Funny when samsung copies apple the front page is filled with sheep, apple clearly taking a leaf out of samsungs book here and its no where to be seen.
Just because Samsung held a press conference a week before WWDC to beat Apple to the punch about announcing a health API doesn't mean that they're actually ahead of Apple in that arena.
Here's the reality of the situation. Samsung said that they'll have the API ready to go by the end of the year for developers to start using. Apple HAS the API ready to go today. It has already partnered with big players in the healthcare market so HealthKit will be usable at the time of iOS 8's release in the fall.
The whole world has known that Apple was going to be ready to introduce HealthKit at WWDC for quite a while now. Samsung used that knowledge to be the first to
announce a product. Apple will actually be first to
deliver their solution.
And while I can't prove it, I'd feel pretty confident in betting that Apple's being working on its solution for a much longer time, based solely on the fact that they're ACTUALLY ahead in terms of development and release date. So no, Apple's not actually copying Samsung just because they don't feel the need to be the first to tell everyone about it.
I dont see how this is going to work.
First, it pulls data from third-party hardware and software, so the data is compromised. Apple has no control over the accuracy of the data.
Second, it lacks funcionality. I want more data in order to get more comprehensive results regarding my health conditions, so I must wear 3 bands, 2 belts and 7 bandages with sensors sticked to my body in order to get all the information I want. Again, from third party vendors whose accuraccy isnt certain.
There is no single device out there that can collect all the date we may need so its pointless for the major part of the consumers. Apple had to present the iWatch with all the sensors we hear so many speculations recently and say, this is the companian app. Also, the monitoring must be constant and all the time in order to obtain valuable information.
Where to start. First off, people will probably wear ONE monitor continuously for tracking activity/sleep (and possibly pulse). There are plenty of solutions for this already, and third party reviewers test those devices to make sure they work as advertised. That's why it's important to research before buying a device.
Other measurements will be taken by devices that people already use intermittently. People with diabetes who are already using blood sugar monitors will still use them as they currently do. Same with blood pressure cuffs. Or scales you step on once a day to get your weight. The difference is that these devices will auto sync via HealthKit so you don't have to manually track the results -- your history from all of these different devices will be stored in one place.
As for accuracy concerns, that's nothing new. If you're using a blood sugar monitor or blood pressure cuff, you're still already depending on those devices to give you accurate results. That's why apple is partnering with existing device manufacturers instead of building their own. These devices are regulated, and the companies who build them already deal with those regulations. The introduction of HealthKit doesn't change anything.
As for the "all the time" thing, devices like FitBit already deal with this. That's also why Apple developed the A7 co-processor, so that continuous measurements could be taken with a component that draws very little juice. That's a solved problem.