We tend to be skeptics about pre-release speculation and leaks, but 9to5 Mac appears to have gotten the goods on Healthbook, Apple's entry into the fitness tracking (and, by extension, wearables) business. The article includes extensive clear screenshots which show the direction of the iOS software and, presumably, its companion hardware. Healthbook, which looks a great deal … [Read more...]
Basis Selling Itself to Whomever, says Techcrunch
Monday morning usually brings a spate of M&A news/leaks. Today, Techcrunch reports that Basis -- the heart monitor wristband company -- is either trying to sell itself or raise a Series C round. The acquisition candidates include Apple, Google, Samsung, or maybe Microsoft. The Basis tracker has the reputation for being one of the more accurate products on the market, but … [Read more...]
NYTimes says Apple Execs Met with FDA, Signaling a Heath-Related Device
The New York Times reports Friday evening that a bunch of high-ranking Apple executives met last month with some top folks at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency that regulates health devices. According to the Times, Apple was represented by Bud Tribble (VP of software), Jeff Williams (SVP Operations), and Michael O'Reilly (former chief medical officer of … [Read more...]
Apple Files For Patent On Goggle-type Display
The sharp-eyed folks at Patently Apple have found a new filing by Apple for a ski-goggle-type wearable display. The application (which is NOT an award) makes for interesting reading. The patent claim seems to be not so much for the goggle form factor as for the way the displays are placed inside the goggle, and the ability to adjust the displays for imaging and focus. If you … [Read more...]
Bloomberg: Foxconn Starting Wearables Incubator
Bloomberg News is reporting that Foxconn -- the Taiwanese electronics company that builds Apple's iPhones, among many other products -- is starting an incubator for wearable products. Reporter Tim Culpan reminds viewers that Foxconn is a 40-year-old company that needs to look at the next horizon of tech, and that it needs to build its internal expertise for when clients … [Read more...]
Reuters: Apple in the Hearing Aid Business?
iWhat? Somehow, a Reuters article saying that Apple was teaming up with the Danish company GN ReSound to make an iPhone-compatible hearing aid missed most people's attention. The story's not entirely coherent, but it seems that Apple went shopping for partners to make hearing aids that operate on Bluetooth's 2.4GHz band. Most competing companies use lower-frequency … [Read more...]
Apple’s Buying PrimeSense May Be a Very Big Deal
Brendan O'Neil from One Mighty Roar has become a frequent and interesting correspondent hereabouts. He's taken a look at Apple's purchase of PrimeSense, the company that built the technology behind Microsoft's Kinect camera and 3D System's Sense, and has a theory: tl;dr — Apple will build a contextual ad platform that will be used in physical spaces and introduce analytics … [Read more...]
iWatch Watch
Apple made quite a lot of product announcements yesterday, some of them pretty cool. They updated everything except phones (which they did last mont), iPods, Mac minis, and iMacs. No iWatch. No surprise. Move along, everybody. Nothing to see here. … [Read more...]
LG touts OLEDs, maybe for the iWatch?
OLED displays -- Organic Light Emitting Diodes -- have been the Next Big Thing in display technology for well over five years. Between technical challenges, patent disputes, and the awful finances of building flat-panel displays, they've never quite made it to market in a big way. That's a shame, especially for the wearables market, because the brightness, low power draw, and … [Read more...]
Gassee on the Apple iWatch
Jean-Louis Gassee was one of the grown-ups at Apple when the company nearly ran onto the shoals. Though not always right, his insights about the company, its direction, and its thought processes are usually worth reading. Just before the latest iPhone announcements, he weighed in on why an iWatch isn't as interesting a product as one might think. Writing before the event, … [Read more...]