As the age of the smartwatch begins, everyone is keeping a close eye on Apple. Considering the outrageous success of the iPhone, analysts and consumers alike believe that Apple might be able to turn the wearable industry on its head with a device that’s both functional and fashionable, but there’s still a lot we don’t know. The situation has become even more complicated this week as Patently Apple reports that Apple recently won a patent for something called the iTime, a wearable device with an entirely different feature set than the rumored iWatch.
Unlike the iWatch, the iTime appears to be a much more basic device. Based on the photos appearing in the patent, the iTime will consist of a thin band (separated into two portions) and a removable electronic watch face.
As with any intelligent wearable device, the iTime would be able to send notifications to and receive notifications from other nearby electronic devices, including mobile phones and tablets. Once a notification has been received, the watch would be able to provide additional information on the display or through the embedded speaker. The watch could also potentially be used to control other electronic devices.
If you wander too far away from a connected device, the watch would have the capacity to warn you that you’re out of range. This could be a life-saver for anyone who regularly loses their phone.
Other features listed in the patent application include an audio jack, a Bluetooth antenna and a near-field antenna on the first band portion and an accelerometer and a GPS on the second portion. Apple also has plans to allow users to operate the device with gesture controls, such as vertical and horizontal movements of the wrist to answer and decline calls.
