Apple is reportedly making a big push into health and home monitoring

Apple is unlikely to introduce new devices this week, the things that most excite customers and investors these days. But the company is expected to dive deeper into two new areas: connected health and the so-called smart home. Along with operating system updates for mobile and desktop machines, Apple plans to introducex a new health-tracking app at its annual developers’ conference on Monday, according to a person briefed on the product, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans were confidential. The app for mobile devices will track statistics for health or fitness, like a user’s footsteps, heart rate and sleep activity. The health app will initially pull data from third-party fitness and health-monitoring hardware, the person said, but it will most likely be able to connect with a smart watch that Apple is widely expected to release this year. Apple is also expected to make an announcement about its efforts with connecting to so-called smart home devices, or home appliances that can be wirelessly controlled with a smartphone, like light bulbs, thermostats or door locks.