Feb 13, 2013 8:47:35 AM

Everyone knows the iPod, iPhone or iPad. Now Apple is targeting your wrist.

The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times quoted a message that spread like wildfire around the world: Apple wants its products, which can already be found in almost every home, to find their way directly onto the human body. Apple has teamed up with Taiwanese hardware manufacturer Foxconn, which also produces the iPhone 5 as well as glass slupplier Hon Hai Precision Industries. Since this message, a stubbornly held view in the trade media is that the "iWatch" is being studied for feasibility. Wether this is the case or not cannot be proved since it wasn't until the patent dispute with Samsung unfolded that it was learned Apple engages broad prototype testing and design studies. For example, it was not clear which prototypes of the iPhone would be ultimately produced.

Apple wants you to spend more time on blogs

Apple fan blogs have for some time been full of speculation what a SmartWatch would look like. They should have a 16:9 screen so you can watch movies on it. Of course, the machine should be running with the latest iOS, FaceTime, and come equipped with Bluetooth and LTE. One Apple blog commented that of course iOS would be used and one could imagine models with curved glass. Apple may not want to miss out on a train that has left the station, nor does it claim patents on the development of this or others. Yet they did arrive at the market at the right time as the best prepared competitor. So Apple should take up this idea and bring to it a real usefulness. For example, a SmartWatch could bring additional functionality like a heart rate monitor or a calorie counter. TIMEX has recently specialized in wrist watches with such special functions.

Smart Watches have been around, but which?

There are quite a number of credible competitors. An Italian company has sold i'mWatch, based on Android, for some time. It is suitable for a range of tasks: the device can connect via Bluetooth to a smartphone and you can play music from the 4GB of memory. Other manufacturers, such as SonyEricsson or Pebble who recently crowdfunded their platform via Kickstarter, already sell SmartWatches. Sony advertises its SmartWatch as follows: "How often have you missed an important call, or an important message because you have not heard the ring tone or it would have been inappropriate to look at your phone?" The solution follows: "With a SmartWatch, you will miss nothing. It is a miniature version of your smartphone, informing you in real time of everything that happens in your world." The disadvantage of the existing devices is that they are, especially on a petite wrist, very clumsy to operate. To make matters worse, the battery has a maximum usage of 1-2 days. The team of watchSea24 still will keep watch over things as this technology develops.

Tagged Watch Business, Business News, New Watches, External Announcements