Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:MXIM) and Samsung Electronics collaborate to improve people’s lives by incorporating intuitive health, fitness, and lifestyle capabilities into mobile devices.

Samsung announces that it has integrated Maxim’s heart rate monitor sensor into the Samsung Galaxy S5, allowing users to monitor heart rate. The goal is to help consumers better monitor their health.

Maxim’s proprietary technology includes robust algorithms that give accurate readings quickly in just eight seconds. This is the first biosensor incorporated into a smartphone and it opens a window into one’s personal health.

“Building the platform technology for this new capability was exciting and challenging,” said DJ Koh, Executive Vice President of R&D Strategy Team at Samsung’s Mobile Communications.

“This is the first time anyone has incorporated a heart rate monitor into a mobile device, so our team worked closely with Maxim to identify the right solution. We seamlessly wove this technology into a smartphone to deliver a unique user experience while quickly overcoming the design challenges to meet the launch of the Galaxy S5.”

The heart rate monitor sensor is very demanding in its requirements for motion compensation, ambient light resilience, and fast signal acquisition. Ordinarily, to collect heart rate, the finger is enclosed in a cuff. However, Maxim’s new technology eliminates this need. Users simply rest a finger on the back of the Galaxy S5, and the algorithm works with the phone’s hardware to provide an accurate reading very fast.

“People are generally unable to access instant information about their unique health, like heart rate, without the use of costly medical equipment,” said Chae Lee, Senior Vice President of Mobility Group at Maxim. “Now, anyone with the Galaxy S5 can easily monitor their heart rate on-demand.”

The sophisticated heart rate monitor in the smartphone quickly and accurately assesses personal vital signs. This is ushering in a new age of health monitoring, further strengthening the smartphone-human connection because it creates a more personal experience. Smartphones like the Galaxy S5, and applications like Samsung’s S Health, are becoming essential because they will help consumers take better care of themselves by monitoring their personal health trends.

“As the heart rate monitor is adopted, we expect that consumers will see this—and other biometric advances in smartphones—as a significant benefit to their lifestyle,” said Lee. “The goal is to make it easy for consumers to be healthy and this is just the beginning of what is to come,” concluded Lee.

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