Smartwatch could wake up market

Apple is expected to rouse the still-slumbering market for wearable computers with the launch of a smartwatch or bracelet equipped to monitor health, help manage homes and even buy merchandise.

Apple is a late arrival to this relatively new technology niche where several other companies already sell smartwatches, but they are generally greeted with widespread indifference.

If any company can transform the landscape, it’s likely to be Apple. after the company’s strong record on shifting the direction of digital technology with the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

While other MP3 music players, smartphones and tablet computers were on the market earlier, the devices didn’t enthral consumers until Apple imbued them with a sense of elegance, convenience and wizardry.

“It means more to us to get it right than to be first,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook told analysts earlier this year.

Apple is likely to provide the first peek at its wearable device at an event set to begin at 10am Pacific time (6pm BST) in the same Silicon Valley auditorium where Apple’s late co-founder, Steve Jobs, unveiled the industry-shifting Mac computer 25 years ago.

U2, one of Mr Jobs’ favourite musical groups, is rumoured to be performing live to promote its new album, as well as Apple’s latest gadgetry, which is likely to include an iPhone with a larger screen.

As usual, Apple has not said what will be unveiled, although the company’s top executives have repeatedly promised major breakthroughs without providing any details.

“The location suggests this will be a historic event and the historic aspect will be their movement into a new category,” predicted technology analyst and longtime Apple watcher Tim Bajarin.

After Tuesday’s glimpse, it still may be several months before people get a chance to wear any new device. There is speculation that the smartwatch will not be available until early next year, although Apple is expected to take orders during the holiday shopping season.

Even with all the anticipation surrounding the potential smartwatch, the next generation of the iPhone will still be the star of Tuesday’s show, as well as the main source of Apple’s profits for at least the next year.

The device, likely to be called the iPhone 6, is expected to feature a screen spanning at least 4.7 inches (12 centimeters) diagonally, up from the 4-inch (10-centimeter) display on the previous models released during the past two years. Some analysts have speculated Apple may also offer an iPhone model with a 5.5-inch (14-centimeter) screen.

Any significant increase in the iPhone’s size would make the device more competitive with smartphones made by Samsung Electronics and other rivals, and virtually ensure that Apple would have one of the holiday season’s hottest selling items. “There is incredible pent-up demand for a larger-screen iPhone,” Mr Bajarin said.

Besides a larger screen, the new iPhone is expected to include a near-field communications chip that would enable the device to transmit payment information wirelessly to receivers in shops.

The technology is expected to be accompanied with a mobile wallet feature that taps into the more than 800 million credit card account numbers that users store on Apple’s remote servers to buy from its iTunes stores.

The mobile wallet could be secured with a fingerprint reader that Apple introduced last year on the iPhone 5S. The mobile wallet conceivably could also work on a smartwatch or hi-tech bracelet.

Apple’s latest mobile software for the iPhone 6 and other recent models, iOS 8, also includes two features called HealthKit and HomeKit that represent the next step in the company’s plan to play an even bigger role in the lives of the people tethered to its devices.

The tools are designed to turn Apple’s products into a suite of digital servants that do everything from monitoring a person’s eating habits and exercise routines to turning on the coffee maker in the morning to turning off the lights at night.

If Apple follows its recent traditions, the free iOS 8 software will be released shortly before the iPhone 6 goes on sale later this month.

Source Article from https://uk.news.yahoo.com/smartwatch-could-wake-market-055650718.html

Smartwatch could wake up market