Rossenblatt Securities analyst Brian Blair is citing supply chain sources in Taiwan in stating that the iWatch has a round display, and is similar in design to the Moto 360 smartwatch shown above in a Motorola teaser image, but with a slimmer profile, reports Business Insider.
According to his supply chain sources, the iWatch will have a round face. Many people were expecting it to have a rectangular face, but Blair’s sources tell him it’s going to be round, like a normal watch …
We first reported hints that Apple had managed to combine multiple sensors into a single chipset in order to reduce the size of the smartwatch, suggesting that talk of a slimmer profile is credible.
Blair says that there will be more than one model, possibly one for men, one for women, mirroring earlier sketchy rumors of 1.3″ and 1.7″ models. These rumors were given greater credence when generally reliable KGI Research analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also said the iWatch would be sold in two sizes.
In contrast to earlier reports that the iWatch was already in production, Bair claims that the watch is due to enter production “around July/August.” It had previously been suggested that the watch would go on sale in August/September. We are not expecting the iWatch to make an appearance at WWDC.
The iWatch is expected to play a key role in Apple’s Healthbook app, with one analyst speculating that its cost could be subsidized by health insurers due to its anticipated focus on health and fitness.
Motorola has not given a specific launch date for its own Android-powered Moto 360 smartwatch, saying only that it would be released in “the summer.” The company’s teaser video for the watch can be seen below.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnerqDWwVgg]
