Apple granted more U.S. patents for Apple Watch ‘smartbands’

Apple has been granted a trio of U.S. patents for Apple Watch smartbands.

Jack Purcher for Patently Apple:

Today the US Patent & Trademark Office granted Apple patent 10,398,370 that relates to the field of wearable electronic devices including a wrist biometric sensor. While options for a biometric authentication system for Apple Watch could include Face ID or Touch ID in the future, Apple’s latest granted patent on this subject matter actually points to an all new form of biometric authentication using a wrist biometric sensor located on the inside portion of a watch band that reads skin texture patterns.

The second Apple Watch related patent covers granted patent # 10,401,800 that relates to smart bands/sports bands that could provide backlit indicators and icons representing activities in progress. The indicators on the band could represent Activity App progress, heart rate monitoring and offer other icons for running, swimming and more to indicate that a particular activity is currently being tracked or is in progress.

The third Apple Watch patent granted to Apple today is # 10,398,200 that relates to future Apple Watch that provide users with a customized band fit using a dynamic fit adjustment system. The perfect fit will be achieved for both leisurely times and when the user cranks up their workout and need their watch band to hug their wrist like its one with them as they run or work out.

MacDailyNews Take: Boy, we feel like we’ve been waiting for Apple Smartbands™ since the day Apple unveiled the original Apple Watch!

• Whoever comes up with an accurate Apple Watch smartband that acts as a non-invasive blood glucose monitor (reverse iontophoresis) is going to make a mint. — MacDailyNews, August 24, 2015

• Oh yes, let there be add-on GPS, battery extenders, and more! The thought of wearing our Apple Watch Sports but also having to lug around our iPhones on runs just for the GPS is unpalatable. — MacDailyNews, March 5, 2015

• We can’t wait to see where the future leads for Apple Watch especially in the areas of speed (apps need to respond faster) and independence (less reliance on iPhone, perhaps via Apple “smartbands” that deliver things like GPS tracking for runners, extended battery life, etc.) — MacDailyNews, December 17, 2015

• We would love to see Apple launch Apple Smartbands that add sensor and other functionality to Apple Watch. An Apple GPS Smartband and an Apple Battery Smartband, right now, would sell like wildfire. It’s a missed opportunity for the original Apple Watch’s first Christmas, but we hope to see such items in 2016. — MacDailyNews, December 11, 2015

• If Apple were to release a range of “Apple Smartbands” for the existing Apple Watch, starting with the “Apple Smartband GPS,” they would sell millions more Apple Watch units with this move alone. — MacDailyNews, February 19, 2016

• Since Apple Watch Series 2 gave us GPS and freed us from having to schlep along our iPhones on runs, we can’t count the times we’ve wished we had a camera on our Apple Watches. Look at that sunset! Look at that ocean! Look at that three-legged one-eyed dog!

Things like that, not so much the Dick Tracy FaceTime stuff (but that would be cool, too), are why we’re so interested in things like the CMRA Dual-Camera Band for Apple Watch… Dare we dream? – cameras, possibly via an Apple Smartband? — MacDailyNews, October 12, 2017