Mikey Campbell
With 'iWatch' rumors in full swing thanks to Google's recent push into the market, a report on Thursday points to the recent Apple hire of Alex Hsieh, former lead engineer at sports training-oriented fitness device startup Atlas Wearables.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Hsieh was scooped up by Apple in June and has been working in Cupertino as a firmware developer on an unknown project. The hire was first noticed by Network World.
It is unclear what duties Hsieh's position at Apple entails, though the Johns Hopkins-trained engineer was instrumental in getting Atlas Wearables' unique fitness tracking product off the ground.
When Atlas first launched on crowd funding site Indiegogo in February, AppleInsider spoke with cofounder and CEO Peter Li about the company's plans. Aside from reaching its $125,000 goal (Atlas raised $629,000), the firm is looking to create the most accurate and connected activity tracker on the market.
Combining extremely granular movement tracking with a pool of data from other users, Atlas can reportedly help users reach their fitness goals faster. Li touts the device as the first wearable that can "actually track everything."
Social networking and hooks into third-party fitness apps are also available through the Atlas ecosystem, allowing users to connect with and challenge friends and professional athletes.
Hsieh could potentially be a part of the rumored 'iWatch' platform, which is said to boast more than ten advanced sensors that will help to differentiate the device from existing smartwatches. Being hired as recently as June, however, could mean the new firmware developer is being tasked with future product versions that may not see launch for some time.
Apple's iWatch is thought to tap into a health tracking and logging framework called HealthKit, which was introduced earlier in June at WWDC. HealthKit, along with the corresponding Health app, will be included in the forthcoming iOS 8 mobile operating system.
As for hardware, Apple is expected to launch the much-rumored — and hyped — wearable this year, with recent predictions pegging a release date in October.
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16 Comments
Sounds like a great hire for Apple! With all the talk about the wearables from LG, Samsung and Motorola these past couple days... do they have this kind of talent?
How much of the Atlas technology can be packed into the first gen "iWatch" if Alex Hsieh was just brought on in June? Perhaps this hire reflects work for the second gen device? I'd hate to think the iWatch won't launch this year, but I'm growing pessimistic. Also, Atlas must hold patents. If so, is Hsieh himself a patent holder? Furthermore, how are rights to these patents split between co-founders? Long term patent license agreements for additional undisclosed boatloads of cash? Why didn't Apple just pick up the whole company? I never understood how hiring away just one member of a start-up guarantees the purchasing company the right to that tech. Maybe these guys so brilliant that after being hired by Apple they are tasked with engineering work-arounds? So many questions...far more than answers!
Atlas actually looks like a great product, if Apple is planning on doing this kind of thing than I think I will buy the new watch.
The greater number of unique qualities and capabilities Apple can bake into the iWatch, the better.
The Android watches announced this week look interesting, but they don't seem to be doing things a mobile phone can't. I think only the new Samsung watch has a heartrate monitor.
It would be great if Apple can make the iWatch really helpful and relevant to peoples' lives, in a way that goes beyond just "having a cool secondary little device that does things your phone also does"
"really helpful and relevant to peoples' lives" I think that's kind of Apple's thing.