“A recent series of trademark filings on the term iWatch lends more credence than ever to rumors that Apple is working hard on delivering a wrist-wearable companion to its popular iPhone, perhaps sometime before the end of the year,” Mark Rogowsky writes for Forbes. “The wristwatch itself is something of an anachronism, but the market for watches is actually pretty robust, with more than $40 billion in annual sales. Yet, the excitement in the category isn’t about traditional timepieces, but rather bits of technology that work alongside smartphones as companions of one sort or another.”
Rogowsky writes, “It’s not obvious that Apple’s watch will have a killer app to justify its purchase, whatever the price ends up being. But that said, Apple’s track record is strong here and rather than bet against the success of the iWatch, it is likely that it will be something of a hit even if it isn’t a game-changing piece of technology… The big challenge is that even a category like fitness trackers (or phone companions) is small compared to the smartphone universe itself. Of course, they know this in iPhone land and so it’s safe to assume even if the iWatch is the next pretty big thing, something larger is still in the works at Apple.”
Read more in the full article here.
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How funny would it be if the iWatch turned out not to be a watch at all, but the AppleTV everyone’s been speculating about for the past few years?
Reminds of the Seiko TV watch from the early 80’s from James Bond Octopussuy.
Wondering the same thing.
Yeah, and Cook & Ive are feeding the watch stuff to certain Apple employees to smoke out leakers while the TV remains the secret big project which only Ive’s most trusted design lieutenants are privy. That would be hilarious.
No, actually
iWatch = “low cost iPhone”
just as (in 2010)
iPad = “low cost Mac netbook”
Apple kills two current rumors with “one stone.” 🙂
I think the iWatch could be a wrist-strap that will allow us to strap our iPhones to our wrists!
Or the low-cost phone…
Yes, or if iWatch was a pair of glasses, contact lenses or health monitoring software.
glasses are lame
GAVIN… I like the way you think!
Yes, a thousand times YES. Yes, we are ready !!! Start shipping…
I am ready for an upgrade.
I would buy a device that measures heart rate and blood pressures and transmits these data to my iPhone or iPod for numerical analysis and graphical display. I will not buy a watch or iWatch.
WHAT! – the iWatch will do just that Macfreek…
It will monitor heart rate and blood pressures easily!
come on think creatively MEN!
AGAIN GAVIN – nailed it!
Gavin is good, I mean what better a device is there for doing that very thing. Though in all honesty it should be obvious that a device on a wrist is better at monitoring than the same divide you have to get out of your pocket which rather fails to do its job short of a bloody loud alarm going off to warn you you re about o drop dead. But all to their own I guess.
Blood sugar and O2 saturation.
That would be the iMneurotic.
This is for sure a product category that will gain major traction once the battery dilemma is solved, but the main problem I have with something like the pebble is the aesthetics. It is not something I would ever want to wear. That is why I will reserve judgement on whether Apple’s will succeed or not. I’d have to see what it looks like. The watch market is robust but for different reasons, these are fashion, accessories and apparel just as much as they are gadgets. For intents and purposes, what we have concealed in our pockets can do the same things.
Apple has a great shot at making these a huge success, and if there ever was a product at the proverbial intersection of technology and liberal arts, this would be it. This is where Apple will put there money where their mouth is.
YES yes yes RP – The pebble has a close resemblance to the radio watch I had back in the 70’s… very low design quality.
Check out the ikepod – one of the best watch design around… this article says it all.
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2013/02/20/new-iwatch-concept-based-on-apple-patent-jony-ives-watch/
I am digging the round design.
I remember that patent announcement, but had forgotten it. Definitely worth “watching” for.
Iphones are also part fashion accessory.
This could be a big seller to the “Help I have fallen and can’t get up” crowd if it has the ability to detect that it has contact with the body and detects defibrillation or lack of heart beet and uses you iPhone to call for help and give your location.
I really don’t think Apple is developing a watch. If you already have an iPhone and an iPad or iPod what would the watch replace or do that the others can’t? The screen size would limit its visual usefulness and the size would limit its battery life for anything more than telling time…
I believe that iWatch actually will be the new name for the next Gen Apple TV since it is the only product that currently doesn’t have an “i” name!
I think you’re wrong, but +1 for lateral thinking.
Why are you wrong?
Macbook Air, Airport express, Mac Pro … Lots of non-i products in the line-up
I, for one, am excited at the prospect of an iWatch! It must have phone capability, however. Reaching in your pocket and fumbling around while your phone rings is as frustrating as switching to camera mode and missing an important shot! Anything that makes a gadget more accessible and less awkward gets my vote! If Steve had a hand in its conception, it will be great!
I’m sure the NSA will have some kind of tracking software in the iWatch that monitors our every move. Police state. The terrorists have won.
Just completed 14h flight with iPod iWatch, need iMessage and push news on it. I thing iWatch will be Bluetooth node.