Apple's smartwatch has been a hot topic in the tech world as of late, starring in several rumor reports that try to shed a bit more light on the still-unofficial device. That continues today, as The Verge claims to have been told by Apple is busy tweaking iOS to work correctly on a watch-style device. The company's goal of getting its smartphone operating system to function on a watch is currently resulting in a battery life that's lower than what Apple would like, though, with the product currently lasting a couple of days off of single charge rather than the four to five day lifespan that the Cupertino firm wants. Apple reportedly also has some work planned in regards to improving watch support with iOS on the iPhone.
As one might expect with a new product like a smartwatch, Apple has quite a large team dedicated to its watch product. Both Bloomberg and The Verge claim that Apple design head Jony Ive is working with around 100 engineers on the device and that the project is one of Ive's favorites.
Smartwatches aren't exactly a new type of product, but the category has shot up in popularity recently thanks to devices like the Pebble and MetaWatch. We've yet to see a large mobile device maker like Apple really get into the smartwatch sector, though, so it'll be interesting to what a company that already creates its own hardware and can really dig into a mobile OS does with its own smartwatch.
We may not have to wait long to see Apple's take on the smartwatch, as Bloomberg and The Verge claim that the "iWatch" could be released this year. However, that's still very much a rumor at this point, just like the rest of the details of Apple's watch, so you probably don't want to toss your current timepiece out the window quite yet. Are you interested in donning a smartwatch on your wrist or are you content with just pulling your phone out of your pocket to check the time, messages and other alerts?
