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Apple is reportedly unveiling its wearable device on September 9th
If you ask many pundits when Apple will unveil its often-rumored wearable device, many of them will say October. However, we may have to revise those expectations a bit. Recode's sources now claim that Apple will unveil the gadget on September 9th -- you know, the same day that many expect to see at least one new iPhone. There's little to back the claim at this point beyond the site's reputation for accurate leaks, but the timing makes sense given that the iPhone and the mystery wristwear are expected to work virtually hand-in-hand. As for actual technical details? Besides the expected fitness and home automation support, there isn't much more to say -- most likely, you'll have to wait a couple more weeks to get the full scoop. [Image credit: Ruben Schade, Flickr]
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for July 29, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. Be sure that your podcast software is set up to subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
As Apple enters the health tracking game, medical apps are causing doctors unwanted stress
Doctors spend years learning about various ailments, equipment, and medications before ever being allowed near a patient, so it's no surprise that the glut of health tracking apps available today is giving them fits. As Wired reports, the complete lack of oversight and unverified claims of many medical apps make them a real danger, and this increasing concern comes at a time when Apple's own HealthKit framework is getting ready for the spotlight. An editorial by law professor Nathan Cortez -- published in The New England Journal of Medicine -- sums up the issue nicely, pointing out that the FDA doesn't have the resources to actively monitor the sheer number of potentially dangerous apps. And we're not just talking about calorie trackers or weight coaches here; There are apps available that advise on insulin dosages and even claim to track your heart rate and blood pressure without any additional equipment. Apple's HealthKit and user-focused Health app will surely lead to a new rush of medical apps as developers fall over each other to get a piece of the pie. It remains to be seen how strictly Apple will police third party apps that wish to be integrated into Apple's own wellness app, though the company's "walled garden" approach should help to filter out at least some of the riffraff.
Apple stock split, an acquisition, missing Maps, and more news for June 9, 2014
A mixed bag of news for this Monday. Apple's stock split took place and the company acquires a social search engine company, but internal issues seem to have kept Maps from gaining new features prior to last week's iOS 8 announcement. Lucky you! Every share of Apple stock you own just became seven shares. Apple's stock split seven-for-one, and opened at US$92.70 per share this morning -- equivalent to a pre-split price of $648.90. If the stock price happens to squeak by $100.72, that will represent an all-time high price for AAPL. Apple's stock last hit the pre-split high of $705 per share back in September of 2012. TUAW sister site TechCrunch is reporting that Apple has acquired Spotsetter, which is described as a "social search engine for places." TechCrunch's Sarah Perez says that the acquisition "was mainly about acquiring the technology and the talent of the two founders, ex-Google Maps engineer Stephen Tse and Johnny Lee". The company's app (which is no longer available) used an algorithm to pull in content from a number of social and review sites to put your friends' recommendations as a layer atop a map. It's thought that Spotsetter's technology will be used in future versions of Maps. And speaking of Maps, internal squabbles at Apple and missed deadlines are allegedly behind the absence of any word of an update to the mapping service at last week's WWDC keynote. Unnamed sources told TechCrunch that ""Many developers left the company, no map improvements planned for iOS 8 release were finished in time. Mostly it was failure of project managers and engineering project managers, tasks were very badly planned, developers had to switch multiple times from project to project." Ouch. We hates the rumors, we does, my precious. But Re/code's John Paczkowski says that there's a good chance Apple plans to hold a press event in October to announce a wearable device that would "make good use of the HealthKit health and fitness information-gathering app it recently showed off at WWDC".
Latest rumors have Apple's wearable launching in October
If you've been waiting for Apple's long-fabled wearable to make an appearance, you now have a time frame to (tentatively) mark on your calendar. Both Nikkei and Recode hear that the device is currently slated to arrive in October. Technical details are still unclear, but both sites expect a strong health focus; that's not surprising given both iOS 8's new HealthKit platform and longstanding 9to5 Mac rumors of fitness-oriented wristwear. Nikkei also understands that Apple and Nike hope to integrate each other's services in the future, although it's not certain that this will apply to the wearable.
