LG Could Make The iWatch OLED And All Curvy

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There have been many wearables and quantified-health applications over the past few years, but most have steered clear of proclaiming themselves medical devices. Some of the rumors about the iWatch (such as the fact that it will be able to listen to the sound blood makes as it flows through arteries, and use this to predict heart attacks) may sound a bit too good to be true. But the number of biosensor and biomedical engineers Apple has snapped up recently makes us think the iWatch could be a device that crosses over firmly into the "medical monitoring" category.

According to one recent report, a reason for the long delay before launch is that Apple is awaiting certification from the Food and Drug Administration to get the iWatch approved as medical equipment. Given Apple's recent announcement of the Health app for iOS 8 to collect and show data on calorie consumption, sleep activity, blood oxygen levels and more, plus the conspicuous absence of a health-tracking fitness band in Apple's last iPhone 5s ad, the idea that the iWatch will be geared toward health seems as close to a foregone conclusion as you get for a device that hasn't even been officially announced yet.


With all of Apple’s sales numbers save iPhone either flatlining or declining, calls are louder than ever for Apple to release a revolutionary device in an all new product category. People want the iWatch, and so does Apple.

A new rumor says that final manufacturing plans for the mythical wristmounted iDevice are underway, and LG is likely to be the main provider of Apple’s new iWatch OLED display.

According to an anonymous source speaking to The Korea Herald, Apple is close to inking a deal with Apple.

“LG Display has been in talks over flexible organic light-emitting diode panels for quite a while and it looks like it will be sealing the deal with Apple,” the anonymous source said.

LG is already a supplier for many Apple LCD panels, but OLED would be a new wrinkle in their relationship with Apple, who has never ordered an OLED display. OLED displays are more power efficient at the expense of color accuracy, leading to oversaturation.

One interesting aspect of this rumor is that LG has recently announced a curved smartphone called the GFlex. It is widely believed that the iWatch will be curved, which — given LG’s familiarity with the curved display process — might make them a natural partner.

Source: Korea Herald

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