Apple is experimenting with a curved glass smart watch, according to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The company has been developing the technology for some time, and the purported device will use Corning’s paper thin Willow Glass substrate to easily conform to the curved shape of the wrist.
While there is no confirmation such a device will come to market — Apple often tests experimental products at its Cupertino campus — with the popularity of smart watches, and the impending “wearable computing” revolution, it’s likely that the company will release something to this effect over the next couple of years.
On the other side of the spectrum, Google is readying the consumer release of Glass, a headpiece it says will change the way we interact with the world. While a smart watch is seemingly less ambitious a project, it also stands to find more traction among mainstream consumers. Over the years, Apple has found success with products like the iPod and iPad that its competitors had trouble marketing, so it would make sense that the same could happen with a watch.
Apple diverted its iPod nano design from being used as a smart watch last year, a disappointment to many who had retrofitted the square music player with custom watch straps. Now, with the success of Kickstarter-backed projects like Pebble, it would seem to be the right time for Apple to get into the game. With support for its iPhone and iPads to transmit SMS, iMessage and emails over Bluetooth, the company is in a prime position to take advantage of its 500+ million install base.
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