CardioNet hires financial advisor, mulls sale CardioNet hired Lazard Freres & Co. of New York to evaluate its options, CEO Randy Thurman told investors on a conference call. Analysts believe the move means CardioNet may seriously consider a sale. CardioNet previously hinted it would consider a sale, according to the Wall Street Journal; Jefferies & Co. analyst Joshua Jennings told the newspaper that CardioNet’s move to hire Lazard shows that the previous talk wasn’t just hype. 
NYT, WSJ review Fitbit, DirectLife, Contour USB The New York Times‘ David Pogue and the Wall Street Journal‘s Walt Mossberg both published connected health device reviews in their respective newspapers yesterday: Pogue turned in a double-header for Fitbit and Philips’ DirectLife devices, while Mossberg tested Bayer’s just-unveiled Contour USB meter for diabetes management. Mobihealthnews has a synopsis of each.
Health devices with Bluetooth LE set for 2010 The Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which develops technical specs and evangelizes Bluetooth technology, announced today the formal launch of Bluetooth Low Energy, a part of the Bluetooth 4.0 specification. Bluetooth Low Energy has already garnered the support of the Continua Health Alliance, a consortium of more than 220 companies working on interoperability for personal medical devices and systems.
Center for Connected Health’s startup: SmartBeat Boston-based health system Partners Healthcare’s Center for Connected Health spun out a startup initially focused on a high blood pressure management service earlier this year. The startup was temporarily named “Connected Health,” while it shopped around for venture capital and a better brand name. The center recently announced that the startup will be called SmartBeat.
Brian Dolan is editor of MobiHealthNews, the emerging wireless health industry’s daily monitor.
