 And last week, we reported Jawbone, the makers of UP “revolutionary bracelet,” is seeing demand for its new device which goes on sale for $149 next week. Now the rumour mill has been in overdrive about the release of a rumoured iWatch from Apple, as rival Samsung have already confirmed it is getting into the watches game. Also, reports suggest Microsoft, too, is ”working on designs for a touch-enabled watch device” with 1.5″ display. Even LG are said to be looking into the market. Read: JawBone: Get Up OZ Microsoft released a Smart Watch nine years ago so they are no strangers to wearable techs that promise to be your best mate, motivator, mood gauge and even alert you when your eating crap food (Jawbone UP), but some boast more advanced smartphone functions like text, Facebook, and real time info like train times, a la Google Glass.
Web reports about a possible Apple iWatch, along with a rival to Google’s Glass wearable project, may be worth listening to, according to CNet. The report suggests recent remarks from Bill Campbell, an Apple board member and close friend of the late Steve Jobs as well as chairman at Intuit, suggest something along those lines could be in the wind. At an event for Intuit staff late last week, Campbell stressed that he couldn’t offer any specifics on future Apple products, but said people could anticipate “a lot of things going on with the application of technology to really intimate things.” He called Google Glass a “phenomenal breakthrough” and added in what’s being interpreted as a significant statement: “When you start to think about glasses or watches, they become as intimate as the cell phone was. “Financial news service Bloomberg has previously claimed that Apple has about 100 people working on a smartwatch project. Apple has also filed patent applications for watch-relevant flexible displays and for a Glass-sounding “head-mounted display apparatus.” “We’ve seen a lot of anticipation and excitement for UP from the Australian community, and our Australian retail partners Apple, Telstra, and Optus have been eager to bring UP to their customers,” Jawbone Head of Channel and Partner Development EMEA, Jorgen Nordin told SmartHouse last week. “There’s a lot of demand and interest in the wearables category right now.” But “it’s hard to say” if smartwatches are really going to be the new ‘IT’ device as analysts are saying, JB HiFi Marketing Manger Scott Browning told SmartHouse yesterday, “There’s a lot of horizon categories” out there – smartwatches are just one of them. |
