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Samsung wins patent for smartphone-based body fat analysis

July 13, 2015
A figure from a report released by Samsung Electronics Co. demonstrates the body-fat measuring feature of a smartphone. Industry sources said on July 14, 2015, South Korea's tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. received a patent for the new technology to check users' body fat. (Yonhap)

A figure from a report released by Samsung Electronics Co. demonstrates the body-fat measuring feature of a smartphone. Industry sources said on July 14, 2015, South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. received a patent for the new technology to check users’ body fat. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. has won a patent for analyzing body fat through smartphones, an intellectual property organization said Tuesday, which may mark another leap forward in enhancing health care-related features on smart devices.

Under the title “Method and apparatus for measuring body fat using a mobile device,” the Korean-language report posted on the World Intellectual Property Organization’s website said it has found ways to acquire users’ body fat information by simply having them hold their devices.

Samsung and its global archival Apple Inc. have been making efforts to tap deeper into health care-related features in their smartphones and smart watches that can check heart beat and track exercise.

The latest development by Samsung will mark another progress in enhancing health-related features on smart devices.

“(Previous measuring devices) were expensive, big and complicated to control,” the report said. “But recently, such devices have become smaller and easier to activate.”

Samsung said four electrodes on the device will exchange information to calculate body fat figures.

The company did not provide details on when the new technology will be applied to its products.

The tech giant, meanwhile, is anticipated to release its next flagship phablet, a cross between a smartphone and a tablet PC, around early September.