Apple co-founder and technical wiz Steve Wozniak has spoken out on the rise of smartwatches, suggesting the techy timepieces need flexible displays and full smartphone capabilities.
Revealing his views on what is needed to take smartwatches to the next level, Wozniak has hinted that instead of acting as a companion device to existing smartphones, the watches need to pack in all the calling and cellular options directly.
“I am a very big fan of [smartwatches],” Wozniak said in an interview with the BBC. “There is a very big part of me that wants it.”
Suggesting that smartwatches might not be for everyone, he added: "I don’t know if the huge masses of the world want the same things, but I want a full smartphone type capability on my wrist.
“The trouble is, the more I think about it the more I don’t want the small size. There have got to be 30 companies this year that will introduce small smartwatches the size of the iPod nano. I want the larger size to be made wearable.”
Despite the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Sony Smartwatch 2 having hit retailers in recent months to make the smartwatch sector more available to the masses, Wozniak has predicted that flexible displays would help take the industry to the mainstream.
“For about four years I’ve been talking about organic LED displays which could theoretically printed on plastic and wrapped or folded,” he said.
“We are just at the verge of where products will have foldability and flexibility. That means that it could then wrap around your wrist. Think outside the box and this could be on the inside of your arm and when you open your arm it flips up into your hand. Once it’s out in your hand it is just like holding a phone.”
Although Wozniak no longer works directly for Apple, it is widely expected that 2014 will see the company Woz helped to co-found alongside the late Steve Jobs will introduce an Apple iWatch smartwatch.
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