Another key iWatch hire shows how Apple could put other smartwatches to shame

The smartwatch market has suddenly got very crowded over the last year, in good part thanks to the five different smartwatches Samsung has released in the last eight months alone. So how will Apple differentiate itself when the iWatch finally comes to market this fall? From what we’ve heard, it seems Apple is going to position the iWatch as the ultimate fitness tracking machine that will reportedly pack 10 different sensors you can use to check up on your health. And now Network World has spotted a recent Apple hire who could help make the iWatch even better than what we’ve been expecting.

Alex Hsieh, the former lead software engineer at Atlas Wearables, joined Apple this month and Network World points out that he spent his time at Atlas working on “a fitness tracker akin to other wearable devices, albeit on steroids.”

What made this device so special? Even though it hasn’t yet released, Network Worldsays that it “promises to measure a user’s calories burned, heart rate, and distance traveled during a particular workout” and can also “purportedly evaluate a user’s form during various exercises while also keeping track of reps and sets performed.” It seems that the device is also pre-programmed with popular exercises that it can teach you if you’re looking for new ways to work out.

Since Hsieh only recently came aboard, it’s tough to say whether we’ll see anything similar on the iWatch when it comes out. However, his hiring definitely an indication that Apple is looking at making this device much more of an all-purpose fitness tracker and not just a smartphone for your wrist.

Apple to Launch First Wearable Device in October: Reports

Apple is preparing to sell its first wearable device this October, aiming to produce 3 million to 5 million units a month in its initial run, the Nikkei reported on Friday, citing an unidentified parts supplier and sources familiar with the matter.

Specifications are still being finalised, but the devices are likely to sport curved OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays and sensors that collect health data from blood glucose and calorie consumption to sleep activity, the Japanese news service cited industry sources as saying.

Though the details of services have yet to be released, specs for the new product are being finalised, according to industry sources. It will likely use a curved organic light-emitting diode (OLED) touchscreen and collect health-related data, such as calorie consumption, sleep activity, blood glucose and blood oxygen levels. It will also allow users to read messages sent by smartphones.

Apple appears confident of the new product. According to a parts manufacturer, it plans monthly commercial output of about 3-5 million units, which exceeds the total global sales of watch-like devices last year. This confidence is backed by its partnerships with high-profile hospitals - it has teamed up with the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic, U.S. health institutes based in Minnesota and Ohio, respectively, to develop specific ways of analysing the collected data and applying it to actual health management

Meanwhile, a report in Re/code corroborates this view:

People familiar with Apple's plans tell Code/red the company hopes to schedule a special event that month to show off the device, which is designed to make good use of the HealthKit health and fitness information-gathering app it recently showed off at WWDC. Could things change between now and fall? That's certainly possible. But right now October is the target date.

The industry has long expected Apple to unveil some sort of smartwatch, following the release ofSamsung Electronics' Galaxy Gear watches.

Wall Street is hoping to see a new Apple product this year to galvanise the former stock market darling's share price and end a years-long drought of ground-breaking devices. CEO Tim Cook has promised "new product categories" in 2014.

Apple declined to comment.

Written with inputs from Reuters

Samsung Galaxy S5 to come in twovariants, ship alongside next GalaxyGear: Report

Samsung's next flagship smartphone, expected to be called the Galaxy S5, might still be far from confirmed, but a new report suggests that the device will hit mass production in January 2014. 

The report also expects the speculated successor of Samsung Galaxy Gear to be launched alongside the rumoured Galaxy S5. Korean publication, ET News reports that the South Korean manufacturer plans to release two versions of the alleged Galaxy S5. 
As per the report, there will be two variants of the Galaxy S5: a premium variant which will sport a metal chassis and a flexible OLED, and a variant which will come with the usual plastic body, as found on other Galaxy smartphones. Earlier this week, a new set of images purportedly revealing the supposed metal frames of the rumoured Galaxy S5 was spotted online. 

Further, the report speculates that Samsung will initially manufacture around 8,00,000 to 1 million units of the alleged Galaxy S5 in January, and will increase the number up to 6 million units in February. Samsung is likely to release the Galaxy S5 in March or April 2014, according to the report. Sammobile has revealed some of the specifications of the alleged Galaxy S5, with two variants expected to be powered by 64-bit Exynos chipset and Snapdragon chipset (no word on this would be the new Snapdragon 805 chipset .

Also expected on board is 3GB of RAM, a 16-megapixel camera, a 4000mAh battery and Android 4.4 KitKat with TouchWiz UI on top. Earlier reports had suggested that Samsung's next-generation of high- end smartphones , including the rumoured Galaxy S5, would be equipped with a 16-megapixel camera, but didn't indicate the type of module. 

In addition, the ET News also claims that Samsung is also busy developing the successor to the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, and that it might launch along with the alleged Galaxy S5. The next generation Samsung Galaxy Gear is said to be 15 to 20 percent thinner than the current smartwatch. 

As of now, there is no word on specifications of the rumoured Galaxy Gear smartwatch. A recent report has suggested that sales figures Samsung's first wearable device, the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, had been disappointing. However, Samsung countered the claim immediately after, and said that it sold 800,000 smartwatch units in 2 months.