“Out of nowhere comes the granted patent surprise of the year,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“Apple has been granted a patent for ‘iTime,’ the name they provided for a wristwatch,” Purcher reports. “It’s very different from Apple’s first wrist-computer or iWatch in every way. It’s simpler and more watch-like.”
“Apple notes that it will work with gestures and specialized push notifications and alerts,” Purcher reports. “The gesture can correspond to specific movements of a user’s wrist or arm can vary with implementation. For example, the gesture might be a horizontal movement for one user input option (e.g., decline incoming call), and might be a vertical movement for another user input option (e.g., accept incoming call). For example, the gesture might be a single shake (or bounce, tap, etc.) of the user’s wrist for one user input option (e.g., accept incoming call), and might be a pair of shakes (or bounces, taps, etc.) for another user input option (e.g., decline incoming call).”
Much more in the full article here.
I hope Apple did more than this to protect the iWatch.
We’ve seen how much patents helped them protect iPhone and iOS.
Patents have proven to be as useful for stopping copycats as no tresspassing signs are for stopping wild animals.
The protection in this and Apple’s other products going forward is going to be in the design, materials, and manufacturing that no other company can meet. Tim Cook is getting out of the “thermonuclear war” that Steve Jobs started against Samsung and is going with the “catch us if you can (but you can’t)” philosophy.
This was filed in 2011.
2011.
People have been hemming and hawing that Apple was “done”, they didn’t have any innovation left, yet they filed a iWatch patent in 2011 that included biometric sensors.
I wonder what Apple is working on right now that will blow our minds in 3 to 4 years?
“Why is Bob’s wrist always bobbing up and down in his lap?”
“He’s trying to master wrist-dictating a text.”
“Oh, cuz it it looks like…”
“Yep.”
I heard Apple was working on several models of the iWatch. Yet I agree with patently apple in that it may be a head fake. The first patent covering an iWatch was amazing. This is very tame in comparison, even for Apple. But if you Saw Ray Donovan on TV this past Sunday, you know that some like to have a lot of watch choices to choose from depending on the occasion. So Apple may want to tap into that kind of thinking. Way to go Donovan. 🙂
TICK TOCK !
(The new BOOM !)
H iTime
Apple won’t do a Samsung and make loads of different models.
They’ll do at max 2, one for male wrists and one for female wrists and the difference between both will be minimal.
Think more elegant for females and more robust for males.
Either way I think it will be a band not a watch and Siri will be the main control mechanism with video voice chat (FaceTime) and will offer additional functionality when used with an iPhone and iPad.
It will not be an iWatch unless it is tied to the Apple TV (watch a “screen.”)
I believe Apple will continue the iP naming series by calling it the iPulse and marketing it as the center (pulse) of your “connectedness”. The pulse name will fit in with all the obvious health applications but also can be thought of being core to “the pulse (beat or Beats) of your daily life.” Many very moving commercials showing that theme will immediately follow its announcement.
OK Gene.
The gesture can correspond to specific movements of a user’s wrist
I picture a jungle dance of wrist movements becoming the norm out-in-the-wild, along with lots of parodies. 😉
Would be fun to watch!
Pardon the pun :))))
Cue the next Planet of the Apes movie, in which Caesar learns how to use Macs, iPhones and the iWatch to rebuild the world and forces humans to use Samsung devices until they throw themselves off cliffs to end the horror.
Sounds a bit like https://www.thalmic.com/en/myo/
Soon Samsung will just call it “STimeOut” “S” would stand for Sh*t! lol
“It’s very different from Apple’s first wrist-computer or iWatch in every way. It’s simpler and more watch-like.”
What first “wrist-computer or iWatch”????????
If you read the patent, this was obviously a patent (and Apple’s answer) for the use of the 6G Nano as a watch. Most of the technology is contained in the strap, and it would enhance the media player (iPod nano mentioned by name) attached to it by making use of sensors and radios.
It was filed for three years ago, and I’m sure Apple has made A LOT of advancements since then… just look at all the people they hired during that time.
You mean advanced like this Apple patent?
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2013/02/talk-about-timing-apples-wristwatch-patent-arrives.html
What happened to the days of allowing patents for inventions that actually had an accompanying working prototype with the application..
Accelerometer on your wrist. If you get into a fight with another iWatch wearer, both iWatches will be logging the fight with impact data to alert the EMTs when they arrive and to settle the old argument “he started it!”
Maybe the watches could just carry on a virtual fight for you based on how hard you normally hit a punching bag. The display would show those old-time cartoon graphics, “Pow!” “Oof!” “Wham!” and make appropriate sounds and vibrations to keep the two erstwhile combatants entertained.
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I bet Derrek Currie and friends will find a flaw in BLE that allows guys to walk past pretty girls and get their phone number from their iWatch (that’s not a sexist comment, it’s a reference to an age-old humorous social interaction).
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Maybe Apple will enter the “cool” realm by having iWatches give a gentle pulse of vibration when the Bluetooth hardware detects another iWatch within 30 feet, giving way to a new social behavior of casually glancing around you to catch the eye of another searcher, followed by a subdued but nonetheless smug nod to each other that you silently acknowledge being members of the true cool club.
“I bet Derrek Currie and friends will find a flaw in BLE that allows guys to walk past pretty girls and get their phone number from their iWatch (that’s not a sexist comment, it’s a reference to an age-old humorous social interaction).”
No, that’s a sexist comment. It’s also totally true (at least to men doing it to women (only men would think of this), I don’t know if Derrek would do such a thing).