Did Apple Just Make the Fitness Tracker Obsolete?

It turns out that the upcoming Apple Watch includes fitness tracking ability that could set it beyond the Fitbit, Jawbone, and other devices on the market.

Apple CEO Tim Cook among many other things touted the Apple Watch as a "comprehensive health and fitness companion" during a Tuesday morning unveiling that also included the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus—as well as an Apple Pay payment system that seeks to make wallets obsolete.

Besides telling time, finding directions, and providing an "intimate way to connect and communicate," the Apple Watch is an "all-day fitness tracker and a highly advanced sports watch in a single device," according to company officials.

The Apple Watch, expected to be out in early 2015 at the retail price of about $350, will include an Activity app that monitors movement throughout the day—while a Workout app provides tracking of dedicated workouts. Data can be sent to others-—including health providers. Besides a movement- and step-tracking accelerometer, the watch also has Infrared and visible-light LEDs, along with photosensors, packaged into the back. This allows the Apple Watch to detect pulse rate, and calculate calorie burning.

On an added note, the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models will include a "barometer" that will allow the phones to not only track movement but whether the movement is more strenuous because of changes in elevation. (Think walking up a hill or climbing up a flight of stairs.)

VentureBeat notes a downside with the situation, that the watch apparently needs to be paired with the iPhone for sophisticated workout tracking: "The watch, unfortunately, relies on the GPS radio in the paired iPhone to track the routes of your workout. It also will rely on the barometer in the new phones to track the elevation of your walks or runs."

Still, the watch can be paired with sporty bands—and uses super-durable sapphire. It can even track how long you've been sitting down versus moving around.

There was no mention on Tuesday of a hydrometer, blood glucose reader or other more sophisticated medical device functions that were rumored to be in the Apple Watch. There was also little information on how the Apple Watch's fitness tracking will work with HealthKit, Apple's all new cloud-based health information platform.

Then there's the recent leak of risqué celebrity photos from the iCloud. Can Apple protect users' health information?

Perhaps Apple needs something to work on for the the Apple Watch 2 or 3. Or maybe Apple needs more time to work out issues with the FDA. App developers for the Apple Watch might have their own medtech-related ideas, too.

Cook also said, "There is so much more we don't have time to cover this morning."