Mobile kings launch open platform Simband, tipped as futuristic health monitoring.
Samsung wants to be the future of health, just as Apple is rumoured to unveil an iWatch.
Announced at ‘Voice of the Body’, held in San Francisco, Samsung’s Simband is the futuristic health and fitness band that goes beyond the current generation of bands that just measures heart rate and calories burnt.
The “investigational” device has a bundle of sensors that checks the amount of carbon dioxide in your blood, blood pressure, respiratory and hydration levels in real time – stuff usually only the doctor can tell you.
It runs off an ARM Cortex-A7 dual-core processor, and has Bluetooth, WiFi.
Samsung engineers have gone all out with Simband modular hardware and open software reference platform, meaning other device makers jump aboard the system.
This could mean Samsung could become the Android of the consumer health monitoring world, if the concept takes off. The Simband hardware is modular so other manufacturers can adapt the band.
The Koreans are also creating a health data platform storing data in the cloud, called SAMI.
The concept band also has a ‘shuttle’ battery which you can snap off to recharge, so users never need to take the health band off.
Smart band and watches are not cheap, but this could prove popular if its cuts down on medical bills.
“Why should we have to see a doctor…when we’re not feeling good?” said Young Sohn, Samsung Chief Strategy Officer, at the event.
Samsung still has a way to go before the device is a reality though, noting issues around privacy, among others.
This open source platform could be a nice little earner for Samsung, according to tweets by analyst Carolina Milanesi, Kantar World Panel, following the event.
“Simband = Samsung Semis business looking at the next biggest revenue opportunity.”
“Is Samsung’s Simband + SAMI announcement signaling that Samsung wants to be more like Google than Apple going forward?,” she added.
Samsung already accounts for 70% of the smart watch market, recent figures show.
