Apple products don’t come cheap. By the normal standard everyone has kind of assumed the iWatch will come at a high premium compared to other wearable devices. One analyst seems to believe the iWatch will come cheaper than anyone has predicted so far. He believes health insurers may subsidize the cost of the smartwatch.
That’s likely to be in the US only though. Timothy Arcuri, an analyst at Cowen & Co, said, “we continue to believe it is possible the product (iWatch) is backstopped by some sort of insurance subsidization model similar to the carrier subsidization model for the iPhone.”
He also predicted the smartwatch would be released in September to make it a big seller by the time Christmas rolls around. He continued, “We continue to feel this product will differentiate itself with existing wearable products primarily from a health perspective with a number of key innovations including noninvasive blood cell count and blood pressure and other more pedestrian features like heart rate.”
Acrcui believes if these features really do monitor health, US health insurers may sit up and take notice. This way the insurers can monitor your health on a daily basis and put your premiums up as and when.
IWATCH DESIGN
Details on Apple’s long rumoured smartwatch have been sparse over the past few months but a report from Korea is starting the ball rolling again. The report states that LG Display will exclusively produce displays for the iWatch.
There will be a mass production of the screens from July through until September to make two million units in total, according to the report. The technology is similar to that used by the Korean manufacturer in the LG G Flex handset and the display will measure 1.52-inches. In terms of the glass, it will be P-OLED or plastic OLED.
KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo, someone with a good track record of accurate predictions. Kuo published a roadmap of Apple's 2014 product plans based on his findings, and the roadmap details an iWatch launch with two sizes towards the end of the year's third quarter- virtually alongside a new 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and upgrades of both iPad and iPad Mini devices.
A note to investors accompanying the roadmap revealed some other interesting information. Allegedly the iWatch will have a "fashionable appearance" and will be available in both 1.3-inch and 1.5-inch size variants. Kuo says it will use a flexible AMOLED display covered with Sapphire Glass, and alleges it will feature biometric recognition, NFC, wireless charging and a 250mAh battery.
The most recent snippet of info comes via Taiwanese publication Economic Daily News, which reports that Apple will actually bring three distinct iWatch models to launch. According to the report, there will be a 1.6in variant and two 1.8in models. Allegedly only one of the 1.8in editions will use Sapphire Glass for the touch display.
Rumours suggest Apple is working with Intel on some aspects of the iWatch, which will allow users to link it via Bluetooth to iPhone and iPad devices. It will also be able to conduct calls independently and view maps and location services. Reports indicate the iWatch may feature integrated health monitoring along similar lines to the Galaxy S4’s S Health app.
Nike & Apple: An iWatch Partnership Made In Heaven?
Reports have long suspected Nike and Apple would team up for some kind of FuelBand-iWatch-type product, and recent comments by the former’s CEO, Mark Parker, has added even more fuel to the fire concerning Apple and Nike producing a wearable piece of tech in the not-too-distant future.
During an interview with CNBC, Parker said the following: “You’re going to continue to see us commit to this area, to focus on expanding the reach. Today we have about 30 million FuelBand users. We’re hoping to push that to over 100 million. We have partners that we work with. Obviously the most visible partner we have is Apple. We’ve been working with them for a long time. And we’re excited about where that relationship will go forward.”
CNBC’s Sara Eisen then asked the following question: “Well, can you give us a hint? Are we going to expect some sort of collaborative device coming out? Nike and Apple?”
Parker responded with the following statement: “I can’t really say that. There’s been a lot of speculation, which I understand. I will just say the relationship between Nike and Apple will continue. And I am personally — as we all are at Nike — very excited about what’s to come.”
A Nike/Apple partnership, while being very cool, does also make a lot of sense, as Cult of Mac points out: Nike’s current FuelBand works exclusively with iPhone, and Apple CEO, Tim Cook, sits on the board of the sports company, too.
Or Will The iWatch Be More Like The Moto 360
Motorola announced its own smartwatch running the Android Wear operating system a long time after rumours of an Apple iWatch began circulating. One analyst believes the Apple timepiece will take some design ideas from the Moto 360 and come in a circular shape.
Brian Blair, an analyst from Rosenblatt Securities, has suggested the iWatch is going to have a slimmer profile than Motorola’s smartwatch and it will begin production sometime in July or August 2014.
