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 Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions, Adrian Perica, met with
Tesla Motors Inc founder Elon Musk at the company's headquarters
last year around the same time analysts suggested that Apple acquire
the Model S electric car maker, the newspaper reported on Sunday,
citing a source.
The company is also exploring medical devices and sensors that can
help predict heart attacks by studying sound blood makes at it flows
through arteries.
The company's senior vice president of operations, Jeff Williams,
has met with U.S. Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. Margaret
Hamburg and Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, who oversees the agency's approval
for medical devices, to discuss "mobile medical applications," the
paper reported, citing FDA records.
Apple could not be reached for comment.
Rival Google Inc recently bought thermostat maker Nest Labs for $3.2
billion, robot maker Boston Dynamic and artificial intelligence
startup DeepMind Technologies Ltd. The company has also been working
on projects including Google Glass and self-driving cars.
Investors hope that Apple, which last came out with a new device — the iPad — in 2010, has something up its sleeve for 2014.
Speculation currently revolves around a smartwatch or even a
long-rumored TV product.
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Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 6, a mid-range smartphone,
and may also launch wearable devices such as iWatch, in the second
half of the year.
Others say Apple can use its huge iPhone and iTunes base to get into
mobile payments or advertising.
Apple reported lower-than-expected iPhone sales for the holiday
shopping quarter and gave a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast.
The company has been ceding ground to Samsung Electronics Co and
other rivals in China, its No. 2 market.
(Reporting by Soham Chatterjee; editing
by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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