OceanLeap Launches Platform For Building Wearable Apps in the Cloud

With the focus on wearable technology from the likes of Samsung, Apple and Motorola, it is not too surprising that new startup OceanLeap has appeared with a cloud based service to help developers create apps for wearable hardware.

The focus currently is squarely on apps for the health, fitness and sporting areas but the software platform is capable of adapting to the needs of other niche areas too. The service comes with a API for developers to access the features of the OceanLeap service. Developers can access activity sensors from different wearable technology and use that information in their own apps. OceanLeap also offer their own app which can be customized by developers who want a place to start rather than starting from scratch.

OceanLeap technology can be accessed through many different languages and implementations in the cloud which makes it suitable for many types of wearable devices from a Tizen OS in the Samsung Gear product range to Android in the Google wearable devices to iOS on the Apple Watch.

Their REST API can access requests for information from mobile web sites, web services, mobile apps and analytics packages. It is also possible to collection enough information to present an informative dashboard, activity tracking, leaderboard feature or set challenges based on past actions taken.

A software development kit (SDK) has already been created for wearable hardware makers too. OceanLeap except that in the future there will be numerous brands entering the wearable space. Typically those focused on hardware are not so hot on the software side of things so the SDK from OceanLeap can help get them over that initial hurdle.

The OceanLeap software is build on top of Amazon Web Services partly because the founder used to work in the AWS division at Amazon and partly because the platform delivered the infrastructure that was needed. The pricing for OceanLeap is also similar to AWS with costs being levied per number of API requests every second, what storage is used, total transfers and push notifications.

The market for wearables is small currently but expected to expand considerably over the next five years. As many as 1 million smart watches maybe sold by the end of 2014 but this is expected to grow to over 10 million within a year and into the hundreds of millions of wearable devices in less than a decade. As such, OceanLeap is playing the long game.