Digital Map to Monitor Users’ Health

A visitor tests the Reign health tracker bracelet by Jaybird, which monitors activity and sleep. Reuters
A visitor tests the Reign health tracker bracelet by Jaybird, which monitors activity and sleep. Reuters
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Digital Map to Monitor Users’ Health

A visitor tests the Reign health tracker bracelet by Jaybird, which monitors activity and sleep. Reuters
A visitor tests the Reign health tracker bracelet by Jaybird, which monitors activity and sleep. Reuters

A Chinese company has developed a digital map for every individual using DNA and samples of saliva and urine. This information is then used to inform the user of his / her overall health status and to help monitor early-stage disease.

During her trip to China last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the headquarters of a new private Chinese company specializing in the collection and analysis of health data for citizens in China to help them monitor their health all the time in return for a subscription, the German News Agency reported.

Collecting the largest amount of users’ data highlights the success of iCarbonX, founded by the Chinese Wang Jun, a biologist and programming specialist in 2015.

The iCarbonX aims to collect and evaluate the health data of about one million users in China over the next five years. The company cooperates with fitness clubs and medical clinics, as well as opening its own biological measurement stations in major cities in China, but also, aims to reach its data collection points to the user's home in the long run.

At the same time, the firm plans to develop a new generation of smart home appliances such as "toilets" that analyze urine, toothbrushes that analyze saliva, and mirrors that scan the user's skin to provide the best and most accurate health information.



Pinterest Plunges as Gloomy Forecast Dampens Revenue Rebound Hopes

Image sharing company Pinterest Inc beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue. (AFP)
Image sharing company Pinterest Inc beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue. (AFP)
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Pinterest Plunges as Gloomy Forecast Dampens Revenue Rebound Hopes

Image sharing company Pinterest Inc beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue. (AFP)
Image sharing company Pinterest Inc beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue. (AFP)

Pinterest shares tumbled more than 12% premarket on Wednesday after a muted third-quarter outlook dashed Wall Street's expectations for a stabilization in its revenues amid a rebound in the digital ad market.

The photo-sharing platform on Tuesday projected current-quarter revenue below analysts' estimates, as it struggles to keep up with the competition from bigger rivals including Meta's Instagram and Facebook and Alphabet .

The digital advertising market is bouncing back from a slump seen in 2022 and early 2023, but pockets of weakness remain and are eating into business at Pinterest, Reuters reported.

San Francisco, California-based Pinterest flagged material weakness in demand from advertisers in the consumer goods space, particularly food and beverage companies, which offset strength in ad spend in the technology and financial services sectors.

"The optics of a lighter (third quarter) guide will not help recently growing ad fears, and some will be concerned that food & beverage pressure — which has been isolated — could spread to other verticals with a potentially softer consumer," J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth said in a note.

Pinterest's outlook could also spell trouble for other smaller ad players such as SnapChat owner Snap and ad tech firm Trade Desk, analysts said, noting 18% of the gross spend at Trade Desk last year came from food and beverage firms.

Shares of Snap dipped more than 2% premarket on Wednesday, with Trade Desk down 1.5%. Pinterest is set to lose about $2.8 billion in market value, if losses hold.

Pinterest could take yet another hit from the lack of political ads on its platform, unlike Meta and Alphabet which are set to benefit from political advertising in the run-up to the U.S. elections.

"Pinterest... gets no benefit from momentum others will get starting end of August/early September," RBC analysts said, noting that could be a "few hundred" basis points of a headwind for Pinterest.

At least 11 brokerages cut their price targets on Pinterest.