“Apple Inc. has a team of about 100 product designers working on a wristwatch-like device that may perform some of the tasks now handled by the iPhone and iPad, two people familiar with the company’s plans said,” Peter Burrows and Adam Satariano report for Bloomberg.
“The team, which has grown in the past year, includes managers, members of the marketing group, and software and hardware engineers who previously worked on the iPhone and iPad, said the people, who asked not to be named because the plans are private,” Burrows and Satariano report. ‘The team’s size suggests Apple is beyond the experimentation phase in its development, said the people.”
Burrows and Satariano report, “Apple’s James Foster, senior director of engineering, and Achim Pantfoerder, another manager, are part of the efforts to introduce a wristwatch-style computer, according to the people. Apple has worked on wearable devices for tracking fitness in the past and never brought them to market, said one of the people… Apple is right to invest in products such as watches, even if they don’t result in commercial products, said Josh Spencer, a fund manager at T. Rowe Price Group Inc. ‘There’s more people that would wear an Apple watch than would wear Google glasses,’ Spencer said.”
Read more in the full article here.
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With ‘iWatch,’ Apple could turn wearable devices into next big thing – February 12, 2013
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Apple patent application details display-integrated cellular antennas – May 6, 2012
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Beam me up Scottie….:)
for a company of apple’s size, 100 isn’t much
Exactly how many would you put on such a team and how would you manage them?
You’d have to watch them closely.
Ha!
Keep in mind that a very large number of Apple’s employees are retail employees. Another significant percentage are devoted entirely to customer service. Engineers are likely a pretty small percentage, at which point 100 is an awful lot. Now, they may not all be engineers on this team, as they’ll likely need QA people, as well, to figure out where the prototypes suck and need to be redesigned. But I’d still say 100 people on a team is a big number.
This would explain why they killed the square iPod Nano that already had a slew of watchbands available for it.
The up side is that it will be harder to leave an iWatch at the bar than the experimental iPhone.
Analyst expects Apple to sell 372 million unannounced iWatches in the March quarter.
CNBC reports that analysts expect Apple to miss target of 372 million nonexistent iWatches in March quarter.
AAPL tumbles 4% On news of missed expectations.
How did you get to be so cynical, Twinkie? >8^)
Note: CNBC would push that 372 million number all morning, with Munster upping it to at least 500 million, before bringing on Ed Zabitsky, Alex Guano, Walter Piecyk, Chip Tawdry, Duggie KAss and Colon Gillis in the afternoon to report the expected miss.
Has Apple applied for a trademark on the iWatch name?
I know they have iGlasses sown up.
I think it’s iTime 😉
Considering that it will likely do so much more than tell time, my money’s on iBand.
Samsung’s also got a team on standby ready to come up with their own watch, code named Xerox. They’ll have a product ready 6 months after Apple, to be declared an iWatch killer upon its debut because it’s slightly cheaper. Apple should have moved to address the developing smart watch market, says Bloomberg’s Betty Liu. Now they’re been left behind, they’re no longer the innovator. There’s a new, bigger and better Android smart watch on the market every other month. When the hell is Tim Cook going to release the iWatch mini to combat the growing onslaught?
There is NO iWatch Mini! Never was, never will be!
Coming in 2015: the iRing.
Samsun’s entry to the market is rumored to be “iGrandfather’sClock”
MS’s entry will be the iSore.
I’m sure Samsung will have a cheap knockoff ready in no time, but anyone that thinks Apple will release something as lame as a watch will miss the boat. If Apple releases a wearable computing device, it will be significantly more than a smart watch and it will have features that Android devices can’t do either due to software limitations or patent issues. Not to mention, the hardware will be quite inferior.
iContacts?…..
You inailed it. Bluetooth contact lens display. With screen saver, you can change your eye design and color. Coach can signal plays to football team members all at once.
stop it already there is no product.
there is no iWatch
stop discussing it like it is real.
There is no apple iwatch