Over the weekend the mobile app of telecommunications giant Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) listed Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Watch Series 3, which is yet to be announced, as available for sale. This seemed to confirm earlier speculation that Apple is developing a smartwatch with cellular capabilities. Users on the Reddit online forum discovered the leak and Verizon consequently took down the listing.
The leak comes ahead of the scheduled launch event that Apple has planned on September 12. And while most of the excitement has been built around the iPhone which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary, rumors regarding the tech giant’s next version of its smartwatch have also been swirling.
New OS
Besides a 4G cellular connection which allows the smartwatch to work independently of the iPhone, it is also expected that the next smartwatch will have a new operating system. The new operating system is expected to be WatchOS 4 and which will come with a variety of new features designed to provide greater customization and improve user experience.
Apple is increasingly positioning its smartwatch as a health-oriented device and in this regard the new version is expected to have improved fitness and health tracking. This will include enhanced heart rate algorithms and swim workouts auto-sets. The new Apple Watch is also expected to possess the ability of pairing with Gymkit, a fitness app, and thus giving it the ability of pairing with other fitness equipment.
P2P payments
Apple has already announced that users will be able to make peer-to-peer payments on iOS 11 either via Siri or within messages. These functionalities are expected to be extended to the Apple Watch once the operating system is updated.
Among all the new features that are expected in Apple’s next version of the Apple Watch, cellular connectivity seems to be the most highly anticipated. But if Apple indeed adds cellular connectivity to the Apple Watch it will not be the first device manufacturer to do so since LG, Samsung and Huawei have already done so with the Watch Sport LTE, Gear S3 and Watch 2 respectively.
On Monday shares of Verizon Communications Inc rose by 0.41% to close the day at $46.30.