Rumor: Samsung Gear S4 is coming soon with focus on sleep, fitness

Samsung is developing the long-awaited successor to its Gear S3 smartwatch and could launch it sometime this year, according to a report from SamMobile, a blog focused on all things Samsung. Citing insider sources, SamMobile co-founder Martin Reinders revealed the scoop during a Facebook Live chat last week.

SamMobile's info on the rumored device is sparse, but Reinder said it is codenamed Galileo, bears the model number SM-R800, and will have better sleep tracking and S Health features than the Gear S3, while retaining the circular shape. SamMobile has a positive track record; it was the first to leak news of the Gear S3 in January 2016.

We can speculate on the nature of the new health features based on other recent moves by Samsung. For instance, Samsung has been incorporating blood pressure monitoring into its latest phones. An app launched in February uses the Galaxy S9’s new optical sensor to directly measure blood pressure, allowing the smartphone to take readings without any external hardware. Having blood pressure on the wrist could be even more helpful.

At HIMSS in March, Samsung Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Rhew told MobiHealthNews that the overall vision for S Health is to create a comprehensive platform that will be able to help users across the continuum of care, from fitness and wellness tracking to acute care to chronic condition management — and sensors are a big part of that plan.

"Specifically we are focused on three areas," he said at the time. "The first one is a personalized coach. It’s about, we have a lot of sensors on our devices that track steps and other things that are going on. So you get access to that, you get insights out of that, you can also input things such as what you're eating and what the calories are. So it’s creating that personalized digital coach that lets you live every day in a better way and then track your trends and things like that. So that’s the first area of focus in Samsung Health. The second area of focus we’re pretty excited about is telehealth ... and the third thing, something we’re very excited about ... is around chronic care and lifestyle."

S Health delivers telehealth to users through a partnership with American Well and Samsung has taken the first steps into chronic care with an integration with WellDoc's diabetes management software Bluestar. 

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