July 9-10, 2013
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According to a report in Russian newspaper Izvestia, Apple is attempting to trademark “iWatch” in Russia.

There’s been no official confirmation from Apple of an iWatch-like product, but it’s widely believed that Apple sources intentionally leaked information about a wrist-based personal computing accessory to the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and the New York Times, and Apple has reportedly ordered 1.5″ OLED screens for testing and prototyping.

In addition, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said that wearable computing is “another key branch on the tree” of the evolution of the post-PC world — and fully as game-changing as the smartphone or tablet.

Izvestia says Apple has filed an application for iWatch with Rospatent, the Russian patent office, in two classes: computers/peripherals, and time/watches. VentureBeat could not independently confirm that.

Source: USPTO

The flexible display inside the transparent glass housing

If Apple is indeed filing a patent for iWatch, it will face some serious competition, as sharp-eyed businesspeople with flexible ethics have already snapped up domains like iwatch.com. A Russian businessman owns i-watch.ru, and another Russian enterprise attempted to trademark iWatch several years ago.

That petition was denied due to its similarity to watch manufacturer Swatch’s iSwatch trademark.

But Apple has apparently already snapped up iWatch as a trademark in Jamaica — where major international companies often file first to avoid public scrutiny — and is using that trademark as leverage to gain the Russian trademark. That trademark dates to December 2012.

All of this, of course, could be a smokescreen by Apple just to keep us guessing.

A full 20 percent of U.S. consumers, apparently, would be interested in purchasing an Apple iWatch, if such a product existed.

I’ve contacted Apple for comment and will update this post as needed.

July 9-10, 2013
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Apple CEO Tim Cook spent 81 minutes talking about Apple, Android, TV, taxes, and just about everything else at last night’s AllThingsD conference. But he also spent a considerable amount of time on Google Glass.

And, without naming it, Apple’s rumored new iWatch product.

First, though, Cook damned bitter Apple rival Google with faint praise, saying Google Glass — which could be seen as a “giant chisel” to pry Apple users out of Apple’s ecosystem — had little chance to be a major consumer hit product:

“I think there are some positive points in the product,” Cook said about Google Glass. “I think it’s probably more likely to appeal to certain vertical markets … I think the likelihood that it has a broad-range appeal … that’s tough to see.”

And that’s simply due to where you wear Google Glass, according to Cook: on your head.

“I wear glasses because I have to — I can’t see without them  – but I don’t know a lot of people that wear them that don’t have to,” Cook said. “People who do wear them generally want them to be light, unobtrusive, probably want them to reflect their fashion, their style … from a mainstream point of view this [pointing at his head] is difficult.”

But the wearable computing space is intensely interesting to Apple, Cook said, calling it “ripe for exploration.” In fact, Apple sees it as the next evolution in the post-PC world — as game-changing as the smartphone or the tablet:

“I see it as another very key branch of the tree.”

That’s as candid an admission as you’re going to get that Apple is working on wearables, and likely on a wrist-based digital lifestyle accessory. While Cook did not go so far as to confirm that Apple was definitely releasing a wearable product per se, as a personal computing and digital life company, Apple clearly cannot afford to pass up a “very key” new product area — especially one that studies have shown generate massive consumer interest.

That said, Cook is sanguine about the challenges, noting that wristwatches are not common anymore for young people and twenty-somethings.

Which makes it ripe, perhaps for Apple’s design genius, Cook hinted:

“As I said before, for something to work here [pointing at his wrist], you first have to convince people it’s so incredible that they want to wear it.”

That’s Apple’s challenge, and likely where the company’s response to Google Glass will arrive. And, very likely, where Samsung’s response to iWatch will show up as well.

Sadly, we’ll likely have to wait until fall to see it.

Image credits: Dylan Tweney/VentureBeat; iWatch mockup by VeneStudio, Jolie O’Dell/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
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What time is it — about five months before fall 2013? Then it must be time for testing the iWatch.

