Apple supplier Foxconn cooks up its own smartwatch
Compatible with the iPhone, the new smartwatch can check phone calls and Facebook posts.
One of Apple's key suppliers has beaten the company to the punch with its own smartwatch.
At its shareholders meeting on Wednesday, Foxconn, aka Hon Hai, demoed a smartwatch that can wirelessly connect to an iPhone to display incoming phone calls and Facebook posts, Want China Times has reported. The watch can also keep track of your heartbeat, respiration, and other vital signs. And if your vitals aren't tip-top, the device can even offer advice on how to get them up to snuff.
More features are on the horizon. Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou said his company's wireless and medical research divisions plan to add fingerprint recognition in order to monitor your personal health, Watch China Times added.
The timing of Foxconn's watch shows that the company is striking out on its own and not just waiting around for Apple's much-rumored iWatch. A story last month from the Economic Times claimed that Foxconn had already received 1,000 orders for an Apple smartwatch as a trial run. But Foxconn has revealed aspirations beyond just supplying parts to other companies with plans to launch its own brand of electronic accessories.