Back in March, we learned that Apple had been three patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for adding new fitness and biometric features to earbuds.
Today, a fresh patent application has been granted for those same earbuds, making us dare to believe that the tech giant’s fitness tracking earbuds are inching ever closer to being a reality.
The patent, which is listed simply under patent number 9,699,546 and is Apple’s third patent this year for bio-sensing earbuds, contains a new diagram of the inside of the earbuds. One area is dedicated to biometric sensors, and a smaller area contains “other sensors”.
They also appear to be wireless, contradicting Apple’s previous patent applications which demonstrated the bio-sensing tech inside wired earbuds.
From Apple’s previous patent application, we know that heart rate, VO2, galvanic skin, EKG, impedance cardiography, and temperature are the key parameters that the sensors inside the earbuds will gather. We also know they will include noise-cancelling.
Whether the earbuds are intended to sync with their own app, the Apple Health app or simply all iOS-compatible fitness apps remains a mystery. It’s also not certain whether Apple could be planning to fix its next-gen AirPods with a bio-sensing brain, which would make them much cooler, but even more painfully expensive.
It’s all up for speculation until Apple decides to break its silence.
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What do you think of Apple’s bio-sensing earbuds? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.