Hot on the heels of Apple’s big HealthKit unveiling comes word that Google is building a health platform of its own. The news comes from Forbes, who says the service—dubbed Google Fit—will be announced at Google’s upcoming I/O conference.
According to the report, Google Fit will closely resemble HealthKit in that it will collect and aggregate data from popular fitness trackers and health-related apps. And Google is believed to have already forged partnerships with wearable device makers…
Here’s Forbes’ Parmy Olson with more:
Google GOOGL +0.12% is planning to launch a new health service called Google Fit to collect and aggregate data from popular fitness trackers and health-related apps, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the company’s plans. […]
Google Fit will aggregate data through open APIs, instruction sets that allow apps to share information, and will also announce partnerships with wearable device makers at its I/O conference, Forbes understands. One source with knowledge of Google’s plans said Google Fit would allow a wearable device that measures data like steps or heart rate to interface with Google’s cloud-based services, and become part of the Google Fit ecosystem. Google could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.
This wouldn’t be Google’s first foray into the medical field. In 2008, the search giant launched Google Health, a short-lived collation service for personal medical records. The service didn’t garner much traction though, and Google shuttered it in 2012.
It’s unclear if Google Fit will be built into the next version of Android, or launch as a standalone app, but it’s sure to tie into the new Android Wear platform. Google has been mum about I/O sessions thus far, but it does plan to talk about wearables.
Apple, for its part, is believed to be working on a wearable device of its own. The so-called iWatch is expected to feature various health/fitness-tracking sensors, and integrate closely with iOS 8. It’s been reported that the device will launch in October.
Google’s I/O conference is slated to take place on June 25 and 26.