“Apple is unlikely to introduce new devices this week, the things that most excite customers and investors these days,” Brian X. Chen reports for The New York Times. “But the company is expected to dive deeper into two new areas: connected health and the so-called smart home.”
“Along with operating system updates for mobile and desktop machines, Apple plans to introduce a new health-tracking app at its annual Worldwide Developers’ Conference on Monday, according to a person briefed on the product, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans were confidential,” Chen reports. “The app for mobile devices will track statistics for health or fitness, like a user’s footsteps, heart rate and sleep activity.”
“The health app will initially pull data from third-party fitness and health-monitoring hardware, the person said, but it will most likely be able to connect with a smart watch that Apple is widely expected to release this year,” Chen reports. “Apple is also expected to make an announcement about its efforts with connecting to so-called smart home devices, or home appliances that can be wirelessly controlled with a smartphone, like light bulbs, thermostats or door locks. While many smart appliances already exist, Apple could introduce tool kits for developers that would allow apps to more easily communicate with home appliances, which could make the connected home systems simpler to set up for consumers.”
“Apple investors and fans who are clamoring for the company to introduce new hardware categories, like a so-called smart watch or connected television, will probably have to keep waiting. On Monday, when the event’s keynote address is given, Apple is expected to focus on new versions of its mobile operating system for iPhones and iPads, known as iOS, and for the Mac operating system, OS X,” Chen reports. “In the past, Apple’s weeklong software developers’ conference was occasionally an arena for unveiling new hardware. But Apple more recently has reserved major hardware announcements for the fall and winter to aim for the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons.”
Read more in the full article here.
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