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Apple hires sleep researcher for iWatch development: Report

Apple hires sleep researcher for iWatch development: Report

By Robin Sinha | Updated: 12 February 2014 18:28 IST

Apple has been reported to hire another new member to help develop its rumoured iWatch wearable devices. The Cupertino firm is said to have picked up Roy J.E.M Raymann from Philips Research, who has a considerable amount of experience in wearable and sensors, with expertise in sleep research.

Philips Research partially confirmed the news by stating "that as of January 1 Roy has left the company." However it did not mention where he has joined, as per 9to5 mac.

Monitoring sleeping patterns can be quite useful on the health front, and Roy's hire seems to indicate Apple will be exploring that track. Before Roy, several other experts from the fitness and health field have also been said to be hired by Apple. Last year, Apple hired some medical and fitness experts like Jay Blahnik, Nike's advisor, and Dr. Todd Whitehurst, former Senseonics vice president.

The firm reportedly also took in Ravi Narasimhan from Vital Connect, a medical devices firm along with Nancy Dougherty from Sano Intelligence, in its iWatch development team. It has been understood that the firm also hired Michael O'Reilly, former executive at Masimo Corporation, who has worked on non-invasive pulse sensors previously.

Talking about the rumoured Apple iWatch, reports now reveal that Apple will be using the stacked lithium-ion batteries from LG for its smartwatch, contradicting the wild rumours regarding the solar charging.

"Apple will utilize LG Chem's stepped battery since it offers better longevity than others and can be applied for different shapes," stated one industry source to Korean Herald. The stepped batteries are said to include several layers of batteries resulting in 16 percent more output than the traditional battery.

"Since the energy efficiency of solar-charging technology is one-tenth of the lithium-ion battery, it doesn't make sense to run a gadget with solar power," stated another source.

However, one should not be sure of the leaks by sources until the firm decides to reveal the smartwatch itself. LG was reportedly awarded in late-January the contract to build the first batch of iWatch smartwatches, with its experience in curved display and battery technology thought to be the deciding factor in its favour.

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