14 DAY TRIAL // There’s no question Apple has taken some interest in wearable devices, and the most conclusive evidence comes from the iPod nano wrist-band initiative. But Apple teaming up with Intel for an iWatch sounds sketchy, to say the least.
A report from China picked up by 163.com says that the two companies have partnered up to create an Apple-branded, Bluetooth-based iWatch akin to a newly-launched Sony smart watch.
Apple’s device would most likely incorporate some key software benefits, including Siri voice assistance, iCloud integration, perhaps even Maps (accurate ones, hopefully). But this is mere speculation on our part.
The report, conveyed to the English-speaking population using Google’s well known translation tools, mentions “a rhenium ocean of OGS encore indium tin oxide transparent conductive (ITO) glass,” presumably for the front side of the device.
The display behind the glass is said to be a 1.5-inch OLED module.
The odd thing about the Chinese language report is that it mentions Intel as Apple’s partner for supplying some kind of low-power mobile chip for the so-called iWatch.
While the Cupertino company does have a flourishing partnership with Intel in the computer department (iMac, MacBook, Mac mini etc.) the same thing cannot be said about the Mac maker’s mobile devices division, which includes the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
On the mobile front, Apple has made enormous strivings to design its own processors, and such efforts have even ramped up in recent months. One such example is the fully custom-designed A6X chip in the iPad 4.
Finally, the same “supply chain sources” cited by 163.com say that the iWatch is actually not very far off. Apple will reportedly introduce the revolutionary device sometime during the first half of 2013.