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Apple's 'iWatch' to Feature Flexible Display, Wireless Charging

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Adding to this morning's report from The Wall Street Journal pointing towards a curved OLED screen for Apple's upcoming "iWatch", The New York Times has released several details about the wearable device, suggesting it will have a flexible display and wireless charging capabilities.

Echoing past rumors, The New York Times says the iWatch will come in two separate sizes, focusing on health/fitness and mobile computing tasks, and that it will allow people to make purchases with included NFC support. Its flexible display is described as "unique," and Apple is said to have settled on wireless charging after a failed experiment with solar charging.
It has a flexible display panel that is protected by a cover composed of sapphire, a type of tougher glass, they said. The device's circuit board, which includes its sensors and chips, was described as tiny, about the size of a postage stamp.

For replenishing the battery, the smartwatch will rely on a wireless charging method. Apple had at one point tested solar charging for the watch, but that experiment failed.
Click to expand...
According to unnamed employees who spoke to The New York Times, Apple's iWatch is "one of Apple's most ambitious projects to date," with an "enormous" amount of time and money put into the health and fitness sensors in the device, which will be "much more" accurate than existing fitness devices. Rumors have suggested the iWatch will measure an array of different health-related metrics, from steps taken and sleep quality to blood pressure.

The iWatch is said to take advantage of HealthKit, a set of APIs Apple introduced alongside iOS 8 that will integrate into existing health devices and apps, reporting data to a central location. It's also going to rely on Handoff, a Continuity feature that lets users seamlessly transition tasks from one iOS or Mac device to another.

The report also echoes a litany of rumors that have suggested Apple's wearable device will not be available for purchase until 2015, despite Apple's plans to unveil the iWatch at its September 9 media event. The gap between the introduction of the iWatch and its debut will give Apple time to finish work on the device as well as provide an opportunity for developers to create new apps suited to the smaller form factor.

(Image: 2.5-inch iWatch concept by SET Solutions)

Article Link: Apple's 'iWatch' to Feature Flexible Display, Wireless Charging
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/04/iwatch-flexible-display-wireless-charging/
Patriot24

Patriot24

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The device's circuit board, which includes its sensors and chips, was described as tiny, about the size of a postage stamp.
Click to expand...

Not good news for those predicting that the device would stand on its own without being teathered to an iPhone.

Apple was never going to make a wearable the size that would be required for iPhone-like capabilities.
 
t0mat0

t0mat0

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If the watch can have wireless charging, why not the iPhone 6?
The Broadcom chip is out there - and suspiciously Broadcom gave a hint at the BCM4358 chip as shipping by end of September.
 
W

Windlasher

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Jan 11, 2011
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Damn..

I dont wear watches, have no interest in watches, can't see spending money on a watch. If this thing is that cool, Im thinking I'm gonna be buying a watch this fall.
 
Richardgm

Richardgm

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Aug 1, 2008
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After seeing everyone and their dog release a smartwatch in the past year, preempting Apple, this bit of news has piqued my interest.
 
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gleepskip

gleepskip

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Carrying around a tracking device in my pocket is enough for me. I'm not as keen as I once would have been to let entities of out my control have access to *even more* data about me.
 
Peace

Peace

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People are concentrating on the screen itself too much.

I can see the wrist strap itself having sensors. The wrist area is an area with a lot of nerves. BP , Heart rate , body temp.,

Lot's of sensors in those nerves.
 
SandboxGeneral

SandboxGeneral

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So that means if I want to keep my watch on and charge it, I'll have to hold or leave my arm over a charging pad. Probably during the night when I usually charge up my iDevices.
 
B

Bahroo

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Jul 21, 2012
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Rather have 3-6 ft range wireless charging then having to plug a cord in it . a very low power 20nm SoC custom designed iWatch processor by Apple , its gonna blow away these Snapdragon 400 cores they use in Android Wear watches and have much more power efficiency,

Plus with a use of OLED screen in the iWatch, maybe the watch interface will be darked themed mostly and that is where OLED would be fantastic in that situation with producing blacks, IMO watches should have a darker themed GUI , puts alot less strain on the screen, obviously cant always be a darker theme all the time (in sunlight, etc) but im just saying.
 
BerMuc

BerMuc

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Jul 1, 2013
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The only feature I wish for a wearable is wireless charging within a close proximity. The phone should recognize when the wearable is low on battery and then start charging it wireless. If the phones battery drops under a specific threshold, stop charging the secondary device. You could even make it nice and have hourly charging pulses send to the watch...But i guess i have to wait for such things a little longer...
 
rrm74001

rrm74001

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Nov 11, 2008
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Genuine question: What is so exciting about this? What features are people looking forward to with this "iWatch"? Health monitoring? Is that it?

Or is it one of those "because Apple" things?
 
Patriot24

Patriot24

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SandboxGeneral said:
So that means if I want to keep my watch on and charge it, I'll have to hold or leave my arm over a charging pad. Probably during the night when I usually charge up my iDevices.
Click to expand...

Many high-end watches have used kinetic energy charging for years. The question is, is that type of technology enough to keep this thing charged given the power that it requires to operate.
 
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