iWatch Rumors: Runs Full iOS, Set For 2013 Release, Battery Life A Challenge And Apple Sees $6 Billion Opportunity

By Binu Paul email: b.paul@mobilenapps.com | Mar 05, 2013 07:14 AM EST

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There are many versions of answers to a simple question - Why do people adore Apple products? But going to the basics, it's largely accepted that Apple is the one company that makes the usage 'never be the same again' true with each of its products.

Let's put it this way; Apple provides a different, but greater meaning to the usefulness of devices that are often limited to certain functions. And, Apple would be eying nothing less than achieving the same status for its most-waited smartwatch, unofficially dubbed the iWatch.

Although we are yet to hear an official word on the device, there have been a series of speculations and rumors about the specifications of the Apple smartwatch and a handful of concept designs have already come out. The latest rumor has it that iWatch may generate twice as much profit for Apple than a TV could. Pulling out certain figures, Citigroup analyst Oliver Chen says the smartwatch project will be a $6 billion opportunity for Apple.

"This can be a $6 billion opportunity for Apple, with plenty of opportunity for upside if they create something totally new like they did with the iPod - something consumers didn't even know they needed," Bloomberg quotes Chen as saying.

While the business side of the device was making headlines all over the global media, the report also touched on the possible release timeframe and took a sneak peek into the specifications and features of the smartwatch. iWatch is said to be the pet project of Apple design guru Jony Ive and that the device may arrive by the end of this year. Ive, who has long been obsessed with smart watches since at least the mid-2000s, had his team visit watch factories and ordered boxes of a sports watches made by Nike in the mid-2000s, Nike's creative director Scott Wilson said. Digging more into the development, The Verge later reported that Ive heads the iWatch project with some 100 engineers under him.

Most important of all the rumors, Apple has decided to run a full version of iOS on the iWatch rather than a beefed up version of the Nano's touch OS. While that remains to be a reason to cheer, the sources tells The Verge that the full version of Apple operating system is leading to battery life issues in development of the device. Apple wants the watch to last at least 4-5 days between charges; however, the current prototypes are apparently working only for a couple of days at a time.

"We're also told Apple has some work to do with iOS on the iPhone, which currently has several hooks for supporting a watch-like device but lacks the appropriate interface or settings to make it work properly," the report says speculating that Apple has to do some interface tweaks to guarantee a smooth integration between the iPhone and the iWatch.

Nonetheless, it remains to be seen where the wearable technology is heading to and if the latest rumors come true, we would perhaps see what surprises Apple has in store for us on the iWatch.