A month ago CEO Tim Cook disappointed Wall Street and crushed Apple fans by saying that Apple had amazing new products coming out “this fall and throughout 2014.” Which means that none were coming out this summer, and which also means that if some new products are coming out in fall, they need to be in testing now.

Cue iWatch testing rumors.

Taiwan’s Economic Times says that Apple is currently testing 1.5-inch OLED screens from Ritek’s RiTdisplay after first building prototypes with a 1.8-inch display, which Apple rejected as being too large for a wrist-based computing accessory. The OLED screens use OGS touch sensors (“one glass solution”), which will theoretically help Apple keep the iWatch thin and light.

But Apple has presumably not ordered in volume, as Ritek recorded a first-quarter loss. Apple production partner Foxconn has also reportedly received a small-scale trial production order of 1,000 devices.

Testing the new, smaller size right now — and getting into preproduction — could help Apple get product ready for delivery to consumers in late summer or early fall.

But don’t hold your breath.

The iWatch has been rumored since late 2012, including in some almost-certainly-Apple-initiated NYT, Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg leaks. According to at least one study, a full 20 percent of U.S. consumers want an Apple iWatch, sight unseen, and an Apple patent published in March of this year reveals that Apple is thinking about flexible wrap-around displays built into a transparent housing.

Oh, and perhaps one of the reasons for the rumors?

Samsung is supposed to be working on a smart watch, too. Perhaps Galaxy Watch? Meanwhile, Google’s entrant into the wearable computing sweepstakes is already being hacked on, developed for, and ogled.

Or would that be oogled?

Image credits: iWatch mockup by VeneStudio; Hat tip: C|Net

July 9-10, 2013
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A 1,713-strong survey of North American consumers says that 19 percent of us want a shiny new iDevice that doesn’t even exist yet. Or, at least, isn’t public and isn’t purchasable.

Yep, that’s the Apple iWatch.

The iWatch, which has been rumored for months but never confirmed by Apple, is potentially a roll-up flexible display wrist device that connects to your phone to relay alerts, function as a remote, and potentially much more. Rumors about the new device were conveniently leaked to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg within the space of a few days in February, possibly because Samsung is also building a similar device.

ChangeWave’s recent telecom report shows that, sight unseen, one in five consumers want an iWatch, mostly because of Apple’s track record of “delivering ultra-convenient, easy-to-use, innovative products with a perceived ‘cool factor.’”

I guess that’s what brand will do for you.

One in five may not sound like many, but if one were foolish enough to believe that prerelease product surveys accurately predict product demand, it would mean that 63 million Americans would buy one. Or at least be tempted to.

Don’t hold your breath.

Image credit: iWatch mockup by VeneStudio; Hat tip: Cult of Mac

July 9-10, 2013
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We’re only four months into 2013, and yet it already seems clear that this is going to be the year of rampant smartwatch speculation.

Following rumors that Apple and Google are developing touch-enabled smartwatches, there’s reason to believe Microsoft is developing a smartwatch of its own, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Executives from Asian component suppliers told the WSJ that Microsoft asked for shipments of potential watch components earlier this year. Additionally, one executive admitted to meeting with Microsoft’s research and development team around a smartwatch project.

Rumors that Apple has been working on a smartwatch, dubbed iWatch by gadget geeks, have been swirling since December. Judging from the timing of these rumors, it could be that Microsoft is exploring the smartwatch concept because of the Apple smartwatch talk. The most recent report points to Apple using new flexible glass technology from Corning for the device, which would be a pretty significant step forward from the current generation of smartwatches, like the Kickstarter-darling Pebble.

With the rise of wearable computing, thanks to devices like Jawbone’s Up and Nike’s Fuelband, it makes sense for the next major wave of mobile computing to focus on your wrist. We’re used to receiving information there thanks to the wristwatch, and it would be far simpler for the public to accept (and afford) a wrist-based computer than something like Google’s $1,500 futuristic Project Glass.

Photo: Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
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Apparently, CNBC’s Jim Cramer is a now a prophet as well as an analyst.

