Sunday Times 2
The iWatch is coming: Apple boss says
Apple boss Tim Cook has hit back at claims Apple is losing its cool by saying the tech giant has ‘some incredible plans’ which are likely to include both a TV and a wearable computer. The Apple boss took part in a rare interview at the D11 conference in California.
‘Televisions have not been brought up to date for a decade’, he said, whilst wearable technology is ‘profoundly interesting’.
Mr Cook said wearable technology such as Google’s Glass was ‘an area that’s ripe for exploration.’
Apple's U.S. Patent Application : It describes a 'wearable accessory device' which mounts a touchscreen on the user's wrist using the same technology as a slap wrap
‘It’s ripe for us to get excited about. ‘Lots of companies will play in this space. ‘I see wearables as a very important branch of the tree.’
Apple has been rumored to be working on a curved glass watch, dubbed the iWatch, which is expected to run on the same iOS software as the iPad and iPhone.
It has been claimed a team led by Apple’s British born designer Sir Jonathan Ive with over 100 engineers, is working on the project, and that it is expected to be released later this year. Mr Cook also revealed he think’s Google Glass is not the right approach for a wearable computer.
‘People that do wear them generally want them to be light, to be unobtrusive. ‘They probably want them to reflect their fashion,’ he said. ‘There are some positives in the product, it’s probably likely to appeal to certain markets – but the likelihood that it has broad appeal is hard to see.’ Cook said.
‘To convince people that they have to wear something, it has to be incredible,’ Cook said. ‘If we asked a room of 20-year olds to stand up if they’re wearing a watch, I don’t think anyone would stand up.’ Although he refused to confirm the firm was working on a watch, Mr Cook said that Nike ‘did a great job’ with the Fuelband, a wrist based sensor that tracks a user’s movement.
‘There are lots of gadgets in the space,’ Cook said. ‘I would say that the ones that are doing more than one thing, there’s nothing great out there that I’ve seen. ‘Nothing that’s going to convince a kid that’s never worn glasses or a band or a watch or whatever to wear one.’
Cook also hinted at Apple’s TV plans.
‘There is a very grand vision of this,’ Cook claimed when asked about plans for a TV service. ‘When you look at the TV experience, it’s not an experience that I think very many people love. ‘It’s not one that has been brought up to date for this decade. ‘It’s still an experience much like 10 years ago or 20 years ago.’
However, he refused to reveal any details of the plans, telling interviewer Kara Swisher: ‘I’m going to leave that alone – but it continues to be an area of great interest to us.’ Apple’s new products are also set to include the newest version of its operating system, iOS7, which is due to be unveiled at its annual developers’ conference in just over two weeks, and will be overseen by Sir Jonathan Ive, known to his colleagues as Jony.
‘Jony is really key,’ Mr Cook said. ‘We recognised that Jony had contributed significantly to the look and feel of Apple for many, many years and could do that for software as well…What we did last fall was change things up, to really ramp up our innovation,’
‘The key in the post-PC era for having a great product is incredible hardware, incredible software, and incredible services, and to combine them so you can’t tell what’s what. The magic is at the intersection.’
© Daily Mail, London
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