Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is aggressively expanding its team of engineers working on wearable devices, reportedly named iWatch. The company hired Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) wearable device designer Ben Shaffer last year. Since early 2013, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has brought in specialists in the fields of glucose sensors, biomedical technology and general fitness devices. Now Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has recruited two experts from the medical sensor field, according to 9to5mac.
Who are Apple’s new hires?
The two notables hires of the last week include Ravi Narasimhan of Vital Connect and Nancy Dougherty from Sano Intelligence. Narasimhan was the R&D vice president at Vital Connect. Vital Connect’s biosensors are worn on the skin, and can monitor a variety of data, including respiratory rate and skin temperature. These data points can be useful in analyzing blood data by a wearable device. Moreover, Narasimhan has 40 patents to his credit and another 15 pending. Most of these patents are related to medical sensor technology, which can help Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) improve its iWatch.
Dougherty was leading the hardware development team at Sano Intelligence. During her stint at the startup, Dougherty helped Sano develop a painless patch-like sensor that can read and analyze your blood without using any needle. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reportedly planning to integrate a similar blood-reading technology in its wearable device. It will be an incredible innovation, especially for diabetics. Given Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s strength and brand power, it can popularize health monitoring and medical sensor technology, just like it did with tablets, music players and iPhones.
Apple vs. Google
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has also entered into the medical devices field. The company announced last week that it has developed contact lenses which can tell your glucose levels by analyzing your tears. But this kind of technology is likely to face regulatory hurdles, as users have to keep the hardware in their eyes. In contrast, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iWatch would put similar technology on your wrist or arm. That should benefit the Cupertino-based tech giant.
It’s still unclear whether Dougherty’s or Narasimhan’s technology will make it into the iWatch. But one thing is certain: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has grown wildly serious about its wearable device by hiring some of the most renowned experts in the medical sensor technology.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares skidded 2.45% on Friday to close at $540.67.
