application to measure the oxygen content in blood, but the regulations stop him. Apparently people take dim view of turning the phone itself into a
medical device. Sounds like common sense to us.


Apple fanboys take virtual girlfriends on holiday
Reality they have heard of it

A Japanese games maker is making a killing by running a system where
Apple fanboys can take their virtual girlfriends to the beach.
The whole thing is based on the premise that Apple fanboys have had to
make do with virtual girls but cannot ever take them on holiday.
The holidays work like a mystery tour.  Scattered around the resorts are
two-dimensional barcodes use augmented reality" software.
This enables people to be photographed at the scene with their virtual
girlfriends.
The software was designed by Konami Digital Entertainment, who have
worked out that there is cash to be made from young men obsessed with
high-tech, manga and anime.
Now the game makers have gone a step further and teamed up with the real
city of Atami, an onsen, or hot spring town, 100 kilometres southwest of
the Japanese capital.
Local souvenir shops in the resort town have caught on and capitalised
on the love-struck new clientele, selling Love Plus-themed souvenirs,
from good-luck charms to steamed buns and fish sausages.
The software that the holidays are basedon is called Love Plus, has been
released only on the Japan and has sold nearly 430,000 copies.
The game has no sexual content, which is pretty much like an Apple
fanboy's real life.