Apple curved glass smart watch coming soon?

Dick Tracy would never have looked this stylish.

 

Apple Inc. is working on a smart watch made out of curved glass, according to a report on The New York Times citing sources familiar with the matter.

 

"Such a watch would operate Apple’s iOS platform, two people said, and stand apart from competitors based on the company’s understanding of how such glass can curve around the human body," it said.

 

It added such a device would trigger speculations about its possible features, such as voice-activated assistant Siri, maps, text messaging, or even mobile payments.

 

The New York Times report noted Corning, which makes the Gorilla glass in Apple's iPhone and several other smartphones, had announced bendable glass, called Willow Glass.

 

"You can certainly make it wrap around a cylindrical object and that could be someone’s wrist. Right now, if I tried to make something that looked like a watch, that could be done using this flexible glass," Pete Bocko, the chief technology officer for Corning Glass Technologies, told The New York Times.

 

But Bocko added there may be other challenges before a foldable device can be created, saying the human body "moves in unpredictable ways.”

 

Wearable devices

 

The NYT report cited an earlier article on Chinese gadget site Tech.163 the Apple has started developing a watch featuring Bluetooth and a 1.5-inch display.

 

“Apple’s certainly made a lot of hiring in that area ... Apple is already in the wearable space through its ecosystem partners that make accessories that connect to the iPhone,” said Sarah Rotman Epps, a Forrester analyst who specializes in wearable computing and smartphones.

 

Epps added wearable computing may be inevitable for Apple in the long run, saying the human body "is a rich canvas for the computer.”

 

“But I’m not sure how close we are to a new piece of Apple hardware that is worn on the body,” she added.

 

Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, said technology could progress such that consumers have a tablet plus wearable computers like watches or glasses.

 

“These devices are likely to be cheaper than an iPhone and could ultimately be Apple’s best answer to addressing emerging markets,” he said.

 

Further fueling speculation of Apple going into wearable computing are the patents Apple filed last year for displays that can stream information to the retina. — TJD, GMA News