Nokia's patent catalogue covers technology that reduces the need for hardware components in a phone, among other features. — Reuters
SAN FRANCISCO: Nokia Oyj, continuing to seek success in new hardware categories after exiting the consumer phone business, is introducing a sleep tracker that will nestle under a person’s bed sheets.
The Finnish company calls its device, the Nokia Sleep. It has movement sensors and software algorithms that can determine how long a person slept, if the sleep was interrupted, and whether the person snored. Nokia’s software will give people an overall “sleep score,” and will also work with smart home appliances so that, for example, lights can automatically turn on or off if the system senses that the person has fallen asleep or woken up.
Rob Le Bras-Brown, Nokia’s executive in charge of health products, said in an interview that the system isn’t as accurate as clinical-grade sleep studies. But he believes it’s more useful than its competitors.
Nokia is launching the $99 device at the CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas this week. That’s months after Apple Inc. acquired a Finnish startup called Beddit, which sold a similar product. Apple still sells the Beddit sleep tracker on its website but hasn’t branded it as an Apple product and hasn’t integrated the technology into its own product line. Withings, a health device company acquired by Nokia in 2016, sold its own sleep tracker called the Aura for nearly $300. - Bloomberg
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