Apple's hire of former Atlas Wearables software engineer hints at deep 'iWatch' activity tracking capabilities

By 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.

Source: LinkedIn

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.