DigiTimes, which has connections in Apple's supply chain and which is frequently a source of rumors, reported today that the Taiwan-based company Quanta has been tapped by Apple to manufacture the rumored 12.9-inch iPad, which some are calling the iPad pro. The report says the larger iPad will be targeted toward the education and enterprise markets. And it notes that Quanta is facing some serious design challenges with the larger iPad that could limit its availability. The report says the new iPad is expected to launch in the second half of next year. Interest in larger tablets seems to be increasing, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Apple jumped into this arena.
The same report says mass production of the iWatch is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2014, suggesting this new offering from Apple will arrive before the new iPad. According to a post on AppleInsider, the iWatch will have a focus on fitness and health and will come with a wide range of biometric sensors. I think this is credible information, given that Apple has a large number of patents related to health and fitness sensors. Plus, their new M7 motion coprocessor in the latest iPads and the iPhone 5s shows they've already figured out how to compile all the incoming data. It would be easy to imagine this same processor will be used in the iWatch.
According to DigiTimes, pilot production of the iWatch has already begun, but manufacturing challenges have led to low yields (that is, too many of the devices are defective), which has delayed mass production until the second quarter of next year. The report says Inventec, Quanta, and Foxconn are currently competing for the contract to manufacture the iWatch.
In other news, Apple has now confirmed that they purchased the Israeli company PrimeSense, which makes 3-D motion-tracking technology of the sort that powers Microsoft's Kinect, the gesture-recognition controller used with Xbox game console. Speculation continues that Apple will use the technology in their rumored HDTV, such that you'd control it just by making gestures in the air. A post on AppleInsider says it's unlikely that an Apple HDTV will come out in 2014, though.
Of course, Apple might have a completely different purpose for this sort of motion-tracking technology. In addition to Kinect, AppleInsider says other examples of PrimeSense applications include robots and 3-D scanners. In these applications, the technology is used to create a 3-D model of the environment.