Microsoft May Be Planning Its Own Platform Play With HealthVault + Smartwatch Combo

Rumors of a new health-focused wristwatch from Microsoft have been swirling for some time now, and a digital health industry source told VentureBeat that those rumors are true.  What’s more, Microsoft may be in a particularly strong position to capitalize on a health-focused smartwatch, since its HealthVault data platform — which has been in existence for years and just got a refresh on June 10 — is a perfect place to store and use data from the device.  Microsoft has been trying to recruit designers and engineers in Silicon Valley to work on the device, our source said.

This seems to corroborate a late May report in Forbes citing unnamed sources saying that such a watch was in the works, although the report revealed few details of the health applications of the watch.  A patent for the device was filed two years ago. In early May the U.S. Patent Office published a 2012 Microsoft patent application describing a wristwatch with sensors in the band to detect heart rate and other biometrics...