Popular analyst warns iWatch may not hit market until late 2014

By Cody Lee on May 22, 2013

Folks looking forward to seeing Apple launch its iWatch product this year probably shouldn’t get their hopes up. According to a new report from well-respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, there’s a good possibility we won’t see the rumored accessory until late 2014.

Kuo says that due to the vast changes coming in iOS 7, Apple won’t have the resources to build out software for the wristwatch-like device. And he thinks that, and an immature component market for wearable devices, will delay the project until the end of next year… Read More

 

Apple ostensibly sampling 1.5-inch iWatch screens

By Christian Zibreg on May 20, 2013

The pretty accurate Japanese blog Macotakara passes along a pair of Taiwanese reports claiming that Apple is now evaluating and sampling tiny screens for its rumored smartwatch, affectionately dubbed by the media as iWatch. Apple’s technologies chief Bob Mansfield, who is believed to have taken particular interest in wearable technology, along with a team of 100+ engineers are reportedly evaluating 1.5-inch screens based on OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode).

OLED is important because it doesn’t require a backlight so it’s more batter-friendly than a liquid crystal display (LCD). Additionally, OLED screens render deeper black levels and are thinner and lighter than LCDs, which are major feats for small form-factor wearable gadgets like smartwatches… Read More

 

Your fresh batch of attractive iWatch renders

By Christian Zibreg on May 6, 2013

I’m a big fan of 3D artist Martin Hajek and his work. In case you’re unfamiliar with Hajek, he’s the brains behind the often gorgeous renderings of rumored Apple products and is renowned for his 3D modeling skills, as evident in his exquisite renderings. Back in March, Hajek created a more traditional concept of the rumored iWatch for the MacUser magazine.

He’s back at it again, having created a fresh batch of alleged Apple smartphone mockups for the April 2013 issue of the magazine… Read More

 

One in five would buy iWatch, study finds

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 19, 2013

Apple’s rumored smartwatch, dubbed by the media iWatch, is a gadget nearly one in five people would buy, a study by ChangeWave Research has it.

With five percent respondents ‘Very Likely’ to buy an iWatch if and when it becomes available and an additional fourteen percent ‘Likely’ to purchase it, a total of nineteen percent of the 1,713 surveyed North Americans would consider a purchase.

Data bodes well for Apple as Gartner thinks the market for wearable smart electronics could be worth ten billion dollars by 2016. And if you ask analyst Katy Huberty, the iWatch could drive an incremental $10-$15 billion in revenue each year, assuming annual sales of 50 million units and an average selling price between $200 and $300… Read More

 

WSJ: Microsoft to respond to Apple, Google with smartwatch, smartphone, mini Surface

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 15, 2013

As Apple’s manufacturing partner Foxconn recently began hiring workers for assembly of a next-gen iPhone and possibly a rumored budget iPhone, our friends over at Redmond are thought to be busy developing own branded smartwatch, smartphone and seven-inch Surface tablet. Both gadgets are viewed as direct responses to Apple’s rumored iWatch project, its wildly successful smartphone and the iPad mini tablet, respectively.

The smartwatch project is purportedly beyond the prototyping phase as Microsoft is said to have started aligning parts suppliers in Asia earlier this year, allegedly sourcing 1.5-inch screens. However, folks who apparently saw the prototypes warn it’s “unclear whether Microsoft will opt to move ahead with the watch” at this stage… Read More

 

Corporate coach alludes to Apple’s next breakthrough: wearable

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 12, 2013

Bill Campbell, Chairman of the Intuit board, has been a member of Apple’s board of directors since Steve Jobs’s return in 1997. Simply known as the “coach,” Campbell sat down with the Intuit CEO and dropped a few notable hints regarding Apple’s direction in the post-Jobs Tim Cook era. Although he wouldn’t discuss specifics of Apple’s pipeline, reading between the lines subtly suggests that something incorporating wearable technology might soon become Apple’s latest and greatest creation. We have a vide right past the fold… Read More

 