“Let’s just call it as it is,” he said today on CNBC, “there has not been a single piece of good news about Apple for 300 points, and today is just another day when the news is just horrendous.”

He’s either referring to Apple’s apology to China or to the fact that Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock today.

But not only has Cramer not seen any good news from Apple for months, he’s also predicting that the company’s next product, due in September, “is a clear loser,” as he seems to believe that Apple is incapable of pulling out of a “tailspin.”

That’s a fairly remarkable statement, even from Cramer. He is, of course, the financial analyst who predicted two years ago that an “overpriced” LinkedIn IPO would “destroy everyone,” so he is not unknown for hyperbole and bombast. But predicting the utter failure of a future, unreleased product?

Interesting.

Essentially, what Cramer seems to be saying is that the momentum of the mobile markets has swung so far in favor of Apple competitors Google and Samsung that Apple will not be able to reverse it, no matter what devices they bring out: new iPhones, new iPads, a new iWatch, or even other unexpected products. That’s essentially a platform call, saying that Android is winning and iOS is losing.

Of course, if that’s true, and if Apple misses on its next quarterly numbers — as Cramer expects — CEO Tim Cook’s job security could be in doubt.

Cramer did temper his comments at the end of the show by backpedaling a little, saying that Apple still has a strong installed base and that if it releases a new wow product, it would still matter. Of course, that came after some theater in which he somewhat incoherently complained that Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs:

Now, you feel that if Cook were to do one of these big shows and come out and say we are about to announce maybe the most disappointing product we’ve ever had since the Lisa … this is the Lisa 2 and nobody likes it and I don’t know why we’re doing and it’s all yours, America and China.

And we apologize that it’s so bad.

We’ll see Apple’s quarterly results in three weeks. Meanwhile, the stock is up almost $8 today:

Source: Google Finance

Apple stock April 2

Source: USPTO

The transparent conical housing with a flexible display being inserted

Apple’s new patent is for a “consumer electronic product” with a flexible display that rolls up when needed, and unrolls if desired. In the patent claims, Apple says it could fit within a conical glass housing — a flattened oval — which would allow the display to be visible on any portion of the device.

In other words, your phone no longer has a front or back … just whatever side you happen to be looking at.

The device as patented includes facial recognition and user-sensing technology that determines which side is within your field of vision at any given time and selectively displays content and controls only where you can see them.

As such, it’s an interesting response to Google’s backside control patent, which describes controls built into the back of your phone to allow you to flip screens, turn pages, or control music without taking up front-screen real estate. Apple has a previous patent on similar backside controls, but this is more radical.

Source: USPTO

The flexible display inside the transparent glass housing

What’s interesting to me, however, is the flexible AMOLED display that rolls up and unrolls (see image gallery below, especially the fifth image). It’d be a perfect display for a sort of iCuff — a full phone built into a product that rides on your wrist.

The concept of iWatch as a peripheral to an iPhone has never made a ton of sense to me. If I already have a phone, it is already either on my person, or close enough for easy checking. A peripheral that simply enables notifications from my phone and perhaps has a few other self-quantification features doesn’t seem to be enough to make it worthwhile.

Rather, it makes more sense, potentially, to provide the entire phone (read: portable computer with communication capabilities) in a flexible cuff format that now comes with a handy new carrying case: you.

And, of course, if you want your full screen to be available, you simply unroll the cuff and snap the screen flat.

It would certainly solve the phone-in-the-pocket problem while still keeping your hands free for whatever you need to carry or do. And it’s built-in hands-free for while you’re driving.

More images from the patent application:

Image credits: iWatch mockup by VeneStudio; Hat tip: Cult of Mac

July 9-10, 2013
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With Apple and Samsung reportedly working on next-generation smartwatches, it was only a matter of time until we heard that Google was joining the party.

Google’s Android unit is reportedly working on a smartwatch of its own, the Financial Times reports. Just as we’ve heard about Apple’s supposed iWatch, Google’s device will serve as an extension to your smartphone, a source tells the FT.

