Haughn & Associates, INC.

The AP (5/22) reported, IBM says it is about "two years" away from marketing a medical version of its Watson computer system, which is "best known for handily defeating the world's best 'Jeopardy!' players" earlier this year. The company says no prices for the medical version have yet "been established. But it envisions several uses, including a doctor simply speaking into a handheld device to get answers at a patient's bedside." According to IBM's Dan Pelino, possible uses include enabling a physician to "connect to Watson's database by speaking into a hand-held device, using speech-recognition technology and cloud computing; serving as a repository" for the cancer and other medical research; and providing an "always-available second opinion."