Apple's Tim Cook: Wearable tech is 'profoundly interesting'
The technology giant's CEO talks about what does and doesn't work with wearable computing, and says having something on the wrist is "natural."
It doesn't look like Apple will be cooking up its own rendition of Google Glass, but some other sort of wearable technology could be brewing.
During an interview at the D11 conference on Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that he thinks wearable computing is "profoundly interesting." While he noted that glasses seem to be "risky," the idea of wearing something on the wrist is "natural."
However, he said, "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.
During the interview, Cook showed off his Nike Fuel Band, which is integrated with iOS. "I would say the ones that do more than one thing" would be more successful, Cook said. "There are lots of things to solve, it's ripe for exploration."
Rumors of Apple's interest in a wearable gadget heated up in February with a report from The New York Times, which claimed that Apple was "experimenting" with wristwatch-like devices. Bloomberg followed on from that, adding that Apple had a team of around 100 people working on such a device.
Since then, there have been new patents pointing to Apple's exploration in the concept, as well as murmurings about rival products from companies like Samsung, Google, and Microsoft. The most recent rumors have said that a possible device most likely wouldn't launch until 2014.
While Cook never said whether Apple will definitively set to work in wearables, he did say they are "an important branch of the tree," just like the iPhone and iPad.