Apple considering Inductive, Solar and Kinetic Charging for Apple iWatch

The Apple iWatch, rumours for which started as far back as 2011 and 2012 respectively as stated my Geezam blog article entitled “Prediction: The iPod Nano Watch – Time has a New Standard”  and “Apple to debut Apple iWatch in March 2013 – iWant one and iCant Wait”, are now making the rounds. 

I myself have been following the development of the alledged Apple iWatch since the story first broke light with my blog article entitled “Apple iWatch and Apple iRadio coming in the Second Quarter of 2013 - Battery life innovations needed to power the Evil Dead for Apple iCloud Streaming”.

Now it has been reported in “Building a Better Battery”, published February 2 2014 By BRIAN X. CHEN and NICK BILTONFEB, The New York Times that Apple’s looking into smartwatch Battery Augmentation. This article also gives a bit of history on the research thus far into the incorporation of Inductive Charging, Solar Charging and Radio Wave Charging of the Battery as well as research in got building a better Battery overall.

This time the new rumours suggest the possibility of an Apple iWatch with Inductive Charging, Solar Charging for curved batteries and even Kinetic Charging in the Apple iWatch. This is technology Apple has been playing with and patenting for some time now as far back as 2010 based on my blog article entitled “Apple Refresh and the US Economy - Chinese Dragon has a Jade Eye”.

Apple may be going the route of augmenting current Battery Technology with these Alternative Energy Methods of maintaining the Battery charge, thereby making this computers-on-your-wrist have comparable Battery life to that of a regular wristwatch. If true, the aim of Apple is very simple; to make the Apple iWatch go mainstream, it has to have a better Battery that lasts as long as that of a regular watch.

In the process, Apple may be starting a Post-Power Adapter Era as I’d predicted in my blog article entitled “Swiss Technical Standards Body IEC developing Universal Laptop Charger specs for early 2014 - Post-Analog Power Cord and Power Adaptor Era should focus on Waste Energy Recycling”.

Any or all these technologies, were they to make it to prime time, would negate the need for frequent Charging as echoed by “Apple said to be studying solar, motion charging for iWatch”, published February 2, 2014 10:04 PM PST by Brooke Crothers, CNET News and “Apple Said To Be Exploring Inductive Charging And Solar Power In iWatch Testing”, published January 4 2014 by Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch. It would also help Wearable Computing and Mobile Computing products produced by Apple go mainstream by negating the need to walk with a Power Adapter all the time.

Quest for a longer Life Battery – Augmented Power and small Steps towards the Monthly recharging

The Apple iWatch was one of those gadgets that I’ve been anticipating since Apple had allegedly formed their dream team March 2013 to explore making the gadget as I had reported in my blog article entitled “Apple iWatch and Apple iRadio coming in the Second Quarter of 2013 - Battery life innovations needed to power the Evil Dead for Apple iCloud Streaming”.

In fact, I’ve listed it in my blog article entitled “Apple to launch TV and a Cloud Gaming Console in 2014 - How the Apple iTV and Television Set can kill The Grandmaster in the guise of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft” as one of the innovative gadgets to watch for in 2014:

1.      Apple Television Set as a Gaming console

2.      Apple iRadio

3.      Apple iWatch

4.      Apple Mac Pro, (proudly Made in the US of A)

Apple iWatch already has many pretenders to the throne, mainly allegedly from Google, Microsoft and even LG Electronics, despite not directly confirming that they are even making one as noted in my blog article entitled “Samsung’s apparently into Wristwatches along with Google and LG as smartwatch-smartphone Tango Catches Fire”

The lack of long Battery life, aside from the Dick Tracey throwback style of the Samsung Galaxy Gear that trying to also replace the smartphone were my main criticism of the Samsung Galaxy Gear in my Geezam blog article entitled “Samsung Gear Smartwatch is too Dick Tracey and not Simple enough to want you to Rock the Future on your Wrist” and my blog article entitled “Samsung Galaxy Gear was not all that it promised - Wearable Computing Renaissance and smartphone and Tablet Extinction once improved”.

