Apple’s iOS 8 To Revolutionize Health And Fitness Monitoring

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s upcoming combo of iOS 8 and iWatch could revolutionize the way people monitor their health and fitness. Sources close to the project told 9to5mac that the tech giant will make the health and fitness tracking feature the highlight of the iOS 8 upon release. Apple is highly likely to introduce the iWatch with iOS 8 together because your iPhone can’t track your critical health metrics without the help of a wearable device.

iOS 8 to be your fitness advisor

Sources said the iOS 8 will feature an app codenamed “Healthbook” that will have a similar user interface like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Passbook app. Healthbook can monitor and store crucial fitness data including miles walked, calories burned, heart rate, hydration level, glucose levels and blood pressure. Moreover, users can also enter details about their medications and the app will remind them when it’s time to take the pills. Last month, Apple’s senior executives Bud Tribble and Jeff Williams met USFDA officials to discuss health applications. The tech giant was recently awarded a patent to track blood pressure using smartphone technology.

The company introduced the M7 chip with iPhone 5S that has motion tracking capabilities. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) said the chipset will be the basis of a new generation of fitness apps. However, a wrist-worn device like iWatch will have an edge in providing key data like blood pressure and blood sugar. Healthbook can display the data collected by iWatch.

iOS 8 won’t have any major graphics or UI changes

Over the past few months, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has hired many fitness technology experts including Jay Blahnik of Nike, Dr. Todd Whitehurst of Senseonics, Ravi Narasimhan of Vital Connect, Michael O’Reilly of Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ:MASI) and Nancy Dougherty of Sano Intelligence to work on this project.

Experts say the iOS 8 won’t boast any major user interface or graphics changes because the company recently overhauled its mobile operating system with iOS 7. Internally, iOS 8 has been codenamed “Okemo” after a ski resort in Vermont. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a tradition to codename the upcoming version of iOS after ski resorts.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares jumped 0.12% in pre-market trading Monday to $501.20.

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