Cupertino’s Apple is going to unveil the iWatch to the world in 2014, designed by Jony Ive. Industry insiders tell us Apple’s smartwatch device will focus on tracking, biometrics and online security, rather than replicating iPhone features. Ive, Apple’s legendary designer, is also creating a companion OS for the iWatch, which will be similar to the new “black, white, and flat” look of Apple’s iOS 7.
Top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that: “iWatch will not be positioned as a time-telling device, nor as a device that displays information from other Apple products. We are positive on the iWatch because its wearable design is helpful for offering more secure user identification and biometrics functionality.” In a note to investors, seen by Apple Insider, Kuo also predicts that the smartwatch will feature a 2.0-inch or 1.5-inch touch-responsive display and, because the components required as still only sparsely available, it won’t be coming to market until September 2014.
Kuo’s thoughts and reasoning are shared by Jonny Evans, Computerworld’s resident Apple expert, who has been doing a lot of digging on the subject in recent weeks. He points to a number of Apple patents that have surfaced in recent months, including for curved battery cells for portable devices and for non-rectangular batteries. He also claims that the ‘iWatch’ is being treated by Apple as a make-or-break device, a thousand employees are currently working on it to ensure it has the same consumer impact in terms of innovation and desire as the original iPhone and iPad.
Our insiders tell us that the iWatch will focus on motion and health tracking, similar to the Nike Fuelband, which Apple CEO Tim Cook is rarely seen without. Also, the iWatch will work as a form of online identification — online security is one of the biggest issues facing consumers and a practical, desirable and cool way of ridding cyberspace of the password really would be innovative.
