Ten years from now, what will mobile devices look like? Will they be lighter, thinner, and more powerful smartphones and tablets? Or will their interfaces move beyond the touchscreen? One possibility is the invisible assistant: a wearable accessory that you interact with by talking and listening. Today one (far-fetched) rumor suggests that Apple could spearhead that future early next year, in the form of the iWatch.
According to Chinese-language blog TGBus, Apple is collaborating with Intel on a Bluetooth-enabled smartwatch. The device supposedly has a 1.5-inch OLED screen. Like Pebble and i'm watch, the device would connect to an iPhone via low-powered Bluetooth 4.0. Unlike Pebble or i'm watch, though, it would let you answer calls and use Siri.
Voice replacing the touchscreen?
Whether this rumor has legs or not, Siri (and other virtual assistants) could eventually supplant the touchscreen in our mobile devices. Apple thrives on making tech products behave less like tech products, and more like natural human tools. When taken to its extreme, this could result in a device with a conversation-based interface.
Such a device could be made today, without technological hurdles. A connected iPhone would do much of the processing; the watch would record your voice, transmit it to your iPhone, and relay Siri's response. A small touch screen would also allow for limited visual/kinetic interaction, including notifications and basic apps.
Smells fishy
Even if Siri-powered accessories are eventually coming, though, this rumor is suspect. Intel's processors power Macs, but the chip-maker is only wetting its feet with low-powered mobile CPUs. Would Apple collaborate with Intel on a 2013 mobile device? "Long-shot" doesn't begin to describe the odds.
Apple's obsession with simplicity also casts doubt on this rumor. From the time Steve Jobs returned in the late 90s, the company's product line has been small and focused. Jobs and present CEO Tim Cook have both said that Apple only enters new markets when it can do something revolutionary. Would an iWatch be revolutionary enough to justify its own existence? In 2013, that's doubtful.
Maybe someday
Even if this rumor is bogus, though, wearable tech products are waiting in the wings. But there's a big difference between making a product and selling a product. For wearable computers to catch on, companies will need to simplify, minimize their geekiness (I'm talking to you, Project Glass), and give average people a reason to salivate over them. What company does those things better than Apple?
Honestly I would love a smart watch and I should be excited about rumors of Apple entering the market but the truth is I am too afraid if they had the first mass market smart watch with a lot of volume people would rewrite history and assume they invented the idea and everyone else is just a copy.
The idea is at least as old as Dick Tracy sure but they had tablet computers in Star Trek in the 60's too and everyone is still pretty sure Apple invented it.
Apple would never launch the iWatch without updating iSue to support it.
Apple tends to get things right the first time more often than others but I would rather wait for the rest of the market fail a couple times on the way to success than have Apple come in and sue everyone else out of the market.
Michaelc mentioned using the square, touchscreen iPod Nano as a watch. That was facilitated by 3rd party companies making wrist bands to hold it like a watch.
The Seiko Data 2000 from 1983 is the granddaddy of smart watches. It could store 2000 characters and had wireless docking with an external keyboard.
There was quite a lot going on in "wrist computers" in the 1980's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wristwatch_computer
These watches have become collectible, if you find one in good condition and can get it cheap, you've pretty much found money.
I picked up a Casio touch screen calculator watch, the model that used character recognition to enter numbers and operation signs, at a thrift store for 50 cents. I sold it on eBay for $50. :-) Those are hard to find with a working digitizer because one good scratch on the capacitive screen kills it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKVNVoBScFA