Apple hiring outside help to tackle iWatch design problems: report
15 Jul 2013
Apple is reportedly hiring outside help to tackle problems with iWatch design, The Financial Times reports. The tech firm is looking to bring in fresh pairs of eyes to check out the device because its in-house developers may be struggling with solving problems, the report said.
The newspaper cited a source as saying that Apple started 'hiring aggressively' in recent weeks, suggesting that the smart watch was nowhere near being ready for release and could be pushed back to next year.
Speculation has swirled around the device – which will usher in wearable technology that could connect to smart phones and display texts, Facebook notifications and more on a device on the wearer's wrist.
According to reports on Chinese web sites, it was in December that the computer giant was working with chip-maker Intel on a wrist-worn gadget.
The device is expected to feature a 1.5 inch screen and would use Bluetooth to communicate with other devices, including an iPhone.
According to other rumours, the iWatch would feature Siri voice control to let users dictate messages, rather than use the tiny screen.
The screen could switch on with the flick of the user's wrist.
It would connect to an iPhone via Bluetooth, meaning wearers, which would allow users to see messages and access menus without getting their phone from their pocket.
Quoting sources familiar with the company's plans, the Financial Times said, designing such a product involved ''hard engineering problems that they've not been able to solve''.
FT notes, this was disappointing for investors in the company. Apple's stock fell from a high of $700 in September 2012 to under $400 in April this year and is currently trading at around $430.
Meanwhile, financial analysts are speculating whether the company was past its prime with many suggesting that an entirely new product line was warranted to halt a perceived decline in creativity.
The smart watch market is certainly set to explode over the next couple of years with everyone from Microsoft to Sony to Samsung having hinted of a project or already getting a device to the market say commentators.
They say, the problem for Apple phones was to differentiate themselves from the rest of the market and create a product that matched their own standards of design and functionality.
