苹果将推出iWatch？事情没那么简单

如果你是负责开发2013年苹果最新产品 iWatch 的工程经理，你打算打造一款什么样的产品？ 长期观察苹果公司发展的Envisioneering公司首席市场分析师Rick Dohert说:“我认为苹果公司应该不只是推出一款手表。目前在市面上看到的都是智能手表，但全球手表市场正持续下滑中。我认为苹果计划推出的是一款可穿戴式的腕表装置。” 因此，这让我联想到，也许这将会是苹果第一款的 iWear 系列商品，接下来还会陆续出现 iBelt 、 iPatch ，当然有一天还会有 iGlasses 。 就像现有的可穿戴式设备一样，它将采用蓝牙来发出警示、文字短信以及来电显示。同时，它也将搭载传感器，以传输并储存用户的心跳、血压、呼吸以及行走的速度与距离等个人生命体征信息。Doherty提到，苹果的 iPod 先前就已经结合 Nike 的运动传感器了。

不少热心人已经帮苹果“设计”好了iWatch应该长什么样了
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Doherty预计，苹果即将推出的可穿戴式装置将不同于 iPod Nano和 Pebble 智能手表设计，它将采用适合手腕配戴的可弯曲显示器。Doherty说：“这可能会是首款可量产出货的可挠曲显示器。” 它还可能采用创新指令的手势辨识技术。例如，紧握一下拳头即可让手机静音。同时，它也会运用太阳能发电，甚至利用身体和周遭空气的温差，实现能量采集。 Doherty说：“我们认为，苹果将重新定义这一产品类型。”咦？这句话听起来很熟悉吧！ 苹果公司据传已经“聘请一些在生物力学及相关领域的工程师了，这种 iWatch 产品或许将会在今年推出，但应该不会在CES上亮相，”他补充说。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 本文下一页：一款x86的iWatch？不会吧！

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{pagination} 一款x86的iWatch？不会吧！ 目前已经有多达1千万人拥有上一代戴在手腕上的 iPod Nano 产品了。而 Pebble 智能手表也在市场上造成广大的回响。此外，从庞大的物联网应用领域，也催生出新一类的可携式医疗电子设备。 总而言之，现在正是苹果推出 iWear 的最佳时机了。即使是一向严谨的华尔街分析师们也期待这项产品的上市。 虽然，这款产品可能不像传闻中的另一款苹果产品── iTV 互动电视这么了不起，但预计也不可能出现在今年的CES上。 业界传闻英特尔正与苹果公司合作开发这款 iWatch 产品。对我来说，它听起来就像是英特尔挣扎着进军智能手机领域的另一种延续。 我已经可以想象一款 x86 智能手表的样子了──比 ultrabook 略小一点，用一颗铅酸电池可使用一个星期左右的时间，同时搭载 Windows 操作系统来执行医疗保健应用程序以及没法使用的 Windows 程序集。。 因此，我想提醒苹果CEO库克：ARM拥有一系列功耗更低的处理器。当你打算投入“IoT”(物联网？也许我该说是 iThing？)业务时，请也试着考虑ARM吧！ 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Susan Hong 参考英文原文：Forget the iWatch, get ready for Apple iWear，by Rick Merritt

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{pagination} Forget the iWatch, get ready for Apple iWear Rick Merritt SAN JOSE, Calif. – If you were the engineering manager for the 2013 Apple iWatch, what would you build? “I wouldn’t call it a watch,” said Rick Doherty, principal of market watcher (and big-time Apple watcher) Envisioneering (Seaford, NY). “Everything we have seen so far is a watch, but watches are in decline around the world—I’d call it a wrist device,” he said. That made me think, maybe this will be the first in a line of iWear—an iBelt, an iPatch and of course someday--much to the chagrin of Google founder Sergy Brin--iGlasses. Like existing products it would use Bluetooth to show alerts, text messages and caller IDs. It would tap into sensors to save bio-data on heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and distance and speed traveled. Apple linked the iPod to Nike exercise sensors early on, Doherty noted. Unlike today’s iPod Nano and Pebble watches, it would use a curved display contoured to the wrist. “It could be the first curved display to ship in volume,” Doherty said. It could take gesture recognition in a new direction. For example, you could clench your fist to mute your phone. It could use solar power. It might even attempt energy harvesting using the difference in body and ambient air temperature. “We think Apple will re-define the category,” Doherty said. Sound familiar? Apple has “hired some engineers in this area--biomechanics grads—[the 'iWatch is] probably going to debut this year, but probably not at CES,” he added. An x86 iWatch? Don't think so As many as ten million people already have last-generation iPod Nanos retrofitted to wear on their wrists. The Pebble generated enough interest to send its founders scrambling to link up a supply chain. And there’s an emerging class of health devices emerging in one sector of the vast Internet of Things. In short, it’s about time for iWear. Even sober Wall Street analysts say the product is coming. That said, it’s not as big a deal as the also-rumored iTV, also not expected to debut amid the noise of CES in Las Vegas this month. Rumors say Intel is working with Apple on the iWatch. That seems like a stretch to me given Intel’s struggles to get into smartphones which are an order of magnitude larger in size and power consumption. I can imagine an x86 smart watch. It’s slightly smaller than an ultrabook. It runs for a week on an optional belt-worn lead acid battery. It comes in a Windows version to tap the wealth of applications and out of work Windows programmers. Memo to Tim Cook: ARM has whole families of processors that consume much less power than its Cortex series. Check them out sometime as you venture into the Internet of Things, or should I say, iThings.