Apple promises $2M to help Bay Area host Super Bowl 50 and more news from June 6, 2014
Friday is usually a slow news day in the tech world, but not today. We have a heapin' helpin' of hot Apple news to serve up: Apple CEO Tim Cook is a huge football fan, being both a supporter of Auburn University's Tigers and a member of the board of directors of the National Football Foundation. And now, the company he leads has promised US$2 million towards helping the Bay Area host the 50th National Football League championship game, AKA "Super Bowl L" (yeah, that Roman number 50 looks odd...). Google, Yahoo, Intel and other companies have also chipped in, and if all works out for the organizing committee, the 2016 Super Bowl could be held at the soon-to-be-opened Levi's Stadium (see image at top) in Santa Clara, CA. PayPal's talking about using Apple's Touch ID capabilities in its iOS apps as soon as possible. Apple has opened up the Touch ID APIs to developers in iOS 8, opening the door for the mobile payment giant to take advantage of Apple's fingerprint security technology. Rumor has it that Apple will begin building Touch ID into every iOS device announced beginning this year. Apple executives Tim Cook and Eddy Cue were on hand in Austin, TX yesterday for an opening celebration of the new Apple campus there. The new buildings host Apple support, engineering, and operations facilities, and are just the first of a planned expansion that won't be completed until 2021. Remember the Vaavud wind meter for iOS devices that TUAW reviewed last August? The manufacturer is hosting an outdoor adventure video competition, with applicants sharing adventures using the Vaavud in the most creative and adventurous situations. Here's your chance to win prizes from more Vaavud wind meters all the way up to a DJI Phantom 2 Quadcopter. The folks over at 9to5Mac are reporting that HealthKit apparently supports some Bluetooth health accessories natively, meaning that the manufacturers no longer have to supply their own apps along with the devices.
Apple: Putting doctors, trainers and nutritionists in your pocket
It's been a long day. You were in meetings from nine in the morning until five in the evening, with barely enough time to eat in between. So you gorged on donuts from the cafeteria and indulged in a slice of pizza on the way home. When you enter that dietary data in your nutrition-tracking app on your iPhone, you get a notification that you've exceeded your daily caloric amount, sidelining your weight loss goals. Feeling guilty, you lace up your running shoes and head out to the park with a Fitbit in tow, knowing that you need to burn at least 500 calories to get back on track. Feeling pretty good after the run, you get a text from your doctor reminding you to have a good night's sleep tonight to rectify the erratic sleep patterns she's been tracking via a daily health report app. You tell her that will definitely not be a problem. This is a picture of the future that Apple is envisioning with HealthKit, one of the more interesting features of yesterday's iOS 8 announcement. In essence, it's Apple's attempt to unify and share the disparate data of your health and fitness apps with each other, and -- if you want -- with your medical institution as well. With HealthKit, Apple wants to be the one-stop shop for your health and fitness needs. It's a rather ambitious goal, but it's also a necessary one given the increasingly crowded fitness field. And, of course, it also lays the groundwork for that long-rumored iWatch.
WWDC 2014: HealthKit unveiled as a major part of iOS 8
Apple introduced its much anticipated health app service today at WWDC. The service, named HealthKit, creates a single place on your device where apps can send your health information. Rather than have each app collect these details on your own they can now all draw from one well. You'll be able to read your health statistics via the new Health app. With Health you can monitor all of your health metrics from your weight to blood pressure to calories burned per-day. You can also use 3rd party apps like Nike+. Thanks to privacy controls you can choose to give as much or as little information from HealthKit to the apps you use. Apple is also working with the Mayo Clinic to create a ground breaking patient/doctor information service. With the HealthKit when something like a patient's blood pressure is taken the reading can be sent directly to your HealthKit app. Your device will then tell the doctor if your reading is inline with your normal blood pressure. Of all the HealthKit news we've heard about at WWDC this is potentially the most exciting. The Mayo Clinic's CEO Dr. John H. Noseworthy provided the following comment for the WWDC presentation. "We believe Apple's HealthKit will revolutionize how the health industry interacts with people. We are proud to be a the forefront of this innovative technology with the Mayo Clinic app." Beyond their collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, Apple is also working with leaders in health care apps like Epic Systems to allow similar integration with major hospitals. This will make it easier for users to share important information with their doctors seamlessly. The demonstration didn't go into how exactly Apple is planning on getting all of these readings and statistics, but we will update you as soon as that information becomes available.
