If you are using a Series 4 Apple Watch in the U.S., Apple has now turned on the ability to use your Apple Watch to do an EKG/ECG. Just update to the latest version of watchOS, 5.1.2, to start using the feature. When you first configure the ECG app, you are also given the option to turn on having the Apple Watch do additional periodic checks on your heart. Apple points out that this feature can only do so much, and it is certainly no substitute for talking to your doctor if you are not feeling good. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to see how far Apple has extended the health capabilities of the Apple Watch in the short amount of time that the product has been available. I'm sure that Apple has much more planned in this area, and Alex Fitzpatrick of TIME magazine interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook and others to discuss this brave new world. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Michael Payne of Legaltech news discusses the end of paper as attorneys move from a legal pad to an iPad.
- Nazia Parveen of The Guardian reports on the trial of a pharmacist in the UK who was convicted of murdering his wife, in part due to evidence obtained from his iPhone and his wife's iPhone providing evidence of heart rates and moving around at specific times.
- Zac Hall of 9to5Mac has some good suggestions for using HomeKit to automate your holiday lights. My advice: if you do nothing more than this, adding a smart plug to a Christmas Tree is a huge improvement. It is much less awkward than reaching behind a tree to plug it in, may give you the ability to dim your tree, allows you to have the tree turn off automatically at a certain time, etc. And the ability to tell Siri to turn on your tree lights is really useful.
- Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal recommends the best mesh Wi-Fi systems. And as usual, her article has a great video to accompany it.
- Jonny Evans of Computerworld has 12 Siri tips that you might not know about.
- Dave Mark of The Loop notes a few new iPad Pro hardware tricks (such as the ability to spin your Apple Pencil -- I figured out that one too) based on a video from DailyTekk.
- Active military personnel and veterans can now get a 10% discount on Apple products, as noted by Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac.
- iOS 12.1.1 was released this week. It improves RTT/TTY support, which is a form of texting used by individuals who have difficulty making audio phone calls. As each letter is typed on one screen, it appears on the other person's screen. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac explains this feature and how RTT/TTY is improved in iOS 12.1.1.
- And finally, in this video, which Apple calls Real Stories, four people share stories of how an Apple Watch helped to save their life.