All about Technology: Apple's iWatch could come with a curved screen

Tuesday 19 August 2014

Apple's iWatch could come with a curved screen

The Moto 360 will bring the first circular screen to wearables and now Apple may be looking to 1-up Motorola with a curved screen.

Patently Apple has uncovered a new document that suggests Apple is looking to introduce a curved touchscreen display with the rumored iWatch.

Unlike curved screen TVs and phones, such as the LG G Flex, we've seen so far this curved screen would not fan out in a concave shape around the user. Rather the screen would be convex and bulge from the center. Essentially the screen would look like a small dome or protruding square siting above the wearer's wrist.

Much of the patent explains how Apple would glue together multiple curved layers to form this curved screen. Otherwise the document does not explain any advantage of having a watch face that bulges out or make a mention of sapphire.

Round about ideas

Apple also describes the curved display could be used for a future smartphone, but it does not say the technology would be exclusive to handsets. So it's possible Apple's dome-shaped display could come to other devices in the future.

Technically this isn't the first time we've heard of a curved touch surface from Apple. Years ago the Cupertino company introduced the Magic Mouse. The big differentiator here is the iPhone maker is experimenting with curved displays now.

Anything else Apple?

Curved display or not, rumors have strongly suggested we could see an iWatch announcement this September at Apple's annual iPhone event. Many signs have pointed to Apple utilizing a tough as nails sapphire screen with its first wearable as well as a more expensive model of the iPhone 6.

On top of this, the iWatch has been said to include a complete suite of 10 sensors such as your typical an accelerometer and gyroscope, plus some new bits like a pulse oximeter. If the rumors are true, the iWatch would blow activity trackers like the Nike FuelBand SE and Jawbone Up24 out of the water.

The iWatch should also provide the same notifications and smartphone experience we've come to expect with devices such as the Pebble Steel and Samsung Gear Live.