Upcoming version of the Apple Watch is very different from the health-focused version that the company planned initially, according to the WSJ.
Apple Watch’s initial planned version was supposed to have more much more features than the version that was unveiled last September had. A report from the Wall Street Journal by Daisuke Wakabayashi takes a look at the original health features in the Apple Watch that were later dropped due to one or the other reason.
Apple Watch or ‘black hole’?
As per the report, Apple initially wanted to come up with a cutting edge health-monitoring tool capable of taking user’s blood pressure, heart rate, stress level and more. However, the journal says that setbacks over marketing the device to the general consumer, forced Apple executives to compromise on the features.
“Apple began developing the watch about four years ago, with a focus on health and fitness. It’s not unusual for Apple to experiment with many technologies or shift focus during product development, but the watch was especially challenging, people familiar with the matter said,” said the journal.
Citing one of the insiders, the publication said that the project was internally called “black hole” i.e. sucking in resources.
Future versions may have original features
As per the report, the original Apple Watch had sensors for measuring the conductivity of skin, which is useful in determining stress levels and heart-rate monitoring similar to an electrocardiogram or EKG. Apple, also, worked on ways to measure blood pressure or detect the amount of oxygen in the blood. However, owing to consistency problems and potential oversight, Apple finally came up with a general version rather than a full-focused health gadget, according to the Journal.
Also, various features did not go as expected. The skin conductivity feature did not give expected results with users having hairy arms or dry skin, also, the results varied depending on the way user has worn the watch on the wrist. Another problem was, if the iPhone maker plans to use the data for advising the user over their health, then the company would have to get an approval from various regulators including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Even though such features are missing in the upcoming version of Apple Watch, there are possibilities that the features could appear in the future versions of the device, according to the WSJ report.
