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Next Year’s Apple iWatch Getting Biometric Sensors?

Michael Kwan — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:15:25 +0000

We thought that 2013 was going to be the year of the smart watch, spurred on by products like the Pebble. We thought that Apple’s foray into the smart watch arena would also be this year, but it now sounds like the so-called iWatch won’t be introduced until late next year.

Will it be worth the wait? While the exact specs and features are still totally up in the air, the latest rumor says that Apple’s iWatch will come with some interesting biometric technology. Indeed, according KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, biometrics could play a big part in Apple’s invasion of your wrist. This is for both security and health tracking. The prediction lines up with the fact that Apple bought biometric sensor company AuthenTec last year.

Given the rise in popularity of devices like the Nike Fuelband, Fitbit and Jawbone Up, it makes a lot of sense that Apple also wants to capitalize on this biometric fad too.

As far as the other rumors go, Kuo also says that the iWatch will have a 1.5 to 2-inch display, but earlier reports also indicated that this could be the first Apple device to utilize flexible display technology too. It will be interesting to see how something like the iWatch stacks up against Google Glass.

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Samsung Smart Watch Confirmed by VP Lee Young Hee

Michael Kwan — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:01:09 +0000

Everybody wants to be Inspector Gadget. Rumors of an Apple iWatch have been circulating ever since the last-gen iPod nano was released and people started putting it into wrist straps. It seems that Apple’s biggest competitor could be beating Cupertino to the wrist computer punch, though, as the Samsung Smart Watch has now been confirmed by the company.

This comes by way of Lee Young Hee. In a statement sent to Bloomberg, the Samsung Mobile Vice-President said that they have “been preparing the watch product for so long” and that they are “working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future and the watch is definitely one of them.” Aside from that, though, he wasn’t forthcoming with any kind of real details.

To be fair, there are already smart watches on the market. The Pebble, despite some limitations, has found some noteworthy success among early adopters, but it really will take a flagship-level product from the likes of a Samsung or an Apple to really popularize the format. The assumption is that the Samsung Smart Watch would connect to your Samsung Galaxy smartphone via Bluetooth, pushing notifications and showing text messages.

It would be interesting if they were able to take advantage of some flexible OLED technology for the screen, but we’ll really have to wait and see what sort of “innovative” features or functions will be in what I’m going to call the Samsung Galaxy Watch (or perhaps it’ll be in partnership with Swatch to make the S Watch). Maybe it has an S Time feature. In the battle between the Galaxy Watch and the iWatch, who is going to win? Consumers, I hope.

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Leaked Apple Patent Shows Possible iWatch Design

Michael Kwan — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:06:55 +0000

Fictional characters like James Bond and Inspector Gadget may have been among the first people to get a “smart watch,” but the idea of a “smart watch” is quickly starting to hit the mainstream with products like the Pebble Watch. Not to be outdone, Apple is also reportedly in the labs developing an iWatch of their own and now we’ve got a leaked patent to prove it.

The patent drawing is just a sketch, but it does offer a glimpse into the possible design and features that an Apple iWatch might have. One of these features is the slap bracelet, which “consists of layered flexible steel bands sealed within a fabric cover.” You’ve probably seen some variation of these already. “In a first equilibrium position they can be flat. The second equilibrium is typically reached by slapping the flat embodiment across a wrist, at which point the bracelet curls around the wrist and stays relatively secure in a roughly circular position.”

This would necessitate that the Apple iWatch, or whatever it ends up being called, will have to make use of some sort of flexible display technology. We’ve seen advances in this field in the last couple of years, but not much has gone commercial just yet. Apple could be among the first to popularize the tech, which is possibly why they’re exploring AMOLED. They’re also saying that the iWatch could detect and adapt to the size of the wrist, providing the best use of the available display space. It’ll have to be a touchscreen too, of course.

Aside from that, we’re left to assume that the iWatch should have the usual set of wireless radios, like Bluetooth, for connectivity. There would also presumably be gyroscopes and accelerometers to orient the uninterrupted screen toward the user.

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Flickr user adds strap to iPod nano touchscreen: The iWatch is born

Michael Kwan — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:59:36 +0000

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Last week Steve Jobs revealed the sixth-generation iPod nano, complete with a tiny touchscreen display. Well, it didn’t take long before obvious circumstances came together, and someone found the optimal way to use this new music player: as a watch. Enter the iPod nano watch. All ogikubokei had to do was strap it on, well, add a strap to the back of the new touchscreen nano and he effectively had a watch that could tell time and play music. Remember those Casio calculator watches from your school-age days? Forget about it, this is so much cooler.

Part of the problem is that the battery probably won’t last very long if you keep the screen on all the time, so you will need to activate the screen each time you want to see a clock. But I think that’s worth it, since you’re so much closer to Bond territory, no? We saw the iWatch concept earlier this year and it looks a lot like what we’re seeing today. Unfortunately, the new nano watch doesn’t come with the iWatch’s projector or voice activation functions, at least not yet.

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iWatch projector watch concept puts a whole lot of Apple on your arm

Fabrizio Pilato — Sat, 08 May 2010 16:23:52 +0000

iWatch Concept projector watch Concept: ADR Studio

From the iPhone 4G concept designers ADR Studio, the latest creation is the iWatch. The concept’s slogan is “It’s time to change the time.” And indeed it would. A little on the bulky side the 16GB device not only tells time, but according to its creator it also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to sync with an iPhone or iPad. A weather forecast system, integrated RSS reader for keeping tabs on the news, an LCD projector to display photos and of course multiple strap colors to choose from.

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