Un telefono que funciona como un telefono inteligente.
AAPL esta experimentando con disenios de relojes de pulsera que tendrian algunas de las funciones de un telefono inteligente. Y existen modelos de relojes que miden ciertas actividades como cuantas calorias se queman al hacer un deporte. No hay detalles acerca de las funciones que tendria el iWatch.
TECHNOLOGYUpdated February 10, 2013, 8:53 p.m. ET
Apple Is Testing Watch-Like Device
By JESSICA E. LESSIN
Apple Inc. AAPL +1.04%is experimenting with designs for a watch-like device that would perform some functions of a smartphone, according to people briefed on the effort.
The company has discussed such a device with its major manufacturing partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., 2317.TW +0.60%one of these people said, as part of explorations of potentially large product categories beyond the smartphone and tablet.
Apple's efforts come as companies have introduced various kinds of wearable gadgets, mainly designed to measure physical activity. More sophisticated devices face big technical challenges, but also are attracting investments from large technology companies.
Foxconn, as Hon Hai is also known, has been working on a spate of technologies that could be used in wearable devices, one of these people said. In particular, the Taiwan-based company has been working to address the challenges of making displays more power-efficient and working with chip manufacturers to strip down their products. The technologies are aimed at multiple Foxconn customers, this person said.
Capabilities that Apple is exploring for wearable devices remain unclear. But analysts and investors who have been tracking the field predict the company would release a product with many different functions and that the device would work closely with the iPhone.
Apple has been exploring the area for some time, according to the people briefed on the effort, and has hired employees with backgrounds in sensors and related technologies in recent years.
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment. A spokesman for Foxconn declined to comment. The New York Times earlier reported that Apple is experimenting with wristwatch-like devices.
The idea of wearable gadgets is far from new, with the concept popping up in comic books and spy stories for years. Microsoft Corp. MSFT +1.13%unveiled a smart watch concept at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas—based on a technology called SPOT, for "smart personal objects technology"—that was sold for a few years by several watch makers without much success.
But wearable devices have taken on a new urgency for companies looking for growth beyond the smartphone market, which is already maturing in countries like the U.S. As core calculation and communications technologies shrink—and sensors that gather various kinds of information proliferate— companies are looking to embed computing in a broader array of devices.
These devices are expected to gather and transmit information automatically—without the user having to do anything—and to be more practical than phones or computers in some situations. Some analysts believe they could eventually replace smartphones entirely, while others note they aren't yet useful enough to appeal to mainstream users.
Devices worn on the wrist are one hot area, with companies like Jawbone Inc. and Nike Inc. NKE +1.12%selling activity-monitoring models. Others, like startup Pebble Technology Corp., are developing watches that connect to mobile devices via Bluetooth and display messages and other information users want to be alerted to on the go.
Google Inc. GOOG -0.38%has been showing off prototypes of wraparound glasses that display digital information, like directions, in front of a user's eyes.
Write to Jessica E. Lessin at
jessica.lessin@wsj.com