Apple broadens horizons into medical industry

A prototype of the iBeat, Apple's latest attempt to merge an mp3 player with a useful device.

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(JOFUS) -- As the electronics giant continues to corner the digital media market execs are expanding the product offering into medical devices.

Barely five years ago, Apple was floundering company on the throes of defeat in the consumer electronics industry. Since then the tech giant has released over 624 thousand variations of its popular iPod music player.

From the iPod to the iPod mini, the shuffle, the nano, the pico, the fermi, and lately the iPod 67in portable LCD TV, the iPod has been the flagship product for CEO Steve Jobs.

Apple has taken its success in the music player field and adapted it to other industries creating an iron grip on the digital media market. Not only are we subject to iTunes, but also iTV, podcasts, and iPoop all Apple branded versions of popular media formats and delivery systems.

Jobs and other execs are skeptical of the growth and see the health care industry as a vital foothold to securing Apple's long term success and viability. As with its other endeavors, Apple plans to brand all of its health related products with the popular 'i' format.

The first product to be put into full scale production is the iBeat, Apple's version of the popular pacemaker implant. Aside from normal resuscitation functions, the iBeat is also equipped with 2TB harddrive and acc/mp3 playing capabilities.

Faced with the problem of getting music to your ears when the player is attached to your heart did not phase designer Ralph Sulot. Like similar products in the past, Sulot developed an Apple proprietary transmission format called YellowFang (definately NOT a version of BlueTooth).

The YellowFang earbuds accompany the product's installation.

Other products in the works are the iPee, an acc/mp3 player and portable dialysis machine and the iWalk an Apple branded hip replacement. Meanwhile beta tester Dick Cheney has requested that his iBeat play "I Will Survive" each time the pacemaker portion is activated.