Nokia drops Pulse Wave Velocity from its top range smart scale
Nokia has announced it is removing Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) from its top of the range Body Cardio scale. If you have one of these sitting in your bathroom, prepare to lose this function starting January 24th, 2018.
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PWV is a measure of arterial stiffness, or the rate at which pressure waves move down the vessels. The much published feature made its debut on the original Withings Body Cardio scale, which has since been re-branded under the Nokia umbrella.
Seen as ground-breaking at the time, the scale dishes out readings and provides an assessment within the Health Mate app. Taking age into account, the app then informs as to whether the PWV reading is optimal or not, and provides tips on how to improve it.
But it seems Nokia has been hit with regulatory issues.
“We brought the PWV feature to a home scale for the first time with Body Cardio. We are now learning its capabilities in the area of measurement of PWV may require a different level of regulatory approval,” says an updated FAQ from the company.
“In light of this, the decision was made to turn off the PWV feature. This action does not affect the other features delivered by our most advanced scale – such as weight accuracy, body composition, and heart rate readings.”
Nokia adds it has not made a determination yet on whether the feature will be making a comeback in the future. The company will stop shipping the Body Cardio for the time being, and plans to resume shipment in a few months time but without the much touted PWV functionality. This makes the difference between this and its cheaper Body+ scale much smaller.
So what does this mean for existing owners of the Body Cardio scale?
Unfortunately, it is not an option to opt out of the software update. From January 24th the PWV feature will be removed from your scale and you will not be able to access readings. You’ll have the option to download past readings as a CSV file, and Nokia has provided instructions on how to do this on its Q&A page.
As an owner of this scale, the news does come as a disappointment. While I can’t, of course, vouch for the accuracy of readings, the PWV metric did make the scale stand out from the competition. Even with the occasional snag in obtaining a reading, which would require stepping on the scale more than once.
The logical question is whether existing customers will be compensated or have the option to return the scale. Nokia provides an answer in an email it sent out today to all owners the Body Cardio scale.
“We know that this news may be disappointing. To make it up to you, we are offering a €30 credit which you can apply to anything in our webstore, including accessories. It will remain valid for all of 2018. If, however, the removal of this feature causes you to no longer want to use your scale, we are also offering a special refund policy.”
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