With the news that Apple has acquired health data company Gliimpse, and Nike has remodeled its Run app into Run Club, personal health is fast becoming a cornerstone of smart technology. From apps using phone sensors to measure fitness, to wider access to your health data, there’s no stopping the mobile fitness craze.
More Nike Running
The Nike + Run app is now Run Club to go alongside its Training Club app. It has been refined to encourage those of us further down the Olympic selection list to get fitter.
Presumably the adverts will still show ludicrously healthy people whose sweat smells of peaches, but with options for getting started and getting more fit, it could encourage the rest of us to get off the couch and into action.
Under Armour Will Measure It All
While apps can make use of the smartphone’s GPS and accelerometer, and even a smartwatch or band’s heart rate sensor, there are some things that your standard phone can’t measure. To solve that, enter the new Under Armour smart kit HealthBox that provides a complete solution for measuring weight and body fat.
Using its own Android or iOS app, UA Record, the smartphone acts as a data hub to collate measurements and fitness data to provide a regularly updated trace of your progress, or lack of it. UA Record can be used to set challenging health and weight goals, capture sleeping patterns, nutrition and energy spent exercising.
Apple Goes for the Health Record
Continuing the health news trend, Apple has snapped up another recent startup business, Gliimpse. The company, acquired earlier in the year, designed a system to allow customers to view their medical records and other health data in one location.
Given the generally fractured state of health record keeping, the company could be a good move for Apple as it tries to get customers more invested in all the Apple health apps and services.
Combine these services, products and apps, and it won’t be long before your smart device will be your doctor, health guru and yoga master all in one. How do you feel about having a digital health boss?
Photo credit: Under Armour / Nike
Source: Christina Farr, Mark Sullivan (Fast Company)