Apple may have tasked former Adobe Flash expert with iWatch work

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 12, 2013

Last month, news broke that Apple hired Adobe’s former Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch as its new VP of technology, reporting directly to Bob Mansfield who heads the new Technologies unit combining Apple’s wireless and semiconductor teams. iDB, along with many other news outlets, opined how out of character the hiring evidently was given Lynch’s history of public criticism of Apple’s stance on Flash. According to a new report, the ex-Adobe exec may now be a part of the engineering group that’s been developing a rumored Apple smartwatch project… Read More

 

If Samsung made an iWatch…

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 27, 2013

..it would look something like this. Of course, the South Korean chaebol indeed is working not so secretly on its own smartwatch and if a set of leaked screenshots is anything to go by, it’ll have a 500-by-500 pixel resolution display. Meet us in comments… Read More

 

Google said to be working on its own smartwatch

By Cody Lee on Mar 22, 2013

A year ago, the smartwatch space didn’t really exist. I mean it did, but it consisted of just a handful of lackluster products from the likes of Sony and Motorola. But if rumors are true, it’ll serve as the next battlefield for the 3 biggest names in tech.

Hot on the heels of reports that both Apple and Samsung are hard at work developing smartphone-connected wristwatches comes a new one from The Financial Times claiming that Google’s Android unit is working on a smartwatch of its own… Read More

 

LG developing own iWatch and Google Glass-like wearable gizmo

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 22, 2013

Apple’s unreleased iWatch is already inspiring a bunch of me-too products from big name tech giants (nothing wrong with that, mind you). Bloomberg recently quoted a Samsung executive who went on the record to confirm that his company has been “preparing the watch product for so long.”

Then, the Financial Times newspaper shared knowledge of Google’s Android team working on a smartwatch product to act as an extension to the smartphones using Android.

And now we’re hearing that the South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation better known as LG is also developing its own iWatch contender, in addition to a wearable gadget akin to Google’s Glass eyewear… Read More

 

Bloomberg: Samsung in race with Apple to get wristwatch to market

By Cody Lee on Mar 19, 2013

We’ve heard a lot of talk in recent months that Apple is working on a wristwatch-like device. And it could be ready to launch as soon as this year. We’ve also seen some alleged leaked screenshot images that suggest Samsung is working on a similar product.

Tonight, Bloomberg is out with a new report that adds significant weight to both rumors, claiming that not only are both companies preparing wearable devices that perform similar functions as smartphones, but they’re both racing to get them to market… Read More

 

iWatch concept, the traditional edition

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 12, 2013

Hot on the heels of releasing a set of renditions depicting what an iPhone 6 with a 4.6-inch screen might look like, 3D artist Martin Hajek is out with a new concept for the iWatch, Apple’s rumored iOS-powered smartwatch that has been reportedly cooking in Jony Ive’s kitchen for quite a time now.

Unlike a bunch of sci-fi renderings and some pretty radical mockups that couldn’t be farther from the real thing (or so we hope, from the bottom of our hearts), Martin’s new renderings featured on the April cover of the MacUser magazine employs a more traditional approach to what an everyman’s app-enabled wristwatch should look like… Read More

 

Comic time: Google Glass vs. Apple iWatch

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 7, 2013

Joy of Tech last month posted a pretty comical take on the iWatch rumors. My favorite bit: it’s a walkie-talkie with a direct line to Jony Ive’s secret laboratory, Dick Tracy style. Earlier today, they weighed in on the inevitable comparison between the iWatch and Google’s Glass. Putting aside for a moment the fact that one is the real product (Glass) while the other is vaporware (at least for now), both are futuristic wearable computers we’re supposed to wear on us in public. Check out the comic included past the fold and meet us in comments…

Read More

 

Swatch CEO disparages iWatch, Microsoft could re-enter the smartwatch market

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 6, 2013

With the rumor-mill lately shifting into overdrive, pundits and tech watchers alike have been racing to guesstimate which one comes out first, an Apple-branded smartwatch or a standalone television set. And as established outlets like Bloomberg claim Apple’s rumored wearable device runs iOS (meaning it could be jailbreakable) while doubling as a health monitor of sorts, little wonder that market incumbents are getting a little worried, to say the least.

