Apple could launch its first smartwatch this fall, if several recent reports are to be believed. Reuters and The Wall Street Journal both have sources suggesting that the iWatch in October. But while Reuters says it’ll have a 2.5 inch screen, the WSJ report suggests Apple could launch a whole line of products in different shapes and sizes.
According to the WSJ, Apple’s iWatch (or iWatches) will feature sensors for fitness and activity tracking, among other things and the wearable will be designed to do things a smartphone can’t… not just to display notifications from your phone on your wrist as some smartwatches do. Fitness sensors will likely be able to share data with an iPhone using Apple’s new HealthKit software in iOS 8.
Apple wouldn’t be the first company to take this approach. Pedometer and heartrate monitor functions are already built into Samsung’s latest smartwatches.
But Apple has consistently shown that it doesn’t have to be the first to enter a market in order to make a big splash in that space. The iPod wasn’t the first portable digital music player. The iPhone wasn’t the first smartphone. And the iPad wasn’t the first tablet. While there are plenty of smartwatches on the market and many more expected this year with the launch of Google’s Android Wear platform, the category isn’t exactly mature yet.
According to both Reuters and the WSJ, Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta could begin mass production of Apple’s wearable devices in the next few months.
Built-in mental illness monitor too. If you buy an Apple product you have tested positive!
I’m curious to see if apple still has it.