Apple’s long awaited entry to the wearable computing arena will feature a device which will track key health and fitness indicators and use fingerprint identification technology acquired from Authentec, according to 9 to 5 Mac.
Apple has begun assembling a team of hardware and software engineering, medical sensor, manufacturing, and fitness experts, indicating the company is moving forward with a project to build a fitness-oriented, sensor-laden wearable computer, according to our sources.
The iWatch, as it has become known, will indeed be worn on the wrist but will have more in common with the Nike Fuel Band and Jawbone Up than a Pebble watch, according to the report. 9 to 5 Mac also said that Apple has been experimenting with various designs for five years and has decided on a wrist-worn device.
The software team is being led by Kevin Lynch, who joined Apple from Adobe last year, while Bob Mansfield, lured out of retirement by Tim Cook a year ago to head up a new Technology division, is in charge of hardware.
As with all Apple products, Phil Schiller’s marketing team set the product direction and features.
Tim Cook has been seen wearing a Fuel Band in public and praised it during his appearance at the AllThingsDigital D11 conference. ‘I think Nike did a really great job with this,’ he told Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, before adding, perhaps significantly ‘The [wearable devices] that do more than one thing… aren’t great.’
