For a while now I've seen rumors that Apple is developing a watch or other small personal accessory, something that many have called the iWatch. I didn't think much of the rumors until Apple CEO Tim Cook said this past April that Apple is working on "the potential of exciting new product categories." Not just a new product in an existing category (such as an updated iPhone or iPad) but a new category altogether. Then earlier this week there were reports that Apple applied for trademarks on the word "iWatch" in Russia, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey and Columbia. Then there was a report this week by Mike Isaac of All Things D that Apple just hired Paul Deneve, who had been the CEO of fashion house Yves Saint Laurent, to work as a Vice President at Apple on "special projects" reporting directly to Tim Cook. Deneve has a history at Apple (he worked there from 1990 to 1997), although that was before Tim Cook and many others at Apple worked there. So Apple is working on a new type of product, they are applying for a trademark on "iWatch," and they are hiring someone who has experience selling fasionable clothes and accessories. I'm sure there are many other possible explanations for all of this, but you can no longer ignore the interesting possibility that Apple is considering a new iWatch product this year or next year. And now, the news of note from the past week — which wasn't much this holiday week:
- Ian Paul of TechHive surveys Wi-Fi availability on domestic flights. Virgin and AirTran have WiFi on all flights; otherwise, your best bets are likely to be Delta or Southwest. The last few times that I've flown Delta after spending all day in a deposition I've noticed that there was an option for 30 minutes of Gogo Internet WiFi for only $3. That turned out to be a great option for me — enough time to catch up on the important emails that I missed during the day. Easily worth the three bucks.
- Speaking of Southwest WiFi, Buster Heine reports that you can now watch in-flight TV for free using an iPhone or iPad on Southwest flights.
- Alex Heath of Cult of Mac reports that Microsoft's OneNote iOS app received a major update.
- And finally, the funny folks at Scoopertino have a "report" that Apple is abandoning the iOS 7 icons that were previewed last month and is now going a different direction:
