The US Patent and Trademark Office has today granted Apple a patent for their invention relating to “electronic device assemblies”, which according to the filing, may relate to a device such as a wrist-watch, a pendant device, a headphone device, an earpiece device, or some other wearable or miniature device, PatentlyApple reports. Moreover, the application was concealed from the public and this is the first time it has been published.
While the patent description may not sound iWatch-specific, the source notes that Apple is not only illustrating a new form factor, they’re “describing all-new components to support a new device form factor that looks like an iWatch”. In Apple’s patent figure (shown above), the iWatch-like device could support capacitive touch electrodes or may be a display that is not touch sensitive. The display may include image pixels formed from LEDs, OLEDs, plasma cells, LCD components, or other suitable image pixel structures.
“Apple notes that the device will support wireless circuitry may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry such as radio-frequency transceiver circuitry. The radio-frequency transceiver circuitry may include cellular telephone transceiver circuitry, wireless local area network transceiver circuitry, and satellite navigation system receiver circuitry such as Global Positioning System (GPS) circuitry and Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) circuitry.”
Since Apple has presented a “concept” design for the sake of this patent, the design of the device could dramatically differ once it hits the shelves.
