Tech

Apple Hires Sleep Expert For Work On iWatch: Report

9to5Mac reports Apple's latest hire is a professional sleep researcher whose expertise could help develop wearable tech for the company.

Apple Hires Sleep Expert For Work On iWatch: Report
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It appears Apple is continuing to bolster its stable of health and fitness experts.

9to5Mac reports its latest hire is Roy J.E.M. Raymann, a sleep scientist who previously worked on wearables and sleep research for Philips.

MacRumors reports Raymann's investigations ranged from coffee and the science of power naps to sleep experiments at a designated research laboratory he founded at Philips.

According to Raymann's LinkedIn profile, he's hunting for "non-pharmacological approaches to promote sleep." (Via Philips)

If such tech is integrated into an iWatch, says Phone Arena, it "could give the timepiece a leg up on the competition in what is expected to be a rather hard fought battle for market share in the smartwatch market."

That is, if Apple ever releases such a gadget. The company has yet to confirm any of the swirling iWatch rumors, even though they're getting more concrete all the time.

Consider Apple's recent activity: hiring a bunch of sensor specialists and people with background in fitness and wearables, and now sleep researchers. (Via iDownloadBlog)

And designing iOS 8 for a focus on health tracking. (Via AppAdvice)

It's worth noting Apple hasn't confirmed Raymann's employment yet, either. Philips has acknowledged Raymann no longer works for the company but didn't detail his next steps.