Google has revealed its entry into the world of fitness apps at Google I/O 2014 last night. It will be joining the likes of Apple and Samsung who have been pushing the health tracking as major features of their smartphones. The difference is that Google Fit is a platform for other manufacturers and developers to build on and integrate better with the Android eco-system.
The idea is that Google Fit will use the sensors found on the mobile device to collect data about the user and create better recommendations. However, Google itself has not developed any new fitness app and appears to be relying on other manufacturers to build on the platform. The company has partnered with several sports apparel brands in order to achieve this goal; and Nike fans will be glad to hear that the FuelBand was specifically mentioned.
Other partners include LF, Adidas, Basis, Runtastic, RunKeeper, Polar, HTC and Motorola.
It will be interesting to see if the introduction of the SDK will alter how fitness apps interact with Android, or even the rest of the Google’s services. Ideally, this open source approach to high tech fitness will create an eco-system where all manufacturers create products that are interchangeable with one another. Creating a more democratic system of fitness apps. Although there will inevitably be the Google Now notification reminding us how many miles we need to run to work off that cheeseburger.
[Source: TechCrunch]
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