Samsung
thinks it's about time that fitness trackers did more than monitor your
pulse. It announced today that it's put into mass production a new chip
that builds in support for measuring five attributes: body fat,
skeletal muscle mass, heart rate, skin temperature, and stress level
(although, "stress" appears to actually mean how sweaty you are).
Samsung calls this chip the Bio-Processor, and fitness devices using it
are supposed to start shipping in the first half of 2016.
Samsung is offering the Bio-Processor to other companies
Fitness
trackers were, arguably, a lot more limited in 2015 than we had hoped.
Early reports suggested that Apple planned to include many of these same
sensors in the Apple Watch, though it ultimately ended up with just a
heart-rate monitor. Samsung is clearly trying to take the next step
before anyone else can. The question, of course, is whether the
Bio-Processor can actually live up to Samsung's claims. There are plenty
of step trackers and heart-rate monitors out there that don't do a very
good job, so it'll be critical to see how Samsung's integrated sensors
actually perform. A health monitor isn't useful if its data isn't any
good.
The
Bio-Processor will likely end up in a Samsung wearable pretty soon, but
it sounds as though it could end up in other companies' products, too.
Samsung is offering reference designs to other companies interested in
making a wearable. It specifically says the chip is designed to "allow
accelerated development" of new fitness and health products.
Samsung
says gadgets that incorporate the Bio-Processor can take a number of
different forms, including wristbands and patches, though it doesn't
specifically name any products that we'll see it in. For now, please
enjoy this goofy promotional video Samsung made for the Bio-Processor
back in July:
credit Theverge.com
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