News

Apple Close To Adding Diabetic Glucose-Tracking To Watches

The Cupertino company has been trialing the technology for a decade, and it now looks like diabetes sufferers will soon be able to monitor glucose using their Apple watch.

Published

2 years ago

February 24, 2023

Nour Nasir

Apple

The Apple Watch has become a popular health and fitness monitoring tool in recent years, with features including a heart rate monitor, body temperature sensor, blood oxygen monitoring, and women’s health tracking. However, despite a growing feature set, the watch does have one notable omission: blood glucose monitoring.

According to data from the World Health Organization, around 422 million people worldwide have diabetes. Currently, the disease is monitored using a finger-prick test to measure glucose levels or by attaching patches to the skin.

Apple is now reportedly close to adding a non-invasive glucose monitoring solution to its watches after testing various technologies for the best part of a decade. However, it could still be a few years before the device is ready for mass-market application.

If Apple’s monitoring sensors get the green light from medical professionals, its smartwatches could also be used to screen users for pre-diabetic indicators, as well as help long-term sufferers to manage their condition without the pain and inconvenience of skin-prick testing.

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Apple will use a chip-based solution called “silicon photonics” to measure glucose levels, combined with absorption spectroscopy, which measures reflected light to gauge insulin. Although the technology hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed by scientists, the Cupertino company is thought to be deep into the proof-of-concept stage of testing.

Once Apple’s technology has been evaluated by researchers, the company will have to work on reducing the size of the chips, as experts believe that early prototypes are still too large to fit into the compact frame of a smartwatch.

News

Google Pay Launches In Lebanon With Support From Multiple Banks

Bank Audi, Neo Digital Bank, and Whish Money are all offering support for Mastercard and Visa cardholders.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 25, 2025

Nour Nasir

google pay launches in lebanon with support from multiple banks

neo Bank Audi

Google Pay has officially launched in Lebanon, allowing Android users to make secure, contactless payments via their smartphones. The rollout has been quickly supported by BLOM, BLF, Whish Money, Bank Audi, and its digital banking offshoot Neo Digital Bank. Customers of all three services can now add eligible Mastercard and Visa payment cards to their Google Wallets.

The integration enables in-store tap-to-pay transactions, as well as online and in-app purchases, using the same cards users already carry. For Bank Audi and Neo Digital Bank, the launch covers Mastercard products; for Whish Money, BLOM, and BLF it includes Visa cards. Payments are processed through the Google Pay platform, which maintains cardholder privacy while extending standard card protections.

To begin using the service, customers can download the Google Wallet app from Google Play, select “Add to Wallet,” and follow a short verification process. Once set up, payments can be made with a single tap — eliminating the need to carry physical cards or cash.

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“This launch represents a significant milestone in our commitment to digital innovation and customer convenience,” said Toufic Koussa, CEO at Whish Money. “By making Whish Visa Card available on Google Pay, we’re enabling our customers to make everyday transactions faster, more secure, and more inclusive. It’s about giving them the tools they need to transact seamlessly, wherever they are”.

The move follows the official activation of Google Pay in Lebanon on June 24, 2025, and marks a notable expansion of mobile payment options in a market where Apple Pay has yet to gain traction. Google’s entry is expected to increase digital wallet adoption among Android users and pave the way for further collaborations with regional financial institutions.