Apple Inc. may be setting its sights on mobile healthcare and fitness with the next version of iOS, its operating system for mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Enthusiast site 9to5mac.com over the weekend quoted sources familiar with Apple's plans as saying iOS 8 is likely to be paired with its rumored iWatch.
"By leveraging the existing iPhone user base, Apple’s plans for a health and fitness-focused version of iOS and the potential of an advanced, sensor-packed wearable computer could allow it to re-invent yet another critical industry," it said.
A key in Apple's plans is an app codenamed “Healthbook,” which can monitor and store fitness statistics such as steps taken, calories burned, and miles walked, 9to5mac said.
It added the app can "manage and track weight loss," and can challenge similar apps from Nike and Fitbit. However, 9to5mac said its sources indicated there is still a possibility the health functionality could yet be removed from iOS 8 before its launch.
Yet, the site said Apple hired several health, medical, and fitness experts last year to work on the hardware and software projects. Last year's "notable names" included former Nike advisor Jay Blahnik and former Senseonics vice president Dr. Todd Whitehurst, it said.
For 2014, it said Apple added Ravi Narasimhan from general medical devices firm Vital Connect and Nancy Dougherty from startup Sano Intelligence to its iWatch development team.
"We have also learned that Apple has also hired Michael O’Reilly, a former executive at Masimo Corporation who worked on noninvasive pulse sensors, last summer," it said.
While iOS 8 is not likely to have major design changes, it may have minor enhancements across the system, 9to5mac said.
It added iOS 8 is currently codenamed “Okemo,” a popular ski resort in Vermont, U.S.
"This codename continues a long tradition of Apple internally naming iOS releases after ski resorts (Mac OS X releases are instead named after wines)," it said.
According to 9to5mac, iOS 8 could work with the iWatch's sensors that can "track and measure aspects of the human body." The data could then be sent to “Healthbook” for users to read the data collected by iWatch. Citing its sources, the site added Apple has developed technologies that can pack several sensors into a single chipset for miniaturization.
"Indeed, sources with knowledge of the iWatch’s development say that the future product is designed to be heavily reliant on the iPhone," it added.
“Healthbook” can also monitor a user’s vital signs such as blood pressure, hydration levels, heart rate, and blood-related data points, such as glucose levels.
"The software is also programmed to allow users to enter details about their medications so that they could be reminded to take pills at scheduled times. This will likely integrate with iOS’s existing Reminders application," it added.
On the other hand, the site noted Apple executives Jeff Williams and Bud Tribble earlier met with US Food and Drug Administration officials regarding health applications. — KDM, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