Project Glass, Google’s futuristic wearable display, is being spearheaded by Google’s X Lab, not the Android team, so the two projects could end up dueling for the mantle of Google’s top wearable computing project; although the smartwatch will likely end up retailing well below Project Glass’s $1,500 price (which itself will likely fall significantly over the next few years).

Google received a patent for a “smart watch including flip-up display” last October, which has been reported previously — so it’s not a huge surprise to hear that a smartwatch may be in the works.

The rumor gels well with Google’s reported X Phone, which we hear Google is developing together with its subsidiary, Motorola Mobility. With a potential smartwatch, X Phone, and Project Glass down the line, the Google of the future seems to be far more reliant on its own consumer devices, rather than on those produced by partners (which have led to some serious issues with its hold on the Android ecosystem).

Photo via: Rob Bulmahn/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
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A Samsung vice president has made it clear that the company is developing an upcoming watch product, which will likely compete with Apple’s heavily rumored “iWatch” smart watch.

But the VP, Lee Young Hee of Samsung Mobile, also hinted that the watch wasn’t just a knee-jerk response to Apple’s rumored product, Bloomberg reports.

“We’ve been preparing the watch product for so long,” Lee said. “We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.”

It’s not surprising to see Samsung tackle a smartwatch (again), especially after all of the hype surrounding the iWatch. With every new report, it seems clearer that our wrists will be a significant part of the future of mobile computing. But Samsung will likely want to make it clear that it isn’t just copying Apple’s game plan, given the contentious trial where Apple accused Samsung of copying its smartphone and tablet designs.

The watch category isn’t anything new for Samsung. The company released the S9110 watch phone (above) back in 2009 at a slightly cheaper price than a competing LG watch phone. Apple’s iWatch is expected to serve more as an accessory for your smartphone rather than a completely separate phone, so I’d expect Samsung’s upcoming smart watch to follow suit.

Unfortunately, Lee didn’t have anything else to divulge about Samsung’s upcoming watch. The company is also getting into the fitness gadget arena this year with a new S-band activity monitor, activity scale, and heart monitor, all of which will synchronize with the company’s new Galaxy S IV smartphone.

July 9-10, 2013
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In 2013, we’ll download 10 apps for every single woman, man, and child on planet Earth.

Half of those apps will be Android apps, which will have 58 percent smartphone app share, according to ABI Research, and 41 percent of those will be iOS apps. Apple’s iPhone will account for 33 percent of smartphone app downloads, ABI says, while the company’s iPad will take 75 percent of tablet app downloads. Windows Phone and tablet devices will account for the majority of the rest, with BlackBerry taking about a 2 percent share.

Add it all up, and about 35 billion Android apps will load to devices in 2013, plus another 29 billion iOS apps.

That is a lot of apps.

While Google’s Android is clearly doing well in smartphones, the future of its tablet aspirations is not yet as clear. Only 17 percent of tablet downloads in 2013 will be on Android tabs, ABI says, which compares poorly to iPad’s 75 percent tablet app share.

“The most pressing issue for Google is how much of this handset momentum will ultimately trickle down to tablets, where Apple is holding the fort remarkably well,” ABI analyst Aapo Markkanen said in a statement.

Source: Jennifer Van Grove/VentureBeat

Jeff Bezos and the Kindle Fire

Interestingly, Markkanen says that Amazon, which is a major Google frenemy, might be helping Android the most in the tablet space, since its Kindle Fire is almost certainly the best-selling Android-based tablet on the market. The enemy part is that Amazon’s Android is a de-Google-ized version of Android which taps into Amazon’s content ecosystem, not Google’s.

The friend part is that since Kindle Fire is giving Android at least some degree of tablet momentum, app developers are more likely to build apps for Android-based tablets, which they can then sell on both Google and Amazon app stores.

But Google needs more Android tablet partners to do well if it wants Android’s share of app downloads to increase.

