Skip to footer

Apple on hiring spree in search of iWatch design

Apple hopes that new blood can help the company find a fresh design for a smart watch, according to the Financial Times.

|
Marcio Jose Sanchez/ AP/ File
The Pebble watch is one of the first smart watches. Apple is rumored to be working on a design for its own smart watch.

Apple set off on a hiring spree in an effort to come up with a fresh design for an iWatch, according to a report by the Financial Times. This “aggressive” hiring campaign is seen as a way for the company to get back to what it was originally known for: innovative, consumer-friendly product design. Apple has not released a new product since Steve Jobs’ death nearly two years ago. 

While Apple has not publicly confirmed or denied any plans for an iWatch, if the rumors are true, an iWatch has already been long in the making. And certainly a timeline of events would point to a well-designed wristwatch with high-tech capabilities.

Earlier this month, Apple announced that Paul Deneve, the former chief executive officer of Yves Saint Laurent, would be joining the company to work on special projects for Apple CEO Tim Cook. Other fashion executives within Apple’s ranks include Mickey Drexler, the chairman and CEO of J. Crew, according to Bloomberg.

Around the same time, Apple registered a trademark for the term “iWatch” in Japan, and has also filed for the trademark in Russia.

In March, Apple filed for a patent relating to curved screens and batteries, hinting that the company had a wearable product in the works. And a month before, Apple was said to have a team of about 100 product designers working on a “wristwatch-like device” with computer functions, according to Bloomberg.

Earlier this month, Apple-watchers anticipated the release of an iWatch in late 2014. Now, however, it seems the release might be delayed as Apple searches for the perfect design to quell fears that its products are not "innovative" enough.

But delaying its release of an iWatch has not only allowed Apple to discuss designs within the company, it has also given the software giant an opportunity to size up possible competition.

Most notable among current smart-watch models is the Pebble. This watch was first released in January, funded by a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign. The rectangular watch is controlled by buttons on the side of the watch face and uses Bluetooth to forward information – including app data – from users’ smart phones. The Pebble is compatible with both Apple and Android products and is water resistant up to 165 feet.  

Sony announced that the company plans to release a second version of its own SmartWatch, to be available in September. Sony’s watch is Android-only.

A Google wristwatch is also said to be in the works. Microsoft has also been testing wristwatches, according to the Verge. 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Apple on hiring spree in search of iWatch design
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Pioneers/2013/0715/Apple-on-hiring-spree-in-search-of-iWatch-design
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe