Nearly one year ago, Nokia acquired Withings, a French company selling smart health products. It was Nokia's first major dive into consumer electronics in years, HMD's Nokia-branded devices aside. The health division was put under strategic review in February, leaving its future uncertain. Now we know at least one company interested in buying it - Nest.

Nokia is now close to selling its Health division, with a number of companies bidding for ownership. Nest, which is being merged into Google, is reportedly interested. Two other French companies and a non-European business are also in the running.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the French government is pushing Nokia to sell the division to a French company. This is partially due to data concerns in the wake of recent Facebook scandals, and partially to boost France's efforts in AI. To make matters more interesting, Google is currently expanding its presence in France.

Google has been ramping up its hardware efforts over the past two years, and acquiring Nokia Health could give the company an entry into the health and fitness industry. Alternatively, Google could just be interested in Nokia's AI technology. We'll have to wait and see.

Source: Wareable