It appears that sources familiar with the company’s plans spoke to the Financial Times, stating that designing such a product involves “hard engineering problems that they’ve not been able to solve”. The fact that Apple are running into problems also mean that it’s likely that device won’t be launched “until the latter part of next year”.
The smart watch market is set to esculate over the next couple of years. What started out as an icon of crowd-funding success (MetaWatchand Pebble are notable examples) has become an attractive target for virtually any tech company with a hardware arm. Dell has suggested that they’ll be joining the boom, and everyone from Microsoft to Sony to Samsung have hinted at a project or already brought a device to market. However, although smart watches are becoming increasingly popular that have their limitations.
The devices are hindered by inadequate battery life, low-resolution screens and under-developed apps that fail to sync, have difficulties displaying on small screens or just don’t function.
Another difficulty to navigate is the social status of the watch. Whether you choose to wear a Patek Philippe or a Casio F-91W will reveal something about your character (and your income) – be it aspirational or apathetic. The caché carried by a phone is similar in kind, but not in degree: smartphones have all trended towards the black-slice-of-glass aesthetic and remain hidden in your pocket anyway – a watch is on display all the time.
Apple is said to have up to 50 employees working on solving the challenges posed by developing an iWatch.
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