Apple is rumoured to be developing a wrist watch of some description, which would most likely synch up with an iPhone or iPad to give you updates on you’re wrist, allow you to control other devices and pull data from the cloud.

Supposedly a team of ‘about 100 product designers’ are working on the iWatch – including managers, marketers and software and hardware engineers who previously worked on the iPhone and iPad. That’s according to two people ‘familiar with the company’s plans’, which puts them in a remarkably small category.

According to the two in the know, the project is ‘beyond experimentation phase in its development.’

Apple iWatch Features

A further two informers claiming to be au fait with Apple’s various super-plans say it is experimenting with a ‘wristwatch-like device made of curved glass’, operating on iOS. The NYT notes Corning has developed bendable glass last year called Willow Glass which could be used to wrap around something wrist, and cites Forrester’s claim that “Apple’s certainly made a lot of hiring in that area”.

There are also claims Apple is in discussions with Chinese manufacturer Foxconn, which makes a large number of iPhone and iPad parts, about producing an iWatch. Foxconn are apparently working to make more power-efficient displays and stripping down chips, aimed at multiple Foxconn customers. This Wall Street Journal report also claims Apple has hired employees with backgrounds in sensors and related tecehnologies.

Apple iTV, Siri and iCloud

While many have dismissed the idea of a Apple iWatch in the past, some are coming around to the idea in think pieces. The Cult of Mac notes that recently Siri and iCloud has become massively important to Apple – and that these two technologies actually lend themselves very well to a wristwatch strategy. It also points out that it would be particularly well suited as a remote control to any TV that may be being worked on. The Apple iTV is an entire area of speculation in itself, which we’ve collated and summarised for you here.  

It has also been pointed out that an iWatch wouldn’t be such a dramatic new area for Apple, since the square iPod Nano with watchstraps can act as, well, pretty much a watch with knobs on. A Blog To Watch also concurs that Siri integration will be key.

Apple iWatch: Flexible/curved screen

Apple iWatch: Battery

There are reams of speculation on precisely what tech the device would have under the hood, which at this point may seem like a rumour bridge too far – but certainly one thing that would seem obvious is some form of better battery performance, since you wouldn’t want to take a watch off and charge it twice a day like can be required for a smartphone. On this point, some have highlighted a patent Apple owns for wireless charging.

Apple iWatch: Design

While early possibilities led us to believe an iWatch would be effectively an iPod Nano on a strap, the latest developments are much more intriguing. According to a patent application unearthed by AppleInsider, Cupertino has been investigating the possibility of a wraparound design similar to the slap bracelets of the early 1990s.

According to the patent, the iWatch could be made of a flexible screen that wraps entirely around the user's wrist and utilises solar power and kinetic energy to keep the battery topped up.

A couple of interesting mockups have hit the web, but unfortunately there wasn't much to be gleaned from the handdrawn sketches submitted as part of the patent application.

Source: AppleInsider

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