Apple's iWatch Reportedly Runs iOS, Battery Life is a Challenge

A second report this morning on Apple's rumored iWatch reveals that the device runs iOS but is running into battery life issues.

The Verge confirms Bloomberg's claim that 100 product designers are working on the device and reveals that it will run iOS.

That's perfectly in line with what we've heard about the watch project, which we're told is being led by Ive himself with some 100 engineers under him. Interestingly, we're also told that Apple's chosen to rework the full iOS to run on the watch instead of building up the iPod nano's proprietary touch operating system — although the previous nano was already watch-sized and seemed like a great starting point for a wrist-sized device, Apple's betting on iOS across product lines.

Notably, the watch is only lasting a couple days when running iOS, falling short of the company's goal.

That's apparently leading to battery life issues in development, according to our sources: the goal is to last at least 4-5 days between charges, but the current watch prototypes are apparently only going for a couple days max. We're also told Apple has some work to do with iOS on the iPhone, which currently has several hooks for supporting a watch-like device but lacks the appropriate interface or settings to make it work properly. The Pebble watch, for example, can receive notifications from third-party iOS apps with a slight hack, but it has to be redone every time the Bluetooth connection breaks.

Bloomberg today said that Apple is hoping to launch the iWatch by year's end and suggests the device could be more profitable than an Apple Television.

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