The smart watch is a good idea that has yet to hit the mainstream. It seems that consumers just don’t really see the need for a watch that syncs with their smartphones just yet. That may all change if Apple gets into the game, and a recent report suggests the company is doing just that.
Bloomberg reports that Apple has a team of over 100 product designers currently working on a smart watch. The device will reportedly handle some of the functions that are already performed by the iPhone. If it’s like other smart watches, it will also presumably sync with an iPhone or iPad to provide information such as texts, messages and other relevant information directly on the watch’s display.
Why would Apple be investing in a smart watch though? They’re not exactly taking off into the mainstream. The prohibitive cost for something that does very little, while needing to be charged every day, isn’t exactly what consumers are looking for. Would Apple be able to circumvent these problems, and emerge with another product that the masses will lap up?
Former Apple employee Bruce Tognazzini certainly thinks so. He wrote in a blog post last week that an “iWatch” would “fill a gaping hole in the Apple ecosystem.” He also said that the value of such a product would “be underestimated at launch” but then “grow to have a profound impact on our lives and Apple’s fortunes.”
This all merely rumor and speculation for now. An iWatch, as its presumably called, does sound like the natural evolution of the iOS platform. Google is already heavily invested in wearable computing, so it’s only natural to assume that Apple is investing in it as well.
