iOS 8 and smart home are in for WWDC, iWatch is out

According to The New York Times, the big feature of iOS 8 is the one that we've known about and expected for a while: Healthbook. The info on Healthbook makes it sound quite a bit less in-depth than the rumors have suggested. Supposedly, Healthbook will track relatively basic items like foot steps, heart rate, and sleep activity. But, the good news is that it will be opened up to 3rd party developers, so you should be able to use your Fitbit, Jawbone, or Nike wearable to feed info into the app. The source for NYT said that there will be no iWatch at WWDC, but said that Healthbook would obviously connect to Apple's wearable when it does come out. In reading between the lines, we wonder if it will be the iWatch itself that adds in the extra health tracking functions that we've heard about. 

The report also confirms that Apple will also be announcing the rumored smart home automation platform that we've heard about recently. This would allow you to control various devices, like lights, thermostats, and door locks directly from your smartphone or tablet. We'll find out soon enough if this is true, but in terms of setting expectations, we'd say it looks like Apple is treating this as a true developers conference, meaning software only. 

source: NYT