Apple Files Patent for Possible 'SmartWatch'

'Wearable accessory device' patent describes flexible display for wrist
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 21, 2013 11:44 AM CST
Apple Files Patent for Possible 'SmartWatch'
If you thought digital watches were cool back in the 1980s, just wait until Apple comes out with its long-rumored "iWatch."   (©)

The "iWatch" gossip watch is continuing to tick down. Apple filed a patent application today outlining a flexible screen with a "slap-wrap" bracelet you can wear on your wrist, described as a "wearable accessory device," reports Mashable. Among the possibilities described for the device: "a sensor for detecting a change between the flat state and the curled state of the bi-stable spring substrate," a "kinetic energy gathering component," and a battery that can be recharged "by way of a plurality of ambient light energy collectors disposed across a portion of one surface of the accessory device." All of which is a mouthful, but they all sound like pretty neat ideas for a digital watch. (More iWatch stories.)

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