Qualcomm and UnitedHealthcare team up for wearable program

With a monetary incentive for employees
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It looks like wearables are making their way into the workplace with a brand spanking new program from Qualcomm and health insurance company UnitedHealthcare.

The two bigwigs are collaborating on a new incentive program for companies with 100-300 employees, that have qualifying insurance plans, in America.

Employees can earn up to $1,460 per year by meeting certain goals for the number of daily steps that are monitored through a free wearable provided by the program.

The wearable isn't a specific brand, like a Fitbit or Jawbone - rather UnitedHealth notes it's a "custom-designed wearable device" that can track the number of steps each user takes throughout the day, calculating the total number, frequency and intensity of the steps taken.

Essential reading: The best Android Wear smartwatches on sale now

The data is then sent to the UnitedHealthcare Motion app, which is powered by Qualcomm Life's 2net Mobile, the company's "medical grade connectivity" platform that's in place to ensure patient privacy and security compliant with federal HIPAA rules.

It's pretty clear now that Qualcomm is taking the jump into wearables even more seriously than previous years. The company is already readying its first dedicated wearable chip - the Snapdragon Wear 2100 for upcoming LG and Android Wear devices, plus it's even plopping the tech inside non-wrist-ware wearables like smart leggings.

Qualcomm and UnitedHealthcare team up for wearable program


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Lily is a writer and editor specializing in tech, video games, marketing, education, travel writing, and creative fiction. 

She has over 10 years of experience covering the technology beat.

Lily has a passion for VR and AR technologies and was associate wearables editor at TechRadar US, before joining Wareable as US editor in 2016.

Lily will graduate in 2023 with an MFA in Creative Writing.

In her spare time, Lily can be found knee-deep in zine collaborations, novel writing, playing Dungeons & Dragons or hiking and foraging for mushrooms.


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