That led to a temporary hold on Apple Watch sales, but instead of paying for the licensing deal, Apple decided to simply disable the blood oxygen tracking on all its watches.
Today, Masimo announced that it has partnered with Google to “develop a new reference platform for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) building Wear OS smartwatches.”
Basically, Google is licensing the blood oxygen tracking technology that Apple decided to skip, along with a bunch of other health-related features. According to Masimo, the new reference platform was specifically designed to support the Wear OS ecosystem, including a suite of health and wellness tracking tools that will provide accurate, reliable data, seamless integration with Android phone, and a smooth, high-performance experience.
Joe Kiani, Founder and CEO of Masimo, said that the company’s engineers “are optimizing the ‘guts’ of the smartwatch, and working with Google to offer OEMs an incredible Wear OS smartwatch solution.” Kiani went on to add that that they “expect this new wearable platform to supercharge smartwatch OEMs’ abilities to create innovative, competitive, and truly compelling Wear OS smartwatches for consumers everywhere.”
Masimo’s new platform will be compatible with existing Google apps and services created for the Wear OS platform. All OEMs who decided to adopt Masimo’s platform will have creative control over the appearance of the user interface and the exterior design.
Masimo W1 Sport | Image credit: Masimo
However, the smartwatches’ interiors, including optimized hardware and software components, biosensors, and companion Android smartphone app, will be designed, provided, and tested by Masimo.
Masimo announced that all health and wellness capabilities will feature the same biosensing innovations and analytics that powers its own W1 Sport and upcoming Masimo Freedom smartwatches.
Last but not least, Masimo promised to make all the components and benefits of its reference platform available for OEMs building Wear OS smartwatches “in an easy-to-implement, standardized package.”