Apple chief drops hints on wearable devices

There has been much speculation about what Apple was making next, and though Apple chief, Tim Cook only offered some oblique hints about what the company may come out with next, he still left much to conjecture declining to confirm anything concrete.

Cook offered his thoughts on wearables, coupled with a hint about his company's next market offering.

The Apple chief spoke for over an hour about wearable technology, television and other things with tech journalists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the All Things Digital Conference on Tuesday night and said while he wearables held promise, he had not seen any device that offered a great mobile computing experience. He said the ones that did more than one thing were not doing great out there.

Though Cook did not mention Google Glass by name, he talked much about glasses, saying he did not see much appeal for people who did not have to wear glasses to pick up a pair for a wearable device.

He added that to have a compelling wrist-mounted device, a company needed to convince younger users, many of whom were not wearing them.

Defending the company's record of innovation under his stewardship, he said it would release "several more game changers", hinting that wearable computers could be among them.

"It's ripe for us all getting excited about. I think there will be tons of companies playing in this, Cook said at the annual gathering of technology and media executives in the California coastal resort town of Rancho Palos Verdes.

His remarks come at a time of mounting concerns that the company which created the smartphone and tablet markets was losing ground to competitors such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Google Inc, with its share price taking a beating due to a slowdown in earnings growth.

Even as he stopped short of clarifying whether Apple was working on wearable products amid speculation that it was developing a smartwatch, he said that wearable computers had to be compelling.

He added that Google's Glass -- a cross between a mobile computer and eyeglasses that could record video and access the internet would likely have only limited appeal.

"There's nothing that's going to convince a kid who has never worn glasses or a band or a watch to wear one, or at least I haven't seen it," he said in the near one-and-a-half-hour question and answer session.