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Let’s be honest. The reason you haven’t bought a smartwatch yet is because you’re disappointed with all the puny 1.6 inch screens. If a report from Reuters is to believed, Apple may have the answer.
Apple is said to be planning to launch an iWatch with a 2.5 inch screen in October. According to the report mass production could start in July.
Of course, Apple wouldn’t be the first company to put an enormous screen on you wrist. The Neptune Pine and Rufus Cuff Android smartwatches also have sizeable displays. But it’s kind of hard to picture a company with Apple’s design chops following suit… unless the company has figured out a way to make big, wearable screens attractive.
Anyway, if any part of the Reuters story is true, I suppose we’ll find out more about the iWatch this fall.
Here’s a roundup of tech news from around the web.
- Report: Apple iWatch coming this fall, toting a 2.5 inch screen
The watch reportedly has a “slightly rectangular” screen with an arched shape, supports wireless charging, and has a touchscreen user interface. Quanta will manufacture most of the devices for Apple and the screen comes from LG. [Reuters/CNBC] - Microsoft to bring remote lock, wipe features to Windows Phone
Lose your phone, and soon you’ll be able to remotely lock it down or wipe all the data… just like you can already do with an Android or iOS device. [Microsoft] - Apple’s new $1099 iMac has 8GB of RAM… but it’s not upgradeable
The good news is that there’s a new cheaper iMac in town. The less good news is that you’d better be happy with the out-of-the-box specs. [OWC] - Jolla’s Sailfish launcher for Android (called Jolla Launcher) will be available for testing next week
Want a taste of Sailfish OS without actually buying a Sailfish phone? Soon you’ll be able to try out the Jolla launcher app on your Android phone. [Jolla]
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No, the reason I haven’t bought a smart watch is that the Moto 360 has not released. At ~45mm (1.8″), the watch is on the large size – in Panerai territory -, though not wholly unreasonable.
Not sure how comfortable a 2.5″ rectangular screen would be, though it may surprise.
Still, unless Android Wear is wholly disappointing, I’m expecting to pick up the 360 later this year.
Couldn’t agree any more. Did you see the 10 user-sourced watch faces they are letting people vote on right now? There sure are some very cool choices among them, hopefully more than one makes it to the device, or Motorola lets people upload their own designs (skins) that others can use. So far, this is the ONLY smartwatch I would consider owning.
Enormous is only if you are a moron and go square-ish. That’s one of the fundamental problems with existing devices ,they all want to make a watch but watches have a certain shape that fits their purpose ,a computing device needs a bigger screen and the space available on a wrist can be far better utilized than by going watch form factor
The Gear Fit is 1.85 inches and has rather large bezel, so fitting 2.5 inch is not that hard,remains to be seen if it’s on the inside or outside of the wrist, but if the info is true they might have the right idea and actually be the first relevant smartband .Don’t get me wrong i’m not touching an Apple product but pricing might also not be nuts. Everybody else is going beyond high prices while Apple always goes for high prices but not above that. The ipod nano has a 2.5 inch screen and retails for 150$ ,a wrist band might have a more expensive screen and some extra sensors but also less NAND so Apple is likely to aim for sub 200$, depends on how much hardware they manage to put inside, it could be pretty close to 200$ or quite a bit less.That is a high price for the hardware but sadly it’s a lot less than some exiting products that would be terrible even at 100$. By what logic a Moto G can cost 180$ and a watch is more? In the end nice watches with a lot more functionality than existing ones need to end up at well under 100$.
A watch is just a small screen, small battery, very small SoC and not much connectivity plus a bunch of sensors, in some cases the sensors might cost more than everything else added up but in the end it’s more or less dumbphone hardware cost wise and pricing should be proportional to that.
True, I believe that they will form a large, wide screen that extends up the wrist. I don’t understand why people want a smartwatch to look like a regular watch. As far as I’m concerned, what is considered “modern” and “appropriate” always changes.
I hope the “iWatch” will be compatible with non-apple products.
“I hope the “iWatch” will be compatible with non-apple products.”
Yeah, maybe it’ll tell you tomorrow’s winning lottery numbers and make your wife look like Scarlett Johansson too. That’s probably just about as likely.
It would seem to me that many companies are “throwing a whole bunch of stuff at the wall to see what sticks” with these wearable computing solutions. If I wanted a big, clunky “Smartwatch” I’d take a time machine back to 1980 and buy a calculator watch.
I’m not sure how popular any of these gadgets are going to be until they shrink to a size to provide their utility WITHOUT being noticed, or at least drawing massive attention to yourself (Google Glass)