Tim Cook hints Apple pushing further into health through Apple Watch & other devices

Apple is hoping to venture deeper into health tracking, through the Apple Watch and beyond, CEO Tim Cook hinted on Tuesday during a talk at Startup Fest Europe in Amsterdam.

"The holy grail of the watch is being able to monitor more and more of what's going on in your body," Cook told the conference's audience, according to Bloomberg. "If you could have a device that knew so much about you, it would be incredible, and would extend life and extend quality. I'm not saying one device will do all of that."

The executive argued that "health is a huge issue around the world," and "ripe for simplicity and a new view." Using a car maintenance analogy, he suggested that health devices should one day be able to tell wearers to get a checkup much in the same way a car will warn about overheating or an upcoming oil change.

"If you look at some things we're doing that don't drive revenue but have massive interest from our teams, health is very much one of them," Cook said.

Prior to the release of the first-generation Apple Watch, early rumors claimed Apple was interested in tracking a wide range of health factors, something that would've required an array of sensors. The shipping device was comparatively limited, mostly able to track steps, standing time, and heartrate, though some third-party apps have tried to tackle things like sleep activity.

Apple is believed to be working on a second-generation Watch that might ship later this year, though rumors have yet to mention any new health features. Instead these have suggested the device could have a better battery, processor, and/or display, and possibly built-in LTE, freeing it from dependence on an iPhone.