Their reaction of course is expected and understandable given Apple’s market power and street cred in the consumer electronics space. Enter watch maker Swatch, whose CEO took to Bloomberg to disparage the iWatch as a failure even before the non-existent device has had a chance to hit the market.

In his view, the Apple smartwatch won’t be revolutionary because mimicking the iPhone features on such a tiny wearable device is “difficult.” Rrrright… Read More

 

Bloomberg: iWatch will run iOS, is due by Christmas

By Ed Sutherland on Mar 4, 2013

A few months ago, you couldn’t move without encountering yet another Apple television rumor. But if you are interested in profit – and what company isn’t – the execs in Cupertino should cancel any HD TV and focus on wristwatches. Turns out, the wristwatch business could be way more profitable than Apple-made TVs.

Rival firms lust after Apple’s huge profit margins. In a potential stroke of good timing, massive margins from the much-rumored iWatch could replace the iPhone – even slacking PC sales, one Wall Street analyst forecasts Monday… Read More

 

Apple patent wants iPhones to exchange your GPS location with iWatch?

By Ed Sutherland on Feb 27, 2013

Apple Tuesday was issued an interesting patent that could relate to recent headlines about a device known as the iWatch. The patent approved by the United State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) describes an “accessory device” that could receive GPS data from your iPhone. For some time, speculation has surrounded Apple was working on a wristwatch device that can communicate with your smartphone or iPad.

According to the patent, location data could be transmitted either wirelessly or through a hard connection, displaying either a map with navigation or simply points of interest. The technology permits either data to be sent from the iPhone to an accessory device, from the accessory device to the iPhone or to whichever device is deemed most accurate… Read More

 

New Apple patent filing surfaces for wearable accessory with a flexible display

By Cody Lee on Feb 21, 2013

Ok, well if reports from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Bloomberg didn’t convince you that the rumored ‘iWatch‘ project is real, maybe this will. A new Apple patent filing has surfaced for a wearable accessory with a flexible display.

Apple first filed its “Bi-stable spring with flexible display” patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office back in August of 2011. And it describes a slap bracelet (remember those?)-like accessory with a full-length flexible touchscreen… Read More

 

New iWatch concept takes a more traditional approach

By Cody Lee on Feb 20, 2013

As reports claiming that Apple is working on a wristwatch-like device continue to swirl, and subsequent speculation grows, concept artists have taken to their digital palettes to create their own versions of the so-called ‘iWatch.’

We’ve already seen a handful of these Apple-watch mockups—most of which feature curved glass displays and futuristic designs. But today, we’ve come across a concept that takes a far more traditional wristwatch approach… Read More

 

What if iWatch isn’t actually an Apple smart watch, but an aptly named TV?

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 18, 2013

As we entered 2013, the rumor mill has been increasingly churning out speculative reports regarding Apple’s rumored TV set and smart watch projects, almost on a daily basis. Even Bloomberg joined the frenzy with claims that Apple has as many as a hundred product designers working on a wearable smart watch-like computer that “may perform some of the tasks now handled by the iPhone and iPad.” But here’s the kicker: what if this group is instead working on a television set – fittingly referred to as an iWatch? Read More

 

Poll: which would you rather wear, an Apple iWatch or Google’s Glasses

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 18, 2013

Silicon Valley giant Google rightfully trusts tech enthusiasts will be falling over themselves to adopt its Android-driven Glasses, going as far to commission a pro to take a series of fashion photographs featuring beautiful, smiling models. Apple, on the other hand (pun intended), is said to be entering the wearable computing space with a smart watch-like gizmo believed to be conceptualized as your most intimate computer yet.

Google’s bet is that advanced augmented reality features are enough to talk people into putting up with the unusual glasses dancing on their nose. And if iWatch talk is for real, then Apple must be thinking its users won’t have a problem wearing a curved-glass watch around their wrist like some Dict Tracy copycat.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle: some folks will readily adopt these wearable devices and others will wave them off as a function over form. Which brings me to today’s poll: if you were forced to choose between the two, which one would you rather wear in public – Google’s Glasses or Apple’s iWatch? Read More

 
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