We have been hearing about a possible Apple ‘iWatch’ for quite some time now. Although so far, rumors about such a smartwatch have been fairly generic, NYT has now reported that Apple has met with FDA officials to discuss this gadget.
According to New York Times, this meeting took place back in December 2013 and the focus of the meeting was to discuss ‘mobile medical applications.’ Such applications are not currently offered, by default, in iOS devices which can only hint that Apple will equip its iWatch to support such apps.
The meeting, NYT says, was fairly high-profile including prominent Apple executives such as SVP of Operations Jeff Williams, VP of Worldwide Government Affairs Cathy Novelli and very significantly, Michael O’Reilly who formerly has been a Chief Medical Officer at a biotech company.
The report by NYT is further bolstered by another article in 9to5mac, citing that Apple is creating a built-in app called ‘Healthbook.’ This app, the piece says, will be included in iOS 8 and it will essentially allow an iOS user to keep track of a whole range of health indicators such as ‘blood pressure, hydration levels, heart rate, and … glucose levels.’ It will even be able to track changes in the weight of the user.
To actually calculate and analyze these health indicators, the Healthbook app will inevitably have to rely on a number of sensors. And these sensors will reportedly be included in the upcoming iWatch. The smartwatch will be able to detect changes in health and then communicate them to the iPhone, probably through Bluetooth. All of this is based on rumors, naturally, but given the way the smartwatch market is moving, it is almost inevitable for Apple to come up with an offering of its own soon.
Source: NYT
Courtesy: Arstechnica
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