If production starts up that early it’s likely we could see an announcement alongside the next iPhone 6 in September. The rumours keep pouring in though with the analyst suggesting there will be 18 to 21 million units made before the end of 2014. If that’s true, Apple is really confident the iWatch is going to succeed and sell in some big numbers.
Would you like to see the Apple iWatch look more like the Moto 360? Motorola’s watch sure is a good looking concept, it could even be the best looking smartwatch we’ve seen so far.
IWATCH FEATURES
A report has claimed Apple is working on a feature for the iWatch which aims to predict heart attacks before they happen. The technology would work by listening to the sound blood makes as it flows through the users arteries and then send notifications to the wearer if something goes awry.
The report was picked up by San Francisco based newspaper SFGate. It stated Apple is working with audio engineer Tomlinson Holman, famed for creating THX and 10.2 Surround sound, to develop the technology.
There have been rumours of Apple focusing on the health market with iOS 8 with the release of the Healthkit API and Health app, which will help keep track of the number of steps and calories burned each day. This wouldn’t necessarily be exclusive for the iWatch though, it’s likely to feature on the next iPhone once iOS 8 rolls around.
Step Detection
A patent has been filed by Apple with the US Patent and Trademark Office, it appears to be associated with wearable tech.
The patent in question describes a wrist-based pedometer "step detection" technology. While of course all pedometers detect steps, this one is quite clever as it factors in location technology.
According to Appleinsider, the move in pedometer technology from primaryily body-mounted trackers to wrist-based gadgets has an adverse effect on accuracy - limb movement creates a lot of "noise" for the pedometer which can mess up step-keeping.
"Since readings from on-board sensors reflect detected changes in magnitudes of forces, including gravity, software analysis now plays a large part in outputting accurate movement data," the site reports. "As far as the hardware is concerned, spikes in directional magnitude can be masked by arm swings, jolts of taking a step or a bump against a keyboard."
"Further, current algorithms based on peak magnitude and step frequency data fail to sufficiently take into account possible missed steps."
This is where Apple's location-data based patent comes in, the algorithms can intelligently use location data to calculate the number of steps made by the user during travel. Allegedly the tech can also tell when it is being worn on the wrist and when a user breaks into a run.
IWATCH BATTERY
The Korean Herald has some details from industry sources which say Apple is planning to use LG and Samsung batteries for the iWatch. According to the sources, Apple is looking into using traditional Li-ion batteries and not – as previous reports have claimed – curved ones.
The sources also said Apple is looking into LG Chem’s “stepped” batteries which use the entire handset to fill the battery, taking up a lot of room. This is the same technology the manufacturer used to give the LG G2 an excellent battery life.
The insiders also claim Apple will not used a curved display on its SmartWatch. Apparently, the wrist band would be too uncomfortable to wear for long hours at a time, which is exactly what you need from a smartwatch.
Apple is said to be testing two prototype designs right now. According to the report both units use a rather paltry 100mAh battery – Samsung’s Galaxy Gear uses a 300mAh unit, for instance – and support wireless charging capabilities.
Solar Power & Magnetic Induction
Rumours suggest Apple is testing various charging methods for the long awaited iWatch. Apple seem to be looking toward a charging method which doesn’t need the user to plug the watch in.
According to The New York Times, Apple is testing three main charging methods for the smartwatch. The information comes from a former Apple executive who claims the company experimented with the technology on the iPhone and various iPods.
The first method the company is looking into uses magnetic induction, the watch would be placed on a charging plate and a magnetic field would create voltage to charge the battery.
Another method is using movement which in a way is similar to traditional watches. Apple filed for a patent in 2009 which used technology where the user flung their arms around to charge up the battery. Of course conventional non-smart watches have used gyros to charge with natural body movement for some time, but it'll be interesting to see whether this could produce sufficient charge for a smartwatch.
The final method is a little more sensible and involves solar cells embedded in screens. The handset would charge up power during the daylight to run the watch throughout the evening. Solar charging would take up a big portion of the smartwatch but maybe Apple have found a way to narrow the technology down.
Recent rumours about the iPhone 6 have suggested Apple is looking at embedding solar panels in the Sapphire Glass display - it's not a huge leap for Apple to use the same tech in the smartwatch too.
But then there are experiments currently being done to eliminate batteries altogether from portable devices. Researchers at the University of Washington are currently looking for ways where wireless devices use power which is taken from Wi-Fi and phone signals.
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