Apple Watch’s defining feature is the digital crown and it could be offered for iPhones and iPads, according to the latest rumors.
There is a lot of media speculation in this regard, based on recently discovered patents.
Digital Crown
The digital crown is a defining feature of Apple Watch and can win over the major limitations of the previous Apple Watch. It can overcome problems with many other smartwatches, such as the small screen size. This is an important factor, as the small screen is a limitation for the touch inputs that can be incorporated in the device.
Patent Unearthed
The patent was first filed in the year 2014 and Patently Apple recently picked it up. The US Patents & Trademark Office had made the patent public on the 28th of July this year. The patent filed refers to “a device including a mechanical input and a touch sensitive surface for detecting one or more touch inputs and an input from the mechanical input.”
Example Illustration Device 200
One can see a rectangular shaped device having touch screen, labeled 206, with a button labeled 201. The button is almost in the same position as the power button on the Apple iPhone 6 and the 6s. There is a slide switch labeled 203 and this can be correlated to the button for mute present on all iPhones these days. The border is labeled 208 and the rotary input is 204. The latter can be co related to the digital crown of the Apple Watch.
Covering Several Bases
The illustration may not look like the Apple Watch that we see today. However, there is speculation that digital crown feature will be available for the iPhone, the iPad and the iPod, though such rumors should be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt. Apple is effectively creating a cover for all bases with the patent, though the rotary input has so far only been used for the Apple Watch.
Purpose Served
Such an input like the digital crown can be of no use in the iPhone or the iPod. Its main purpose is to overcome limitations posed by small screen size of the Apple Watch. This is not a problem that bigger devices, such as the iPod or the iPhone suffer from. It is not sure but it is rather doubtful that the feature of digital crown will be brought in to other Apple devices.
Sales Dipping
According to Analyst firm, IDC, the sale of other smartwatches have come down with customers and fans waiting for the Apple Watch 2 release along with some other wearables. In the latest report from IDC, the worldwide sale of wearables has come down by 32% during the 2nd quarter of 2016, when compared to the same period last year. Most of the slump is connected with Apple wearables.
Apple had shipped 1.6 million smart watches in this quarter compared to 3.6 million last year. Other smartwatch sellers had shipped 3.5 million watches in the 2nd quarter compared to 5.1 million devices in the same quarter last year.