Apple iWatch: why it's time to give the rumours a rest

The hype and hoopla surrounding the Apple iWatch is reaching crazy proportions.

Although we know that Apple is working on something timepiece-related, with stories earlier this year emerging about 100 staff working on the project, we appear to have reached a stage of extremely tenuous gossip.

Over the weekend, a story emerged about Apple board member Bill Campbell telling workers at Intuit, a company where he acts as chairman, that we were going to see the ‘application of technology to really intimate things’.

He then went on to talk up Google’s Project Glass, before sending fanboys into raptures by suggesting such ‘intimate things’ could include a watch.

Let’s be clear. Campbell never said the word smartwatch. In all likelihood, he was simply reacting to the raft of chat about smartwatches that has dominated the web in recent months.

Samsung and Microsoft are known to also be working on such devices. But because he’s an Apple employee, everyone thinks this is yet another iWatch indicator.

It’s time to step back and assess this, and other iWatch gossip, for what it really is.

Aside from stories clearly leaked to top tier publications like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, we remain in the realms of salacious tittle tattle. Nothing more, nothing less.

We are currently at the point where we’re talking about hopes and dreams, not specs, designs and facts.

Even iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 stories have more meat on them, specifically because we can see components and already know a fair bit about what an iPhone looks like.

But when it comes to the iWatch, we’re clueless. Shooting in the dark.

Yes, Apple is investigating flexible displays and Jony Ive has asked Nike about watch design.

But that’s hardly a smoking gun and very little to get excited about.

We’re talking about a product that’s unlikely to see the light of day until late 2014 at the earliest.

Apple is notorious for taking its time with hardware, ensuring it’s perfect.

It won’t rush the iWatch, in the same way it took time to release the original iPhone, knowing it would blow all rivals out of the water.

So, for now, let’s all just chill out.

Trying to read something into what Bill Campbell said is pointless.

We’ll know more in the months ahead, sure, but not from second guessing some comments made at a staff meeting.

Until we see images, get supply-side quotes and hear details from someone inside Apple, it’s time we forgot about the iWatch and focused on some of the more concrete and equally fascinating forthcoming smartphone tech: iOS 7, updated Android, new iPhones and iPads.

The iWatch can, and must, wait.