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Although Apple may be trying to keep it under wraps, it is no secret that the iPad maker is working on something relating to fitness. Rumors abound that Apple is focusing on a fitness-based wearable computing device. Today, Reuters is reporting that Apple is “building a team of senior medical technology executives,” which hints at the likelihood that the company is working on something big relating to the health and fitness and medical industry.
According to an unnamed source who spoke to Reuters, “Apple is considering a full health and fitness services platform modeled after the App Store.” The medical tech community is hoping the rumor is true so that startup companies can develop their own software and hardware mobile medical applications.
Claremont Creek Ventures partner Ted Driscoll told Reuters, “There’s not doubt that Apple is sniffing around this area.” He noted that the iPad maker is focused on hiring engineers with specific experience in “monitoring the body’s perimeters.”
Reuters did some digging and found that Apple has recently hired a number of medical professionals to its team, including a few former biomedical engineers. Apple has also acquired employment from a few experts in the tech sensor field, specifically biosensor technology. Additionally, hardware experts whose previous jobs focused on “wearable sensor” technology are now on Apple’s recent hire list.
The list of rumors regarding Apple’s so-called iWatch focus on the inclusion of health and fitness monitoring. The wearable device will likely be attached to the rumored Healthbook app that will make an appearance in iOS 8. Apple is also supposedly working on headphones that can monitor a person’s heart rate.
Of course, Apple will have to adhere to the Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) guidelines for medical related apps and devices. According to the New York Times, in January Apple met with the FDA. The organization began regulating apps and devices that are supposed to work in conjunction with a smartphone or tablet to regulate medical data.
A Health and Fitness App Store would be a great way to help Apple and the medical profession work together with the FDA to regulate software and hardware. The app could be a separate download that features services that are FDA approved to help users keep track of some important health and fitness information. At the same time, non-FDA approved health and fitness apps, like Zombies, Run! could remain in the main App Store without the FDA stamp of approval.
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