Cook affirms Apple wearable-computing scenario

May 30, 2013
FaceTime-Anders-Kjellberg

Concept for iWatch with FaceTime (credit: Anders Kjellberg)

Speaking at the D11 Conference on Tuesday night in the opening tête-à-tête, Apple CEO Tim Cook offered muted praise for Google Glass but dismissed its mainstream appeal while calling wearable computing on your wrist “interesting” and “natural,” Jason Hiner writes on ZDNet.

Cook also predicted that the next generation of wearable computing will do more than just one thing such as activity tracking.

That kind of talk will naturally fire up the rumor mill about an impending Apple product, especially an iWatch like the one that was discussed earlier this year. Hiner has suggested that the watch could also integrate activity tracking and creating a whole ecosystem of services and accessories around it.

The idea is that an iWatch could use a wireless technology like Bluetooth 4.0 to connect to your treadmill or elliptical machine at home and the workout machines at your local fitness center and pull your exercise data into your personal fitness dashboard.

An Apple watch or band could also extend Apple’s Passbook concept to give you a hands-free way to check in for a flight or scan in with your loyalty card at the grocery store or register your electronic ticket at a baseball game — all without pulling your phone out of your pocket. Or, it could let you pay for your coffee at Starbucks or step up to a poster or a storefront and download a coupon for something you may want to purchase later, Hiner suggested.