Mobile health executive claims he sat down with iWatch team to talk 'Healthbook'-style platform

Posted May 7, 201410 yr

An unnamed mobile health executive is saying he sat down with Apple's iWatch team to talk about something that sounds a lot like the Healthbook platform rumored for iOS 8. The iWatch, Healthbook, and iOS 8 haven't been announced yet, and Apple's typically incredibly secretive about unannounced projects, but Reuters did get a second executive to go on record:

"Some of the talent (Apple recruited) has access to deep wells of trade secrets and information," said Joe Kiani, chief executive officer of medical device firm Masimo Corp, who lost his chief medical officer to Apple in mid-2013.

Kiani said that Apple was offering sizeable salaries with little indication of what researchers would be doing. "They are just buying people," he said. "I just hope Apple is not doing what we're doing."

Reuters also mirrors a lot of the health-related Apple hiring reported on by 9to5Mac over the past few months.

It seems clear Apple believes health and fitness are important and that they're putting together a great team of specialists in the field. What's less clear is how far off any of this stuff is from becoming a full blown reality. As time goes on, things are only going to get hotter and the rumors are going to keep flowing.

Maybe WWDC 2014, now less than a month away, will give us our first software clues, or maybe we'll have to wait for iOS 8.1 and an Apple wearable? What's your best guess?

Source: Reuters