iWatch - page 8

Apple has had an exclusive contract to use the next-gen Liquidmetal alloy for almost three years now. Theoretically, Liquidmetal could allow Apple to realize thinner, lighter, more resilient devices… but the Liquidmetal fabrication process is hard to work with, which is why, so far, we’ve only seen one actual Liquidmetal Apple product: the SIM removal tool that ships with every iPhone!

But it looks like Apple might have finally cracked the problem. And they are eyeing Liquid Metal for use in the iWatch.

Apple is “aggressively” hiring new talent to make the rumored ‘iWatch’ a reality, according to a report today from the Financial Times. The last specific claim we heard regarding the iWatch was when Bloomberg said Apple wanted to launch the product this year after placing a team of around 100 product designers on the project. Engineering issues have caused Apple to seek outside help, and now the Financial Times believes that we won’t see the iWatch until late 2014.

Despite “weaker” orders from Apple during the second quarter, Foxconn managed to post revenue that beat analyst estimates thanks to its increased focus on televisions. The company announced revenue of NT$897 billion ($30 million) over the three-month period, which is 0.6% higher than its second-quarter revenue for 2012, and better than the NT$829 billion expected by analysts.

This time on a very patriotic CultCast: Apple starts trademarking “iWatch”; the back to school sale is back; Mac upgrades that are worth the money; Vine Vs. Instagram; PRISM takes Alex; we wish you a happy 4th; and sooo much more!

Have a few laughs and get caught up on this week’s best Apple stories. Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin.

Show notes up next.

Apple is expected to launch a new smartwatch called the “iWatch” as early as this fall, and we already know that it could face competition from Samsung, Google, Microsoft, and LG. But there’s another competitor that may want a piece of the pie: Dell.

Apple is on a quest to register the “iWatch” trademark worldwide ahead of its rumored smartwatch launch later this year, with filings already made in Japan, Taiwan, and Mexico. But the Cupertino company will hit a snag in the United States and the United Kingdom, where the iWatch name is already spoken for.

Apple has applied for the “iWatch” trademark in Japan following months of speculation that has claimed the company will launch its first smartwatch later this year. According to the June 3 filing with the Japan Patent Office, which was spotted by Bloomberg, the iWatch name will cover products including “a handheld computer or watch device.”

Google made a big splash into wearable tech with Glass and even though they haven’t sold a single unit in stores yet, Google already has its sights on making a smartwatch – similar Apple’s rumored iWatch – and a videogame console powered by its Android operating system.

The Wall Street Journal reported this afternoon that Google is developing the products on its own in an effort to combat the rumored iWatch and the possibility of an updated Apple TV that could support third-party apps. 

Apple may or may not be making a smartwatch, but that’s not stopping its partner, Hon Hai Precision Industry – better known by it’s trading name, Foxconn – from making an iPhone compatible watch of its own.

Hon Hai unveiled it’s first smartwatch today at a shareholders meeting. The device can connect wirelessly to an iPhone and provides data on users’ vitals, such as heartbeat and respiration. The smartwatch can even check phone calls and Facebook posts.

Oh, and remember how the iPhone 5S might be getting a fingerprint sensor? Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou said they’re working to add that to their smartwatch in the future along with some other health features.

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.

Southern gentleman and Apple Chief Tim Cook fielded a barrage of questions at this week’s D11, the big tech conference that puts top CEOs on stage for long chats. And on this week’s CultCast, we analyze and scrutinize Mr. Cook’s thoughts and statements on an Apple television, iWatch, wearable tech like Google Glass, and just when we can all expect Apple’s next big thing.

All that and more on this week’s CultCast. Stream or download our new or past shows on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing now on iTunes, or hit play below and let the anarchy begin.

We’ve already brought you some of the most interesting topics that came up during Tim Cook’s interview at D11 last night, but if you’d like to watch the entire thing yourself, you can do so right now. AllThingsD has posted the entire thing — which runs for one hour and 20 minutes — online this morning, and you can watch it below.

When rumors of the iWatch first surfaced, most insiders pegged its launch date for somewhere around the end of 2013 and everyone got super excited that our wrists are going to get blinged out by Apple really soon. However, lately we’ve been hearing that that might not be the case, and we won’t be able to slap Apple’s magical wrist watch on until 2014.

The unreleased iWatch isn’t the only timepiece Apple’s ever made though, so if you’re really desperate to get a watch made by Apple you totally can, but it might cost you more than your iPhone.

Here are 11 of the coolest retro Apple iWatches you can buy right now. We’ll start with the cheap stuff and work our way down:

Martin Hajek’s oft-shown iWatch model has been dusted off yet again, this time to show how the iWatch could act as a second-screen compass for Apple Maps running on an iPhone. Got to say, first obviously compelling use for an iWatch that I’ve seen yet.