“The question is becoming, is there enough critical mass with Android partners, led by Samsung?” Jeff Orr, another ABI analyst told me over the phone. “And, are there going to be more vendors who can make a move and break away from the pack?”

Another big question: How will wearables affect the market?

Google is coming to market with Glass in 2013, the company has said, and it’s a perfect chisel to pry Apple fans out of the iOS ecosystem. But Apple is countering with iWatch, conceivably. Both will stimulate an explosion in apps designed either to work with them or on them.

“We’re certainly looking at wearables,” Orr said.

photo credit: schnaars via photopin cc

July 9-10, 2013
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Should Apple tackle the watch industry or television next? If you look at the profit potential, it looks like the iWatch wins out.

Gross margins on watches are around 60 percent, four times bigger than margins on televisions, according to Bloomberg analyst Anand Srinivasan. So even though the global watch industry is smaller than the TV market — $60 billion in revenues during 2013, compared to TV’s $119 billion — focusing on a smart watch would be far more lucrative for Apple.

“This can be a $6 billion opportunity for Apple, with plenty of opportunity for upside if they create something totally new like they did with the iPod — something consumers didn’t even know they needed,” Citigroup analyst Oliver Chen told Bloomberg.

Update: Corroborating Bloomberg’s report, the Verge is hearing that the iWatch will run iOS and is expected this year. Naturally, Apple is reportedly struggling with battery life issues around the device, but it’s currently aiming for a four- to five-day charge.

Chen estimates that a 10 percent share for Apple in the watch market would lead to a gross profit of $3.6 billion, while it would only lead to a $1.79 billion profit in televisions.

The biggest Apple rumor at the moment centers on a smartwatch, dubbed the iWatch by gadget geeks, that would communicate with your smartphone. But over the past few years, we’ve also heard plenty of speculation about an Apple television.

Both markets could use Apple’s innovation, but I never quite bought the Apple television talk. Consumers don’t buy televisions very often, Apple already has a viable living room option with the $99 Apple TV, and the television market is even tough for industry giants like Sony. On the other hand, an iWatch would help Apple stake a claim in the burgeoning wearable computing world, and it could tie consumers even more into the iPhone and iPad.

Bloomberg points out that Apple’s design head, Jony Ive,  has been a huge fan of Nike’s sport watches. Apple will also need something to compete with Google’s Project Glass, which will be available this year for $1,499.

Now with these profit figures, it makes even less sense for Apple to step into televisions. Bring on the iWatch.

Photo: Ruben Schade/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
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Shipments of 9.7-inch table panels collapsed from 7.4 million in December to just 1.3 million in January, DisplaySearch analyst David Hsieh says, meaning that Apple’s previously intended mix of tablet sales is getting turned on its head.

“Apple had planned to sell 40 million iPad minis (7.9 inch) and 60 million iPads (9.7 inch) in 2013,” Hsieh wrote. “However, the reality seems to be the reverse, as the iPad Mini has been more popular than the iPad.”

Source: DisplaySearch

Tablet panel shipments Dec. ’12 to Jan. ’13

With this utter collapse in the overall market for larger tablet panels, it appears that consumers have turned to smaller hold-in-one-hand tablets, and that Apple’s expected product mix will be hit hard. According to DisplaySearch, that means that Apple will likely sell 55 million iPad Minis and 33 million iPads — less than half of what the company initially planned for 2013.

It’s worth noting that these numbers and projections are not figures that Apple has released but conjectures based on what analysts see of component orders and flow. So some skepticism — and a healthy margin of error — is in order.

But if DisplaySearch is correct, Apple’s total sales will be down as well.

Forty million Minis and 60 million iPads is 100 million, but 55 million plus 33 million is only 88 million … still a huge number, but materially down from 100 million. And the change will also affect Apple’s revenue and gross margins. The Mini is obviously cheaper than regular iPads, by a factor of $150 or so, and it has a lower profit margin as well.

