When Jawbone fitness wristbands hit the market in 2012, you could only link them with proprietary Jawbone-created apps – which was quite understandable at any rate, as people had no problem using the app on their iPhones and Android devices. In a surprising move, Jawbone has announced that it is opening up its API to the sensors in Android, iOS, and WP 8.1 devices.
Currently, Jawbone’s app only collects data only from Jawbone UP and UP24 wristbands. This new shift in Jawbone’s API principles will mean that the app can now also collect data from any supported device with motion sensors – on Samsung’s Galaxy S5 for instance, or the iPhone 5s’ M7, or any of the Windows Phone equivalents. These data, once synced, now goes straight into Jawbone’s app for analytics.
Even third party wearables – as these are also marketed for the health and fitness-conscious – will be able to link in to Jawbone’s app. This action will leverage on the new and upcoming markets that Android Wear is trying to tap into. Jawbone is supposedly in talks with ASUS to bundle their app with the ASUS Zenwatch – the newest entry into the Android Wear fold.
According to the announcement, these new apps will be released in the next month, give or take a few days. It is likely that the iPhone app will come out first, then on Android, then on Windows Phone, and finally Android Wear. The app will still gather data from your Jawbone UP wristbands, of course, but the app has just become a little more cosmopolitan at this point.
VIA: SlashGear