Samsung has vowed to make a better smartwatch even as they are set to debut a competitor to Google Glass, the much-alluded to Google Galaxy Glass in September 2014 at Germany’s IFA 2014 as reported in my blog article entitled “Samsung Galaxy Glass going public in September at IFA 2014 - Google Glass way ahead having partnered with Optometrists to offer Glass with Glasses”.

Apparently Samsung’s  idea is a smartwatch that combined with their Samsung Galaxy Glass would replace the need to have smartphones, fulfilling a prediction of mine with regards to smartphones getting smaller as per my blog article entitled “Tech Predictions of 2013 - 3D Printing and smaller smartphones”.

Thus they too are in the race for a better Battery or even augmentation of Batteries with the above in a bid to make their smartwatch/smartphone/Google Glass mashup go mainstream by Christmas 2014. And the finish line, based on Samsung their main competitor, seems set for September 2014!

Apple brings the Power – Solar, Inductive and Kinect Charging Beta Test for other Products

So given all that, what exactly does Apple have planned that can be a game changer by September 2014? This can be easily codetermined based on what companies Apple has purchased and technologies Apple has sought to file patents.

Solar Charging is a strong possibility, as Apple been filing patents on Solar integrated into its products since 2010 as noted in the article “Apple eyes gadgets with built in Solar panels”, published January 22, 2010 7:46 AM PST by Martin LaMonica, CNET News - Green Tech and as further asserted in the article “Apple patent bid combines Solar with touch screen”, published June 7, 2010 6:31 AM PDT by Martin LaMonica, CNET News- Green Tech.

Solar will most likely be integrated into the screen of Apple products as well as on the surface or backplate. Apple had done research into this application of solar power, as it’s known to work well with personal Scientific Calculators, which I remember all too well from High School.

According to former Apple Engineer and Founder and CEO of Nest, Tony Fadell, Apple, however, couldn’t get around the problem of charging from ambient light, which barely provides as much power to recharge a mobile computer i.e. Apple iPhone or Apple iPad or even the Apple iPod’s batteries. Worse, we are cultured to carry our gadgets in our pockets, making charging difficult. Solar Charging isn’t an instantaneous process; it takes many minutes, even hours to full recharge a gadget’s batteries via Solar Charging.

Inductive Charging is definitely in, as Apple has also filed patents as early as December 2013 with regards to this as well and interestingly like the Solar Patents, it’s focused not only on a single product but all of their Products from the Apple iPod to Apple iMacs as stated in “Apple patents zero in on wireless charging, Mac Pro design”, published December 3, 2013 6:29 AM PST by Don Reisinger, CNET News.

Most likely the Inductive charger will be shaped like a common household item to allow it to blend in with your furniture, somewhat similar to Intel’s Inductive Charging Bowl that made its debut at CES 2014 in January as stated in “Intel dreams up a smart bowl that will charge gadgets”, published January 7, 2014 5:21 PM PST by Katie Pilkington, CNET News.  Look out therefore for news of Apple possibly partnering their tech with that of Intel.

Finally Kinetic Motion Charging is also in as well, specifically for Mobile Devices such as the Apple iPhone, Apple iPod line and yeas, the alledged Apple iWatch as noted in a patent filed in September 2013 in the article “Apple Patents A Method For Motion-Based Charging That Could Make Its Way To Future iPhones”, published Sep 20, 2012 by Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch.

This is most likely to end up in the Apple iWatch first, as our hands do a natural swinging motion that can be used to recharge such a small device from a fairly leisurely walk. Look for therefore for Apple to possible purchase Tremont Electric and their main product the nPower PEG Kinetic Charger for integration into their mobile Gadgets as noted in my blog article entitled “Tremont Electric nPower PEG Kinetic Charger - Showgirls Flashdance Energy”

Apple Design – Sapphire screens, Solar Charging and Fitness Tracker in a Forever Timepiece

As for design aesthetics, expect both a Men’s and Women’s version; distinction is needed in order to make the product mainstream and Marketing to push the product. To that end, Apple had hired Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve in July 2013 as stated in “Apple Hires a Fashion CEO, But He Won't Design iWatches”, published July 03, 2013 By Carol Matlack, BusinessWeek possibly to market and make pret-a-porter their mobile products, one of which may be the very Apple iWatch.