DisplaySearch forecasts 254 million tablet sales in 2013: 136 million small to medium-sized, and 118 million large. If that’s correct, and if Apple sells only 88 million total tablets — or even the 100 million originally forecast — Apple will have lost its sale leadership position in tablets.

All of which makes it ever more imperative that Apple get cracking on new products: Retina iPad Minis, iPhone Minis, a full-size iPad 5 that is lighter and thinner and counteracts the sales trend to smaller devices, and perhaps even the long-rumored iWatch.

Or, better yet, something truly innovative.

That’s what Apple has consistently done in the past, as CEO Tim Cook recently said: obsolete its old products with newer, higher-margin products.

If that’s going to happen in 2013, we need to see some of that Cook’s cooking, soon.

July 9-10, 2013
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Long before the iPhone changed how we think of cellphones, Nokia was dabbling in even more radical cellphone concepts.

The Nokia 888, a concept from designer Tamer Nakisci, was a flexible design that could fit around your wrist, lay flat for reading, and take on a few other shapes. I haven’t thought much about the 888 since it won Nokia’s Benelux design contest in 2005, but after AppleInsider dug up Apple’s slapband-esque iWatch patent yesterday (below), Nakisci’s concept feels strangely relevant.

As he envisioned it, the 888 featured a liquid battery, a flexible touchscreen, and relied on speech recognition rather than a keyboard. If that sounds to you like shades of what we’re hearing about the iWatch coupled with Apple’s Siri virtual assistant, you’re not alone.

To be clear, I’m not implying Apple in any way stole this design concept. It’s just interesting to see how close we are today toward building devices that once seemed impossible.

Here’s how Nakisci described the functionality of the 888′s form to Yanko Design:

You don’t have to carry it in your pocket or on your wrist. You can carry it anywhere, in any form. You can roll it, bend it, put on your clothes like a clip. It also makes some form changes that makes it more ergonomical: i.e., when you want to talk on the phone, the body form turns into the form of the good old telephone. You can personalize these forms and record them. So it fits you the best in the way that you have chosen. The functions that it has also create a feeling of electronical pet, as it senses your moves, understands what you want, responds to you in the best way. It learns you, to fit you better. Also e-motions lets you send forms to the other 888 users. It could be the shape of a heart or a small dance. This way you can talk without words.

Like any great concept design, Nakisci’s vision was far beyond the technology available at the time. It may even be too advanced to build today; Apple’s iWatch concept still relies on a wireless connection with your iPhone to fetch data, which removes the need for bulky cellular electronics and a bigger battery.

Here’s how Apple describes its “slapband” iWatch patent (which, of course, isn’t called iWatch anywhere in the patent):

A wearable video device arranged to be worn by an end-user, comprising: a flexible substrate having a flat state and a curled state; a flexible display disposed upon a first surface of the flexible substrate, wherein in the curled state the flexible substrate conforms to an appendage of the end-user, the flexible substrate further comprising: an electronic module in communication with the flexible display, the electronic module providing information to the display, at least a part of which is presented in real time for presentation by the flexible display; and a mechanism for detecting an end portion of the flexible display, the detection for adjusting the arrangement of information shown on the flexible display to match the size of the appendage the wearable video device is mounted on.

July 9-10, 2013
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Ready for some hard-core speculation built solidly on rumor founded squarely on innuendo?

According to screenshots unearthed by SlashGear from a Korean messageboard, Samsung appears to be building a smart watch, probably but not certainly on an Android foundation:

Meanwhile, Apple — the company that supposedly HATES leaks — has been “leaking” like a sieve for weeks about a rumored iWatch. Do you think the timing is a coincidence?

Bloomberg published what is almost certainly nonsense: 100 product designers working on a wristwatch-like device (does Apple do anything in teams of a hundred?), the venerable New York Times said that Apple is making a Dick Tracy-like watch, and the Wall Street Journal said that Apple has already talked to manufacturing partners.

Anyone who has covered Apple for any length of time knows that rumors don’t just pop up in those sources naturally. Apple rumors start in odd, out-of-the-way Asian tech blogs, or dedicated Apple rumors sites.

So rumors appearing in the august tomes of the WSJ, NYT, and Bloomberg mean Apple wants us to think an iWatch is coming and is quietly feeding rumors to plant stories it wants to see in the press. Which either provides great pre-buzz for that product when Apple releases it, or  – and probably more likely — pre-seeds excitement and interest around a product that is something like an iWatch but not quite … something that clearly, with a quick dose of gen-u-wine Apple Mixture No. 1 Reality Distortion Field, is instantly and obviously better.

On the the Samsung side, a smart watch, if real, is potentially a massive seller and another brick in Samsung’s growing wall of innovation. There’s also obvious profit appeal: Crowdfunded company Pebble sold out of its watches and raised over $10 million, and other crowdfunded watches have also done spectacularly well – and it’s relatively fresh territory to claim and commercialize. Plus, it would be a major feather in the company’s cap to beat Apple.

So Apple has a reason to counter that move by pre-releasing we-were-first hype.

Realistically, many things could be happening here. Apple and Samsung could both be working on smart watches, and neither could be, and all combinations in between. Samsung could have seen the speculation about iWatch and decided to head it off at the pass by pre-releasing a product in true Asian-style super-speed to market. Apple could have found out about Samsung’s project and decided to do exactly the same, except via the press. Any which way, I hope what we get out of this is more than just a watch, and not a Dick Tracy toy.

My guess?

Whatever iWatch actually is, it’s the Apple answer to the incessant calls from Wall Street for a cheaper iPhone. Because when Apple gets calls for cheaper, it starts to think different instead.

iPod becomes the screenless iPod Shuffle. MacBook becomes iPad, as Tim Cook said this week to the bow-tied stock-breaking classes. iPhone becomes … iWatch?

One thing is clear, however:

Even if both Samsung and Apple are working on an iWatch-like product, they are not the innovators in this space. That title, and that honor, belongs to the tiny groups of dedicated people like the Pebble team that have been building the future of wrist technology on a crowdfunded shoestring.

Image credits: iWatch mockup by VeneStudio, Samsung smartwatch images via SlashGear

July 9-10, 2013
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How do you successfully leak a story? The recent spat of Apple iWatch news could be a solid lesson.

After reports that Apple was developing a curved screen smartwatch from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal this weekend, now we’re hearing that the company also has 100 designers working on the project in the latest report from Bloomberg.

It’s tough to call three reports from major publications within just a few days coincidental. While Apple has never admitted to the practice, it’s widely believed that the company often leaks significant news to the press (it helps to control the story, and it’s a nifty way to squash erroneous rumors). And right now it appears that we’re seeing Apple’s press manipulation in full swing.

Consider how each report gave us a sliver of information: The NYT kicked off the recent rumor and brought up the notion of curved glass (using new technology from Corning); the WSJ pointed out that Apple has been in discussions with Foxconn about it; and now Bloomberg’s report is hinting that it’s likely closer than we think. Apple doesn’t throw 100 designers at something that won’t make it to the market, after all.

It’s almost as if the iWatch reports are each conveniently placed pieces of a larger puzzle — ultimately, they lead to the compelling narrative that Apple is about to revolutionize the industry yet again with a new smartwatch.

Bloomberg notes that Apple’s James Foster, a senior director of engineering, and Achim Pantfoerder, a manager within the company, are part of the project. Intriguingly, Apple has also considered wearable fitness trackers in the past that were never released, the report says.

At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple debut the iWatch this year. It’ll give the company a shot of life in a year where it’s expected to introduce a slightly better iPhone 5, the iPhone 5S, and minor revamps to the iPad and iPad Mini. There are also rumors that Apple is considering a bigger iPhone, but even that honestly doesn’t seem that innovative. I don’t expect the iWatch to be as revolutionary as the iPhone, but it has the potential to be a popular accessory that further cements consumers into the iOS ecosystem.

