Rumor: Apple Building Bluetooth Smart Watch

Really now. I understand there might be some small market for "smart watches," but who, honestly, still wears a watch? And who would want to wear a watch that you will (possibly) have to charge daily? This is a watch in name only.<p>That aside, I can see benefits to connected devices such as this. I'm just not sure I'd call them watches.

I don't see why this suddenly appears to be 'revolutionary' when Sony has had this for a long time?[1] Heck you can even buy an Android powered Sony watch WITH THE SAME DESIGN even now!<p>[1]<a href="http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/products/accessories/smartwatch/" rel="nofollow">http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/products/accessories/smartwatch...</a>

Spoiler alert, Apple constantly build various prototypes to toss around ideas, most of which never make it past that stage.

I have gone the complete opposite direction of the many questioning who wears a watch anymore. Recently I picked up my first automatic, a Seiko of course. I have worn it for about 2 months now, and am about to tear into it. There are a lot of sites that sell after market hands, faces and of course straps. The movement I picked up is well documented and will allow me to get into it without too much problem. There is something magical about a device that requires no power other than being worn. It tells decent time, but loses a few seconds a month. Thats part of the charm of it. Can your GPS Mobile device tell better time? Of course it can. But that isn't really the point. After only two months, I feel quite an attachment to it and actually feel naked without it. I do use it functionally though. A quick flick of the wrist will always be faster than pulling a phone out of the pocket, pushing a button and putting it back in your pocket. There is of course the aesthetic/fashion aspect as well. Currently I have a nice nato strap which has received a ton of compliments. After many years of no watch and relying on PDA's and Smart Phones, I can safely say I am now a watch wearer for life.

I also wear a watch in the form of the Nike Fuelband. It sleeps when I'm not actively looking at it, so the battery lasts several days. The clasp is also a USB connector, so it just plugs into my laptop when the battery gets low. 30 minutes later and im good for another few days.<p>I also frequently get complements on it because it looks like a sleek wristband until the LEDs light up.<p>I would love to see more wearable accessories go this route and conserve power until I actively look at or wake up the device.<p>If someone added streaming music or mp3 functionality that could pipe music to a Bluetooth headset, that would be something I would definitely pay money for.

I remember the Fossil Write PDA(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Wrist_PDA" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Wrist_PDA</a>)<p>The charging was a problem, but I couldn't find a killed application or use for it that wasn't covered by a regular watch. The only thing I used it for was a watch!<p>I think that these products face an existential crisis that asks "what can a watch do better than my Android cellphone?"

As they should. This is a sector that has truly suffered for innovation. I've tried to use two or three between a Sony watch to a palm connector watch. Nike has done a pretty cool thing with their sport bracelet, but it fails on Android horribly. At least make an device/app that does a crap load more than track forward motion and time. PLEASE do so.

Doesn't seem too likely to me, or at least it would be a fairly significant reversal of Apple's approach to things. It's such a niche market. That's not the kind of space Apple cares to play in it. Where's the opportunity for the kind of mass-market world changing that Apple likes to focus on?

If Apple is smart, they will build only the watch face and allow people to install it in any number of 3rd party wristbands ala the iPod Nano. In fact, I would wager that their entrance into this market is a direct response to the popularity of using the 6th Generation iPod Nano as a watch.

I actually like the idea of having an smart watch, but the problem I see with the technology is the battery time, I don't really want to be charging my watch every 8 hours, I don't want to charge it at home, and at work. The more you can do with the watch the less it's battery will last.

"Apple has long had a small hold on the watch market thanks to its iPod nano, which is easily attached to a wrist band turning it into a full-functioning watch."<p>Err, for small, you mean 'infinitesimal'. I don't think I've seen anyone, ever, wearing a nano as a watch.

I remember thinking when the iPhone rumors were swirling that if apple DIDN'T build a phone then they would have to be complete idiots. therefore they were obviously working on a phone.

This watch will not be used primarily to tell the time. It will be used primarily to read and compose text messages, possibly with a curved touchscreen for better ergonomics.

I foresee a flop.

A smart phone bears little resemblance to a phone and I suspect a smart watch will be similar. There are already a bunch if amateur attempts but one from apple might be big hit, as MP3 players wane in popularity possibly this could be something new for Apple. I'd give it a try..