Submitted by Marshall Walker on
Instead of pumping out the normal misinformed next-generation iPhone rumors at a rapid pace, the Apple rumor mill has instead been focused on the iWatch and Apple's rumored suite of upcoming health apps. On Monday, Reuters threw gasoline of the fire by reporting that Apple is "building a team of senior medical technology executives" to work on a health and fitness platform modeled after the App Store.
Rueters claims Apple is under pressure to deliver on CEO Tim Cook's promise that the company will deliver a new product category sometime this year. Apple hasn't released a new device since it introduced the iPad in 2010, and according to industry reports tablet sales are on the decline and are only going to get worse.
An unnamed mobile health executive told Reuters that Apple has "aspirations beyond wearable devices" and that the company plans to launch a suite of health and fitness apps in the future. Apple is also hiring a team of medical professionals and hardware experts to try and be the first company to make a popular wearable device. As Reuters points out, it has been a rocky road for smartwatches and fitness bands. Samsung's original Gear smartwatch was panned by critics, and Nike was forced to reduce the size of its FuelBand team.
It is also still unknown if the general public will be interested in spending hundreds of dollars on multiple devices that basically perform the same tasks. So far wearable devices have only caught the attention of early adopters.