Apple iWatch
These rumors draw on a variety of sources to provide themselves with veracity, the earliest mention of such a device being a 2008 Telegraph interview with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in which he speculated the existence of an iWatch in Apple’s future.
The first piece of “hard” evidence for the iWatch was a report by the Chinese website TGBus claiming that Apple and Intel were collaborating on a smartwatch similar to Sony’s SmartWatch and the Pebble. The rumor subsequently hit the mainstream media in a report by The New York Times in Feb. 2013, and it has circulated ever since.
Apple has also hired a large number of professionals from health- and fashion-related fields, copyrighted the term “iWatch” in several countries, and made cryptic comments suggestive of something in the works. Apple also holds a close relationship with Nike (Apple CEO Tim Cook sits on its board of directors) and the Nike+ FuelBand, a project which Nike is shutting down, potentially clears the market for Apple.
The watch itself, in addition to monitoring health and performing the various functions of any iOS device, is theorized to be a replacement product to Apple’s iPod, which has seen few updates and declining sales in recent years. Apple iOS 8, scheduled for fall release, is claimed to have been designed with the iWatch in mind, and would provide a “Healthbook” app that would synergize well with the iWatch’s abilities.
The iWatch would face stiff competition from Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, Sony’s SmartWatch, the Pebble, and various potential players such as Google and Casio.
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