Photo: A series of iPod Nano watchbands from Griffin

July 9-10, 2013
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Rumors of Apple developing a smartwatch, cheekily dubbed the “iWatch” by gadget geeks, aren’t dying off anytime soon.

Now even the New York Times is reporting that Apple is developing “wristwatch-like devices” — though the interesting spin this time is that the devices are reportedly made of curved glass.

According to two sources familiar with Apple’s plans, the iWatch will run iOS and lean heavily on its curved glass design to differentiate itself from competitors. It sounds like Apple is working on yet another massive leap in how we view commonplace devices, similar to how the iPhone seemed generations beyond other cellphones when it was first released.

Corning’s new Willow Glass, a flexible new type of glass that’s both incredibly thin and bendable, could be the mysterious curved glass in question, according to the New York Time’s Nick Bilton. That wouldn’t be a huge stretch for Apple — Corning’s Gorilla Glass was brought back from obscurity thanks to Steve Jobs’ desire to have a strong glass for the iPhone. Gorilla Glass has since gone on to be an industry standard for smartphone and tablet screens.

The last iWatch rumor suggested that Apple was working on a Bluetooth-capable smartwatch with an Intel chip, but that report never really caught my interest since it seemed like a minor step for Apple. Introducing the first wearable device with curved glass to the public seems more like Apple’s style — just like how the iPhone made touchscreen smartphones seem commonplace, and the iPad made it clear that even large displays could benefit from touchscreen tech.

Given just how much hype the Pebble smartwatch project has seen, it’s clear that there’s a desire for some sort of high tech device on our wrists. An iWatch will likely do more than show you messages and texts — it will likely incorporate some sort of activity tracking technology, similar to Nike’s Fuelband and Jawbone’s Up.

While the tech world seems gung-ho for a big screen iPhone and the increasingly crazy idea of an Apple-made television, a small screen iWatch could ultimately be far revolutionary.

Update: The Wall Street Journal is also reporting on a potential iWatch today, adding that Apple has been in discussions with Foxconn about it.

Photo: An iPod nano watch, by Ruben Schade/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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The speculation is that Apple is designing a new iWatch that connects to iPhones, relays messages, and displays status alerts. But would the company that reinvented the computer, the phone, and the way we consume media be aiming so low?

Ever since the iPod Nano was slightly less Nano’d just a few months ago, there’s been increased speculation about an iWatch to replace it. Now there’s chatter about a new device — an iWatch, perhaps —  from Apple for specifically that purpose.

Nano is Apple’s smallest iPod with a screen, bigger than only the Shuffle, and the sixth generation has been used extensively as a watch with the simple addition of a wristband. At 1.55-inches square, the Nano was perhaps a little awkward but an excellent beginning — and perhaps a precursor — to the Pebble smart watch.

That’s no longer an option with the seventh generation iPod Touch, which sports a 2.5-inch multitouch screen and a longer, rectangular body.

Cue iWatch?

The speculation is that Apple will be releasing a product in the next six months, possibly with an Intel chip, that communicates with your smartphone via Bluetooth. If so, it needs to be much more than a watch, and much more than a way to communicate with the device that is already just a few inches away in your pocket.

In other words, it needs to be a personal quantification device for the masses.

There are currently 505 tools listed in the Guide to Self-Tracking Tools on Quantified Self. Jawbone’s UP, Fitbit’s err bit, Nike’s FuelBand, the Basis Band, the Zeo “personal sleep coach,” the Stresswatch, the Adidas miCoach and dozens more are devices built to measure, track, and encourage you to modify fitness activities.

This is more than a fad — it’s a movement. And while smartphones like Apple’s iPhone are often components of these systems, they’re just one component in an ecosystem that includes sensors, apps, online social experiences, and analytics. Apple could be so much more, if it wanted to play in this market.

As The Next Web mentions, 2013 could be the year when wearable computing leaves the geek and enthusiast community. And isn’t popularizing and improving emerging technologies what Apple does best?

The iWatch is just a rumor right now, but I’m hoping it’s more … much more.

photo credit: griffintech via photopin cc