INQUISITR.COM / Science & Tech

Apple Watch 2 Trial Will Commence Later This Month

By Thomas Kuegler
Published on: 02:13 PST, Jan 14, 2016

Last year’s release of the Apple Watch was a wildly successful one. The Inquirer reported last July that Apple sold 7.2 million units of its Watch in the first quarter of last year and added an additional 4.2 million sold in quarter two, despite analysts saying sales dropped off significantly.

Chris Jones, vice president and principal analyst at Canalys, said last July that the “Apple Watch is the most sophisticated smartwatch to date, and it has proved popular with Apple fans worldwide.”

But Chris did have his reservations about how this new technology needed to improve.

“Improvements in performance, battery life and sensor integration are needed to make future models more attractive, but it is the quality of third-party apps that will determine whether the Apple Watch will be a long-term success.”

Now the world is ready for the second Apple Watch, and rumors are swirling about what kind of features it’s going to include.

Tech Times reports that the second Apple Watch is due for a trial production later this month. This trial production is normally a test to work out the bugs before large-scale production. If all goes well, then the Apple Watch will start rolling out in the coming months.

There are a few rumors about the features of the new Apple Watch, including a bigger battery, better outdoor visibility, and more sensors.

“The 74 percent higher reflectance of the Apple Watch with Sapphire means that its screen will reflect almost twice as much surrounding ambient light as the Apple Watch Sport with Glass. And it takes surprisingly little ambient light for that to make a significant visible difference,” Raymond Soneira, the president of Display Mate Technologies, recently said.

Rumors state that Apple has been trying to fix this flaw in the device, along with the short battery life. The next Watch will have a longer battery life while also remaining just as small as before.

Other rumors about a camera, more sensors, and an updated display are also floating around, but only time will tell whether these are legitimate claims.

Last November, the chairman of Quanta Barry Lam reported that the Watch will be released in the second quarter of 2016. This puts it between an April and June release.

As for the company, many experts are starting to doubt Apple’s ability to maintain market share in the short term, especially with growing concerns about the world’s market.

The International Business Times reports that Angelo Zino, an equities analyst at S&P Capital IQ, is a little worried about Apple’s future.

“The question now is, is Apple able to pivot that business?” he explained. “It’s more of a scenario where Tim Cook has to manage the company well and look for opportunities to grow the top line here and there versus looking for the next great invention.”

“I don’t see any product on the horizon that will… in the next six months enable them to regain $200 billion in market cap,” said the president of Creative Strategies, Tim Bajarin.

The Apple Watch isn’t the only product that the famous company is developing. There are also rumors of a “Project Titan” that many experts seem to think is the name of a new car they’re developing.

“I don’t think Apple has finished innovating,” Bajarin stated.

With rumors swirling about the Watch and iPhone at the same time, all eyes will be on one of America’s favorite tech companies in the coming months.

[Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images]

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