While Samsung has integrated a heart rate monitor in its new Galaxy S5 smartphone, Apple may be putting this sensor in a completely different product – its earphones. Introduced with iPhone 5 in 2012, Apple’s EarPods are set to get the heart rate monitor as well as blood pressure monitor in coming time, according to a post on anonymous sharing app Secret by a former Apple employee.
The post says: “Apple’s new EarPods will have sensors in them, for heart rate & blood pressure. Also iBeacons so they don’t get lost. They will require the lightning port, it’s why the audio jack was moved to the bottom. It stores the data in a similar way to thumbprint point data, fully encrypted and nothing identifiable. But nice to send to your doctor to keep track of at which point your blood pressure started rising for example. Redesigned remote too. Extra mic for better noise canceling.”
This employee was “sent home for good last week” and hates “being manipulated,” as per his or her statements in the comments section.
While this information can be dismissed as just a piece of misinformation by a disgruntled former employee, there have been widespread speculations that Apple will put more emphasis on health features in the next iPhone.
Moreover, patent filings dating back to 2007 show that the company has been looking to integrate health monitors in its devices and accessories to collect users’ fitness data. The M7 co-processor of iPhone 5S already stores limited fitness data of users. Apple has been recently granted a patent, filed in 2008, about earphone-based fitness monitoring.
Apple is widely expected to introduce a new app called Healthbook with iOS 8. This app will help users track their fitness level and keep a check on their physical activity, nutrition, blood sugar, sleep pattern, respiratory rate, heart rate, hydration level, oxygen saturation, weight and blood pressure.
