Barely a fortnight after the Amazon Halo fitness tracker arrived on the scene, we now hear that the company is all set to invade yet another segment of the wearables market - one that tracks a user's sleeping patterns and warns of sleep apnea.
Reports suggest that the new Alexa-powered device would be able to monitor the user's sleep patterns using a radar and send out warnings for sleep apnea. The small device has been designed for the bedside table and from its position would sense the breathing and track interruptions associated with sleeping disorders.
- Amazon Halo fitness tracker is now available in the US
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It is not as though the market for sleep trackers isn't overcrowded. There are a slew of devices doing the job, including the likes of Fitbit, now owned by Google, Apple and the more recent Xiaomi Mi Band 5. However, Amazon wants to do it differently using radar technology.
A report from Business Insider suggests that the project, codenamed "Brahms" is being handled by Amazon's internal team and has been work-in-progress for more than a year now. The device looks like a hexagonal pad with a metal wire base, says the article which also claims that Amazon could use its machine learning expertise to figure out larger issues around sleeping disorders.
While Amazon has been stoically silent on this development, giving the standard line about "it not being company policy to comment on speculation," the fact is that they have been toying with using innovative technology, ever since Alexa arrived to power voice recognition on gadgets.
Else, why would they make a late entry into the densely populated wearables market with a sub-$100 device as late as end-2020? Of course, the company was quick to make the differentiation that the Halo wasn't a medical device. Off late, Amazon has taken Alexa to several gadgets such as speakers to rings, glasses and microwaves.
As for the radar technology that the report suggests would make Amazon's sleep tracker unique, readers may recall a similar effort from Nintendo in 2014. The idea was built around a non-wearable device that could track sleep via radio waves, but Nintendo dumped it within two years, without even giving it a formal launch. More recently, OnePlus had announced a concept phone last month on similar lines.
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