Monday, February 25, 2013

Rumoured Apple iWatch

So the Apple rumour mill is a buzz with talk of the Apple iWatch (or whatever they decide to call it). Information has surfaced recently that Apple has a patent for what can best be described as a "slap bracelet".

"In a first equilibrium position they can be flat. The second equilibrium is typically reached by slapping the flat embodiment across the wrist, at which point the bracelet curls around the wrist and stays relatively secure in a roughly circular position."

iWatch-Patent-Image

Read more at IGN

This is quite intriguing, imagine being able to take your iWatch off and straighten it out and use it differently to when it's wrapped around your wrist. Maybe for playing a game, or even a game controller for your iPad or Apple TV. Perhaps a camera for stills, video or even scanning.

Use Case

I try to not be that guy that just buys anything Apple sells, but this iWatch idea does appeal to me. I agree with what many people are saying, this will reduce the number of times you need to remove your iPhone from your pocket, if it displays all the notifications you get on your iPhone. But for me personally, I never hear my iPhone in my pocket, or feel it vibrate. I really do miss a lot of important messages or calls when my phone is in my pocket. So what I do now is constantly look at my iPhone substantially increasing the risk of dropping it.

I have not worn a wrist watch for many years, so wearing an iWatch will take some adjustment, but if it does what people are suggesting, it will be worth it.

What do the rumours say it will do?

So from what I can gather is as mentioned above, all sorts of notifications. The possibility to reply to messages via the device and/or voice (Siri). Video calls via Facetime. Reminders and calendar events. Plus some kind of health tracking, such as a pedometer or even more sophisticated body measurements like pulse rate. It will be an iOS device, so provided it is not locked out by Apple, we could see a number of apps built specifically for it.

What will it look like?

For an artists mock-up I found this image on iDownloadBlog

iWatch graphic

Looks like it could be quite an interesting product, in typical Apple fashion we almost don't see a need for something like this, but once we get one we will probably wonder how we ever lived without it.

Please post your comments below, let me know if this would be something you would consider purchasing.

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