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Apple hires Nike FuelBand advisor Jay Blahnik
Apple clearly loves Nike when there's Nike+ support across many iPhones and iPods, but that affection appears to be growing even deeper. Both 9to5 Mac and AllThingsD report that fitness expert Jay Blahnik, who consulted with Nike during the FuelBand's development, joined Apple earlier this month. While the new hire hasn't outlined his role, it's easy to see him working on wrist-worn devices given Tim Cook's professed interest in the category. We've reached out to the company for more details, and we'll let you know if we learn more. Whatever Blahnik's exact duties, his career move suggests that fitness plays an important role in Apple's device roadmap -- fans may want to lace up their running shoes. [Image credit: Nggcali12, Wikimedia Commons]
Apple hires former Nike FuelBand consultant Jay Blahnik
Apple has hired fitness expert and former Nike FuelBand consultant Jay Blahnik, reports 9to5Mac. Blahnik is well-known in the fitness industry and has worked for Apple in the past on unspecified products. The fact that Apple is now bringing him on in a full-time role now suggests that he will have a high level of input over a specific product, which many people assume to be the rumored "iWatch." Though his personal website has been taken offline, a cached version of it still exists where his bio reads: Jay has been a Nike Elite Athlete and Nike consultant for almost 20 years. He worked closely with Nike on the launch of Nike+Running, which has become the largest digital running community in the world. He was also the original creator and program developer of the Nike Training Club App, and the Nike Training Club in-gym program, which boasts over 6 million digital users. He is also a key expert and consultant for many of Nike's new Digital Sport initiatives that launched in 2012, including Nike+ Kinect Training and Nike+ FuelBand. Blahnik himself confirmed the news of his hire by Apple on Twitter, before removing the tweet.
