Apple and Timex working on i-Control watches?

See that up there? That's a JPEG of a purported PPT slide supposedly sent to sporting goods distributors. Pretty much the easiest rumor premise imaginable to fake. Still, at the heart of any good rumor is an aura of plausibility right? Timex makes iPod docks and sporty i-Control watches while Apple is no stranger to the athletics world with their successful Nike+ collaboration. At the intersection of the two strategies then is this, the rumored Timex i-Control series of watches for wireless iPod control. Reasonable, sure. Coming in October? Who knows, we're still waiting around for those Nike Speed+ watches to hit.

[Haxxy @ Jun 19th 2007 8:58AM]

This would require the iPod to have a bluetooth adapter. Unless the next-generation iPod will have built-in bluetooth, and that means if these watches come out in October, a new iPod is bound to be released sooner...

-Haxxy

[ScOObyDoo @ Jun 19th 2007 9:37AM]

Not really... The Nike stuff works with their own RF system, perhaps it'll only work with that, or perhaps we'll see the RF receiver integrated.

Or perhaps the whole slide is a fake...

[Joe @ Jun 19th 2007 9:15AM]

Those watches are damn ugly.

[Tyk @ Jun 19th 2007 9:19AM]

Who wears watches anymore? There are clocks everywhere.. on your cell phone, TV, computer, phone booth, car, and your ipod.

[L. Cyphre @ Jun 19th 2007 10:19AM]

Well, I do. Easier to look at my hand than to take out the phone. And they look nice (unlike these).

[Zephyr @ Jun 19th 2007 9:28AM]

True that.. but still wacthes are a style statement :P

[周鹏 @ Jun 19th 2007 9:34AM]

Well ,nice,but could be more styles look like Swatch that feel more pretty?

[MDB @ Jun 19th 2007 9:34AM]

Watches are a style statement if you have a Rolex or the like...

[MDB @ Jun 19th 2007 9:35AM]

I agree... If they want these watches to become more than just running accessories, they need to make them look nice enough to wear out to dinner and such

[sometimewatchwearer @ Jun 19th 2007 9:45AM]

Who wears watches anymore? Obviously you guys aren't runners. Runners wear watches! Next time you are passed on the sidewalk by a runner, check it out - is he/she wearing a watch? I'll bet the answer is yes, and the chances these days that he/she is wearing a ipod are pretty good too.

[MDB @ Jun 19th 2007 9:56AM]

That is certainly true, but I think the larger issue is that the watches are made only for running and that $120 is a lot to spend on a watch that you're only going to use when running.

[TagWhore @ Jun 19th 2007 10:09AM]

"Who wears watches anymore? There are clocks everywhere.. on your cell phone, TV, computer, phone booth, car, and your ipod."

I wear a watch. It comes in handy when I'm not carrying my cell phone or ipod or computer and when I'm not watching TV and when I'm not driving my car.

[Lisa @ Jun 19th 2007 10:21AM]

So they have essentially limited their market to runners. Not good if they want to make much of a profit off this gadget. How can they increase its marketability? I agree that these watches MAY be "okay" for a runner as far as the aesthetics issue (I run and I still don't think they are that appealing. Especially the price tag for a runners watch that is not that cute)... they really need to come up with a more appealing appearance if they want to make this thing fly.

Lisa @ Deo Volente

[mikey @ Jun 19th 2007 10:26AM]

U-G-L-Y

[KYDS3K @ Jun 19th 2007 11:37AM]

rumour has it Karen O will be singing on the commercials . . .

[Mike @ Jun 19th 2007 12:27PM]

Ummm... that's odd.. Apple copying Sony Ericsson. Can it be!?!
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/14/sony-ericssons-new-mbw-150-bluetooth-watch-rocks-avrcp/

[sean @ Jun 19th 2007 1:13PM]

Nike+ was a success? Really?

[Kevin Fox @ Jun 19th 2007 1:25PM]

Three notes:

* Apple probably isn't involved. It's most likely just another third-party adapter that goes on to the iPod to facilitate wireless control in the same way that Nike+ does.

* It doesn't have to be bluetooth. Bluetooth would be huge overkill.

* Nike+ has actually been hugely successful.

[harpreet @ Jun 19th 2007 2:19PM]

i guess next time we'll find steve finally wearing a wrist watch in his next keynote presentation!!!

[Lonnie McClure @ Jun 20th 2007 2:35PM]

These use a receiver that plugs into the dock port on the iPod. The info I have is that it is the same receiver as a Belkin device.

For the author of the article, Timex itself doesn't actually make the iPod dock alarm clock; another company that licenses the Timex name for alarm clocks and clock radios does.

[Infoclipper @ Jun 22nd 2007 3:04AM]

These will be Timex Ironman watches, so, yes, they will be marketed largely to runners. The idea is you strap your iPod to your arm, but can still easily control it via the watch, which you are already using during your run for pacing. One of the future versions will also include basic bio functions (i.e., heartrate monitoring).

These are definitely not just rumor, but are actual product line, launching in the fall.