Jawbone's medical device ambitions leaked

Jawbone’s plan to relaunch itself as a medical device company has been leaked by Bloomberg.

Earlier this year it was reported that Jawbone was shutting down due to failing to gain any traction in the wearables market, facing tough competition by the likes of Apple, Samsung and Fitbit. The company changed its name to Jawbone Health Hub and it was reported it would be focusing on the healthcare market.

The plans that Bloomberg leaked show that Jawbone’s move into the medical device market was being discussed as early as October 2016. The documents show a range of technologies  that aim to track health metrics such as respiration, blood pressure and alcohol levels. The company is allegedly planning to develop and sell devices that monitor blood-pressure for people with hypertension and a wearable for those with diabetes.

Jawbone are reportedly planning to use technology and ideas from Spectros, a maker of medical devices that Fitbit’s CEO Hosain Rahman acquired in 2015.

The documents also show that the company wants to help people manage stress. Jawbone Health Hub will offer users a $7 per month package that monitors a range of metrics to detect users’ stress levels.  

Jawbone was also revealed to have been looking into a parternship with Microsoft. The partnership would have had Microsoft distributing Jawbone devices and software to corporate customers around the world. Data gathered by these products would then be synced to Microsoft’s calendar and email telling users when to move and what to eat.

Whilst the plans appear to be very detailed, Bloomberg reports that Jawbone Health Hub has stated they do not reflect its current business targets.