“Apple on Tuesday was granted a patent for a weightlifting tracking system that uses a standalone sensor to transmit metrics to a remote display, which in some cases include a wristwatch,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider.
“The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple U.S. Patent No. 8,749,380 for a ‘Shoe wear-out sensor, body-bar sensing system, unitless activity assessment and associated methods’ is actually a continuation of multiple patents describing a fitness-related patent ecosystem,” Campbell reports. “As granted, the patent covers a system in which a sensor-laden device attaches itself to a weightlifting bar and counts and displays repetitions. Unique to Apple’s invention is the inclusion of a watch for remote readings, possibly hinting at a future or intended use case scenario for the company’s much-rumored iWatch.”
“Apple has yet to announce an iWatch, though many expect the tech giant to introduce a wearable device of some kind later this year. With the new HealthKit framework and corresponding Health app for iOS 8, which can collect raw data from external devices, Apple is making a push into fitness and health-tracking devices,” Campbell reports. “As for its own hardware, the latest rumors point to a form-fitting wristwatch device with curved OLED screen.”
More info – and Apple’s patent application illustrations – in the full article here.
“Apple acquired this patent from Curtis Vock,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple. “The minor hints of it relating to a ‘Watch’ is found scattered throughout this patent.”
“Yet keep in mind that this was a Curtis Vock patent that Apple aquired from PhatRat,” Purcher reports. “It’s PhatRat who had a patent for the smart watch… Technically it protects Apple should they apply this to a future sports oriented iWatch.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” and “Judge Bork” for the heads up.]