Apple has emerged as the new owners of the Finnish sleep tracking firm Beddit. The move is aimed at bolstering Apple’s body tracking ambitions, an area where the Cupertino Giant has often been seen lacking.
However, while specific terms of the acquisition continue to be sparse, Beddit confirmed the move stating all consumer data collected henceforth will conform to the Apple privacy policy. The firm already has iOS and Apple Watch app though with the entire company coming under Apple’s fold, its services will no doubt be closely integrated into the Apple platform.
Such a development will also fill a crucial void with Apple Watch given that the smart device is not able to track a user’s sleep patterns right now. Interestingly, Beddit has been among the more popular third party choice here. However, with Apple having acquired Beddit, some form of sleep tracking ability is expected to be baked right into watchOS 4 itself.
Meanwhile, Apple is also expected to address the other main shortcoming with its smartwatch offering – its lacklustre battery life. With the device requiring a recharge every day, it largely spends the night hooked on to the mains even though its users would have liked the device to track their sleep.
Coming back to Beddit, the firm also has active interests in developing sleep tracking hardware as well, apart from software already mentioned above. The company had recently unveiled the Beddit 3 Sleep Monitor, which affectively is a strip laden with sensors and requires to be placed under the bedsheet.
This provides the gadget with perhaps the most extensive exposure to your sleep patterns and other body parameters during the time you are in bed, compared to say having a gadget work around your wrists. Beddit said it monitors the user’s movement using what it termed as the ballistocardiography technique.
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Interestingly, the Beddit 3 Sleep Monitor is sold from the Apple Store. However, it is unclear at the moment if Apple will only be interested in the software side of Beddit or continue to support its hardware ventures as well.
Apple Watch has also been in news a while back when it was reported future versions of the device could be able to monitor user’s blood glucose levels as well.
