Will Apple’s iWatch Have a Camera?

You heard it, after long months of rumors Apple is poised to launch its high-tech iWatch. We don’t know when, expected release date is Q3. But it will come. And as in the past, before the launch of the iPhone, when then smartphone leader Palm ridiculed Apple’s phone advances, the watch industry doesn’t consider Apple to be a serious competitor, or so they say — an arrogance that might very well backfire. They see the smartwatch as complementary to a luxury or Swiss watch, not as a substitution. We’ll soon know. Apple is under pressure to launch the first new truly unique product since the passing of Steve Jobs. The iWatch will be it. And it might even have a camera.

The so far most promising wearable smartwatch: Motorola's Moto 360. Coming this year. Without camera. — The so far most promising wearable smartwatch: Motorola’s Moto 360. Coming this year. Without camera.

I’m looking very much forward to this piece of miniature technology. Most likely it won’t only incorporate an info and messaging screen, it will be a wearable health device measuring pulse and body functions. Competition will be fierce, every tech company is pushing into wearables.

Just have a look at Moto 360 by Motorola, a totally cool Android wear watch that’s about to change the way we interact with each other by means of new, unheard of technology. The Moto 360 though won’t have a camera, and this being a photography site we’re after, well, cameras:

Chances are that Apple’s product designers and engineers manage to build a digital imager with lens and processor into the wearable wrist computer. This April Apple has been granted a patent for an iWatch-like device.

The iWatch — or iTime, as some have speculated it will be called, to avoid any clashes with the previously trademarked iSwatch — could feature a light sensor, antenna and a camera with transparent window.

An Apple patent points to a wearable device with integrated camera. | Patently Apple

The camera window outlined in the patent suggests a grooved camera trim that is curved to fit into the iWatch body. Another patent points to an iPhone camera remote control with display and asynchronous notifications. Could be one of the features we’ll see on the iWatch. It would make sense to have your smart watch help you take photos. It connects through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to an iPhone or iPod Touch and allows you to control all the camera features remotely in case you want a smarter selfie…

What I need a wrist camera for? No idea. Just the thought of it is alarming.

Here’s an amazing iWatch concept by ifyoucouldseethefuture.com. Reality will likely be not less exciting. Living without it was possible. It was.