At the Google I/O developer conference, which begins June 25, the company will be revealing a service called Google Fit. The software will aggregate information from multiple fitness tracking devices and apps into one health data system.
Google Fit will compete with Apple's HealthKit, a similar program that will be built into iOS 8. Samsung is also developing fitness data collection software known as SAMI. With wearable fitness trackers like FitBit, Jawbone UP and Nike Fuelband making up an estimated $330 million industry, all three companies are looking to get their foot in the door.
Although Google Fit has not yet been officially announced, that reveal will occur at Google I/O this month, according to a report by Forbes.
"Google Fit will aggregate data through open APIs, instruction sets that allow apps to share information, and will also announce partnerships with wearable device makers at its I/O conference," says Forbes writer Parmy Olson in the report.
It is not yet clear whether Google Fit will be integrated into the next Android operating system like Apple's HealthKit or if it will be a standalone app. The service will likely be compatible with many of the upcoming Android Wear devices. Google announced in March that it is working with manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, LG and Motorola to develop new wearable technology based on the android platform.
Google Fit is not the company's first foray into the field of health data collection. In 2008, the company launched a program called Google Health, which collected and stored medical records. The service had little success. Neither healthcare professionals nor their patients saw any reason to include Google in the process of maintaining medical information. The service was shut down at the end of 2011.
Google Fit, however, will track health from a different angle, one that users have more incentive to care about. By working with the fitness tracking devices many consumers already use, the program will place itself as a part of the user's daily routine rather than something that is only viewed a few times per year.
One question that is still unanswered is whether any of the health data collected by Google Fit will be used for advertising purposes. Google is already a leader in the area of targeted ads based on collected digital information, and Google Fit could provide a flow of valuable data that's not available anywhere else.