Source: Flickr

Waiting for Apple’s iWatch? Good luck with that if you’re expecting anything fancier than a fitness-tracking iPod nano with a wrist strap. You should save your money, your hopes and your time and buy Beloved Crapware Vendor™ Brando’s Fashionable Bluetooth Vibrating Bracelet + Watch instead.

Hoping to see an Apple-branded smart watch this June at WWDC? How about next March at MacWorld/iWorld?

Don’t hold your breath, says Ming-Chi Kuo, a KGI Securities analyst.

Kuo tells investors that Apple might not have enough resources to make an iOS compatible with such a new form factor, especially given Apple’s probable current iOS 7 efforts.

One of Intel’s biggest mistakes in the last decade was being blind-sided by the rise of mobile devices. Intel should have seen it coming: Apple asked Intel to make chips for the original iPhone, only to be turned down. Simultaneously, Cupertino was pressuring Intel to get the power-management of their chips under control. It’s not too far-fetched to say that if Intel had been paying attention to all the signals, then today they could be as dominant in mobile chips as they are in PCs and servers.

But Intel under former CEO Paul Otellini turned a blind-eye to mobile until it was too late. It’s a mistake new Intel CEO Brian Krzanich is determined not to repeat, which is why he has created a brand new “New Devices” division within Intel to focus on emerging trends, including “ultra-mobile devices.”

What’s an ultra-mobile device? Think wearable computing, like Google Glass or the iWatch.

Apple doesn’t like OLED displays. Across the board, Apple uses LCD IPS displays in its devices, which have better color accuracy than OLED. Theoretically, though, OLED is better than LCD when it comes to power consumption, though… which is why a new report is floating the possibility that Apple might switch to OLED for the iWatch… and that Foxconn is already building test runs.

I’ve never been convinced by Martin Hajek’s iWatch concepts. They’re beautifully done, but the stitched leather band is hideous and very un-Apple-like, and I can’t help but feel that whatever the iWatch is going to be, it isn’t going to be an unusably small iPod touch strapped to your wrist.

That said, Hajek’s just unveiled a number of high-quality renders of his iWatch concept that he did for MacUser, and if you’re a fan of his take on Apple’s upcoming smartwatch, there’s a lot here to get you salivating. A lot more shots, after the jump.

Google Glass has been getting a lot of attention recently for it’s futuristic take on wearable computing. Apple’s iWatch has got people intrigued, but it turns out that Google has been working on a watch of its own, just incase Google Glass is a little bit too weird for people.

Patents filed by Google in 2011 show that the company has been working on a wearable wrist computer. The Google Watch concept describes two touchpads on a wristband that work intandem to undertand gestures like Google has on the Google Glass pad.

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has revealed that he recently spent $100 million on Apple shares in anticipation that they will rebound. The 59-year-old believes that Apple is a “very promising” investment, despite the current share price being almost 40% off its peak last September.

As the CEO of Square, and co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey has quickly become one of Silicon Valley’s most admired CEOs. His Square payment system is quickly changing the way consumers buy things, and it’s making businesses and consumers interact on a more personal level.

Square’s goal is to make payments quicker and easier for both business and consumers, so the company has an intense interest in wearable tech. When asked in a recent interview whether he thinks Google Glass is an interesting product, Dorsey answered that he doesn’t see much value in Google Glass right now, but he’s intrigued by devices that wrap around the wrist – like Apple’s rumored iWatch – because they feel more natural.

When asked whether he’s looked into Google Glass, Dorsey had the following to say:

We’ve always thought that Apple’s rumored iWatch probably won’t have the ability to enter text, but maybe we’re wrong. Maybe Apple will use software similar to this ZoomBoard concept that lets you zoom in on a keyboard, tap the letter you want, zoom back out, and then find new characters.

Users who have tested the prototype were able to type about 10 words per minute with it, which is pretty slow compared to average speeds on a real keyboard, but maybe it could be used on a limited basis. We don’t think anyone will ever want to type an email on their iWatch, but what if you want to send a quick reply to a friend without pulling out your iPhone to type it up? This could be the answer.

Here’s a video of ZoomBoard in action:

WWDC 2013 was just announced. Finally, Apple’s going to end this year’s drought, and show off some new stuff after going the entire first four months of the year without a single keynote or product announcement.

But now that WWDC is in our sights, what are people most excited about? There are tons of hardware rumors about the iPad, iPhone and even the iWatch but we doubt we’ll see either of those three. We’ve also heard that iOS 7 is going to have some huge changes, and we should see some of the next version of OS X. What are you guys most excited to see at WWDC 2013? Software or hardware?

Click here to go to the Cult of Mac Forums and tell us what you’re looking forward to the most at WWDC 2013.

The future of computing might be in wearable computers like Google Glass and the rumored Apple iWatch, but you’re still going to have to wait before getting to try them out.

Google has never commented on a launch date for Google Glass, but Eric Schmidt says it’s not that far away. In an interview for BBC Radio 4’s “World at One” today, Schmidt says that he thinks the consumer version of Google Glass is “probably a year-ish away.”