Apple iWatch reportedly to function as home automation control

The rumored iWatch has cropped up in a variety of tips and rumors over the past months, with the latest one surfacing today by way of Brian White, a Cantor Fitzgerald analyst who has grabbed some details about the fabled Apple smartwatch from unnamed sources. According to White, the iWatch will function as a home automation control, allowing users to control aspects of their home from the convenience of their wrist.

In addition to word about the iWatch was information about a larger iPhone, which is reportedly set to launch next year a handful of months before the Apple smartwatch. None of the information has been confirmed by Apple, obviously, but touches on timelines and tips that have surfaced in various ways over the months.

Said White: "Our meeting with a tech supply chain vendor during our China/Taiwan Tech Tour today highlighted a bigger iPhone is in the works, and our contact expects a launch in the 2Q:14/3Q:14 time frame ... Thoughts around the 'iWatch' have been widely covered by the media, but this potential device has yet to be launched. As an Apple supplier, our contact offered insight into the 'iWatch' and described this potential new device as much more than an extension of your iPhone but as a multi-purpose gateway in allowing consumers to control their home"

According to White, the aspects of the home the iWatch would allow to be controlled includes things like lighting, video, audio (sound systems, perhaps, or home theater components), heating and cooling, and other related aspects. Says the analyst, it is expected that Apple will be rolling out its smartwatch by the end of 2014, something we'll no doubt hear more about one way or the other in the coming months.

VIA: The Register

SOURCE: Barron Blog