Earlier we’ve told you that the government of South Korea is considering to designate the Galaxy S5 as a medical device. Well that ain’t gonna happen with the country’s Food and Drug Safety Ministry deciding to change the law instead.
The current regulation says that any device that can “diagnose, treat or prevent diseases” must be treated as medical equipment. Since Sammy’s flagship comes with a built-in heart rate sensor, it would have to take that route. Alas, an amendment to the law will be introduced in roughly a month to distinguish between two types of heart rate sensors — one type will be used medical and the other for leisure purposes. Guess which category the Galaxy S5 fits into?
It is said that a similar rules are also in place in Japan, UK and the US, though we haven’t checked that.
As far as I can tell, South Korea has reacted wisely. We expect to see many other phones packing a heart rate sensor in the future, and that would create a nightmare for the regulators. Heck at one point, heart rate sensor could become a default feature of many Android phones, potentially making the phone clearance process much more demanding. Luckily that won’t be the case…
[Via: mHealth Spot]