The gadget maker may have brought in new employees to tackle design issues, sources tell The Financial Times.
(Credit: CNET)
Apple has gone on a hiring spree for its iWatch effort, suggesting it needs additional expertise to address design issues, The Financial Times reported Sunday.
The gadget maker has been "aggressively" hiring new employees in recent weeks to work on development of the wearable computing device, suggesting the project involves a "hard engineering problems that they've not been able to solve," sources familiar with the matter told the newspaper. The timing suggests the much-rumored smart wristwatch won't be available to consumers until late next year, the sources said.
CNET has contacted Apple for comment and will update this report when we learn more.
Interest in wearable computers has swelled in recent months with reports the company was developing a smartwatch that would run on its iOS mobile operating system. Employees from Apple's marketing, software, and hardware units who had previously worked on the iPhone and iPad are reportedly part of a team that already numbered more than 100 earlier this year experimenting with wristwatch-like devices that sport curved glass.
During an interview at the D11 conference in May, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that he finds wearable computing " profoundly interesting," but that "you have to convince people it's so incredible you want to wear it." Cook pointed out that most young people don't wear watches, so it would be the company's job to make them appealing.
That may be the very goal for Paul Deneve -- the former CEO of luxury fashion goods company Yves Saint Laurent -- another recent Apple employee who was hired to focus on "special projects."
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