The smartwatch market is increasing with competitors, but so far, one key company is missing, and that's Apple. However, Apple might not be missing in action for too long after the company was recently granted a three-year old smartwatch patent that surrounds a device called "iTime."
According to detailed information laid out in US Patent 8,787,006, the Apple device is "an electronic wristband to be worn on a wrist of a user," that includes a mobile electronic device that is capable of connecting wirelessly with other devices, and comes with a touchscreen interface.
Furthermore, the patent states that this device can be independently used without being attached to the wristband, so we're getting the feeling the band can be replaced if need be.
Strangely enough, much of the technology resides in the wristband and not in the watch itself. Things like the battery, GPS receiver, haptic device, wireless communication receiver, and a printed circuit substrate, could all be placed inside the wristband.
Such a design could lead to a large and thin display. Most smart watches today come equipped with a tiny display due to all the technology residing inside the watch section itself. There's literally no room for thinness.
When it comes down to connecting to other devices, the patent shows that Apple's smartwatch can display notifications from other devices, such as an iPhone or iPad. "Hence, advantageously, the user can use the electronic wristband ... as a remote Input/Output (I/O) interface for the mobile phone," according to claims from the patent.
The patent itself didn't refer to the smartwatch device by a specific name; however, the iTime name can be seen on one of the mockup images. Despite this, we doubt Apple would go with the name since it is likely its smartwatch would do more than telling the time. The name iWatch sounds more compelling to us, and it is likely the name Apple would rally around if it had to choose between the two.
From what we have seen, Apple's iTime patent doesn't impress us much, apart from the wristband being a host to some of the key technologies in the device. Many of the features seen here are already available today on real smartwatches, so Apple has no advantage. However, we must bear in mind that this patent was filed back in 2011, so several things might have changed since then.
