Google and Apple team up to save diabetic

Jake Smith

The iPhone is great in many ways, but perhaps one of the best cases is in a medical emergency. KVAL reported a 57-year-old Oregon man was suffering from a diabetic reaction while driving down a local highway. (Video link here.)

When two medical responders came to the scene and tried to assist the man, they ran into quite a language barrier. The man only spoke Chinese, but luckily, one of the responders knew to reach for his iPhone. He fired up Google Translate and was able to speak Chinese with the man to figure out his condition and give him the help he needed.

Cross posted on 9to5Google.com

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Yep, it is here: Oregon lets citizens vote for U.S. House by iPad

Jake Smith

In tomorrow’s election, disabled voters in five counties across Oregon will now be able to vote from an iPad. Election officials will be equipped with an iPad to visit disabled voters in nursing homes, parks, and various other places so they can cast their votes easier. The preloaded app on the iPad will allow the user to tap the screen to select a candidate, and then the ballot will be printed out by an Election official.

For the disabled that can’t do it themselves, Election officials will touch the iPad for them. And for the voters with poor vision, the app allows them to change the font size and color to their satisfaction.

Apple has donated five iPads to Oregon to test out the program, but the Oregon state government had to spend $72,000 on the software that runs on the iPads. To deploy the iPad statewide, if the pilot program is successful, the state would need to buy 72 iPads (2 per county) for a total of $36,000. If successful, this program will most likely spread country wide. (via Yahoo/AP).

This is just the first step…

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