Apple rumoured to be working on "iWatch"

News: rumours are mounting that Apple is working on a wearable smartwatch that would link up to an iPhone.

Top image: the LunaTik watch, designed to hold an Apple iPod Nano

A Chinese technology news website has claimed Apple is working with chip maker Intel on a watch with a 3.8-centimetre OLED screen, which would use Bluetooth technology and Apple's voice assistant Siri to communicate with the wearer's iPhone to send text messages, emails and status updates.

Citing unnamed supply chain sources in China, where Apple manufactures most of its products, TGBUS said the product is expected to come out in the first half of 2013.

While rumours from Chinese suppliers often turn out to be unfounded, partly because manufacturers sometimes develop products in the hope Apple will take them up, technology bloggers believe the arrival of an Apple smartwatch would be a timely response to consumer demand for an iOS-compatible watch.

Experts say the recent popularity of designs such as the LunaTik and the Apple-approved iWatchz nanoclipz, which both turn an iPod Nano into a touchscreen timepiece, may well have nudged Apple towards launching its own version.

Designed by Scott Wilson of Chicago studio MINIMAL, the LunaTik raised $1 million through crowd-funding website Kickstarter in just a few days, as Wilson told Dezeen in a movie interview last year.

Similarly, the Pebble watch is one of Kickstarter's biggest success stories, having raised more than $10 million from backers who wanted a watch that could work with their phones.

Wearable computers, smart glasses and skin-mounted sensors will soon be part of our day-to-day travelling, shopping and socialising, according to Google Maps boss John Hanke, who spoke to us recently to mark the UK launch of Field Trip, an location-based app that provides tips on nearby sights and activities using information from websites including Dezeen.

Other Apple developments we've reported on lately include a major management shake-up to place Jonathan Ive in charge of both hardware and software design, and the recent news that a yacht built for the tech giant's late co-founder Steve Jobs was briefly impounded following a dispute over an unpaid bill to French designer Philippe Starck. See all our stories about Apple.

See more stories about watches or browse products from Dezeen Watch Store.