Apple then later hired New York Times Designer Arem Duplessis in December 2013 “Apple hires lead 'New York Times Magazine' designer for marketing”, published December 30, 2013 12:00 pm By Jacob Kastrenakes, The Verge again related to design and Marketing.

Personally I’m expecting Sapphire Screens to feature big in the design of the Apple iWatch, seeing as how it’s already used in the Apple iPhone Touch ID Sensor on the Apple iPhone 5S as explained in my blog article entitled “Apple iPhone and the Sapphire plated Touch ID Fingerprint scanner - The Death of passwords and the birth of Biometrics”.

In fact I expect Sapphire usage in smartphone and most gadgets to increase in 2014, at any screen size oweing to its finish and scratch resistant properties as predicted in my blog article entitled “Sapphire Screens for smartphones by Q1 2014 - Unscratchable Sign of Virgo is the Man of Steel to revive Jamaican Alumina Industry”

Liquid Metal Wristband with choices in Leather and Plastic in a range of Bread Tag Colours as explained in “Breaking the Bread Code: How to Get the Freshest Loaf”, published 21 February 2011 by Paul Michael, WiseBread are also part of my expectations, akin to the Apple iPhone 5C, but with more subdued lower tones to complement clothing:

1.      Blue

2.      Red

3.      Yellow

4.      Green

5.      White

In keeping with the Fitness Craze, most likely the first App designers will be fitness app makers. The Apple iWatch will most likely come with Health Monitoring Technology possibly in-house designed or licensed from Nike’s Fuelband SE, which is the gold Standard of Fitness Gadgets that a must-have for Jamaicans – assuming you have an Apple iPhone as noted in “Nike+ FuelBand SE review: A better-built fitness band, but not much smarter”, published 11/15/13, CNET Reviews.

If Apple does all this, expect a device that has the potential to become a Beta Test for Apple Technology dedicated to prolonging Battery life in all of their Product Lines. In the Process, Apple may also make smartwatches go mainstream complete with Sapphire screens are per the rumour roundup in “Solar or Kinetic Charging a possibility for iWatch (and every other rumor we’ve heard)”, published February 3, 2014 By Andy Boxall, Digital Trends.

Right now the only real competitor Apple has is the Pebble smartwatch, especially the latest iteration the Pebble Steel, which is a very class, sophisticated and low-Tech smartwatch design as noted in “Pebble Steel review: The first smartwatch worth wearing”, published 1/28/14, CNET Reviews.

Apple in 2014 – Innovative new Products coming and the Apple iWatch is one of them

So there you have it Apple Watchers! The Apple iWatch isn’t just Apple’s venture into wearable tech; it’s a test guinea pig for Alternative Energy Technologies that’ll probably be incorporated into other gadgets.

Apple’s long term goal may be the same as Samsung; to make a smartwatch that can also function as a phone, but with longer Battery life. Expect, therefore, to see Apple announce their own version of Augmented Reality Glasses to complement such a move in the future as per their patent filing in March 2013 in the article “Apple patents augmented-reality system”, published March 19, 2013 9:11 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News.

It’s also possibly a test run for the expanded uses of Sapphire in Apple Products, as it’s shown up in the Apple iPhone 5S and may get the extensive treatment in more of their high end products. Wearable Computing and Mobile Computing are still big on Apple radar. But Apple ambition with the Apple iWatch may ultimately be to start the Post-Power Adapter Era, where most of their Mobile Gadgets do away with the Analog Power Brick, the last vestige of the Analog Era.