Apple’s regard for top-notch design means it has always walked the line between tech and aesthetics, but the company’s leap into the world of wearables will be its most high-fashion move yet. Other tech companies, including Samsung, have already trotted out their own smartwatches to beat Apple to market, but even the staunchest supporter of these devices is unlikely to say that they’re Rolex-beaters.
Realistically, the most anyone has been able to say about current wearables like the Nike FuelBand SE is that they are inoffensive. That’s simply not going to be enough if the iWatch is going to be the kind of mass-market product that will finally bring wearables into the mainstream. In addition to its gamut of biotech engineers, Apple has also got the former CEO of fashion house Yves Saint Laurent on its books, who was hired in 2013 for "special projects." More recently, Apple hired a key executive from Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer, following earlier reports that Cupertino had unsuccessfully been trying to poach luxury watchmakers for its wearables debut.
When the iWatch comes, could it be called the iсмотреть instead? Perhaps not, but a new report suggests that Apple has already registered a trademark for iWatch within Russia.
The claim is being reported by Izvestia.ru, who say that Apple has filed for ownership of the iWatch name in Russia under the 9th and 14th classes for the International Classification of Goods and Services.
There’s no independent verification of this report, and even if there was, it doesn’t mean much. Apple could just be covering its bases if it does decide to release an iWatch, or pre-emptively registering the trademark in countries where legal attacks are likely to come from. Consider, for example, Apple’s dispute with Proview in China over the iPad name, or how Apple has lost exclusive control of the iPhone trademark in Brazil.
So none of this means that an iWatch is absolutely coming, or anytime soon. It does, however, suggest that Apple’s thinking hard about an iWatch.
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