Hasta La Gadget!

Apple has had a patent approved today (via AppleInsider) that could make it a leader in a new kind of display material technology: Sapphire glass. The patent describes various methods for attaching sapphire crystal to electronic devices, and includes a description of how it does this with the sapphire glass covering the iPhone camera lens introduced with the iPhone 5, as well as a means for attaching sapphire as a cover for the whole display.

In the past, the iPhone has used Gorilla Glass to protect its screen (though some believe it may have stopped recently); Apple championed this tech and basically made its maker Corning the default choice for smartphone OEMs looking for a tough, scratch-resistant material to use to protect their screens. But last year, Apple made a $578 million bet on sapphire (which is used often in good watches) with GT Advanced Technologies to have it build a manufacturing plant for the material in Arizona.

When the deal was announced, our own Matthew Panzarino took a closer look at the investment, and at what sapphire glass could provide Apple. Sapphire, including the lab grown variety, is much tougher, more resistant to scratches, and more resistant to breakage after scratches than even Gorilla Glass, which has a strong reputation in all those arenas. It’s heavier, too, but would potentially allow Apple to use thinner pieces for both space and weight savings.

Of course, there are also existing needs at Apple for sapphire glass, including the iPhone camera lens and the new Touch ID-compatible home button, which many expect to make its way to other Apple devices including the iPad eventually. But the patent uses an iPhone-type device as its illustrative example, and specifically states that while the gadget depicted is a “smart phone,” the techniques described could be used on any number of devices. A smartwatch might be a good target case, for example, given that Apple has been rumored to have been working on one for some time, and that sapphire is a very common case material used in the manufacture of watches from most leading brands.

The patent itself details ways in which the sapphire material could be attached to the shell or casing of an electronic device, with examples in illustrations detailing jigsaw-type and tounge-and-groove mechanics for keeping the glass firmly in place.

At this stage, it’s more likely that Apple is simply laying the groundwork for a potential shift to sapphire in its phones and other devices a considerable way down the road, rather than tipping its hand for any immediately upcoming change in how its devices are made, but this patent demonstrates that it is indeed thinking in terms of smartphone displays and other applications that go beyond its current uses of the material.

As smartwatches become a device category that most major hardware makers are turning their attention to, there’s a question of how much smartphone utility we’ll be able to translate to the wrist. One big convenience hurdle is making it possible to reply to texts and emails quickly from the wrist, and that’s where Minuum‘s go-anywhere software keyboard comes in.

The Minuum keyboard from Toronto-based startup Whirlscape is an alternative input method originally prototyped on smartphones that makes it easier to type naturally without using much of the screen. It launched previously in beta on Android, and has done well on smartphones, according to user reviews.

Whirlscape had always designed their keyboard to be usable on any number of connected devices, including wearables, the founders told me in the past. Today, they’ve got proof: As you can see in the video above, Minuum running on a Galaxy Gear smartwatch manages text input much more conveniently than you might imagine possible from a screen so small. It was filmed in a single take, too, according to the Minuum team, without any fancy camera tricks.

For now, Minuum says this is just an “in-house demo,” at least until Samsung opens up the Gear platform, but the company also tells me that it’s already in talks with other smartwatch manufacturers who can put the software on shipping devices “in the upcoming months.”

Smartwatches – they could’ve been the next big thing, but I suppose that particular day has yet to come at this point in time. I mean, how many people do you know who actually own a Samsung Galaxy Gear timepiece that works great with the Galaxy Note 3? Sure, you can rattle off some names, but I am quite sure that the number of people you know who do not have the Galaxy Gear would outstrip those who do. Having said that, with smartphones coming with ever larger displays, how about smartwatches? I suppose it makes perfect sense to limit the size of a smartwatch’s display, but how do you enter text efficiently on a tiny screen? Nuance thinks that they have a solution in the form of Nuance Swype on a smartwatch.

Nuance is the company behind the Dragon voice recognition software as well as the Swype virtual keyboard, and they will be delivering both to the smartwatch platform. Of course, you won’t be able to find an app that can be downloaded and installed on a current smartwatch, but device manufacturers can load Nuance software onto their smartwatches in order to throw voice command support, voice input, and an on-screen keyboard with predictive input into the mix, now how about that for progress?

Swype Makes Appearance On Smartwatch original content from Ubergizmo.

[CES 2014] The Neptune Pine smartwatch was a Kickstarter project that garnered attention in February last year, and it did pass the $100,000 Kickstarter funding goal in a jiffy, carrying the promise to be the first full standalone Android smartwatch. We are talking about having a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor embedded within, in addition to carrying a camera, as well as texting and calling from your wrist. CES 2014 is the platform where an early prototype of the Neptune Pine has been made available to the masses, so do not be surprised to see how large it would actually look when you have it nestled nicely on your wrist.

When you take it into consideration with other smartwatches at the moment, such as the Pebble and Samsung Galaxy Gear will only be able to live up to their full potential whenever it remains tethered to a smartphone. Hardware specifications of the Neptune Pine include a 2.4” display with a 320 x 240 pixels resolution, a 5MP main shooter at the back, and a microSIM slot to let you use it like a regular smartphone, all of it running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. One thing’s for sure, the disproportionate size of the Neptune Pine on one’s wrist, especially smaller ones, might be a turn off. What do you think of the Neptune Pine? [Company Page]

Neptune Pine Set To Be First Standalone Android Smartwatch original content from Ubergizmo.

Apple is facing unexpected hurdles in its smartwatch design process, sources claim, with the much-discussed wearable – colloquially known as the “iWatch” – supposedly giving Cupertino engineers some sleepless nights. … Continue reading