A recent patent granted to Apple may provide some insight into Cupertino's much rumored smartwatch which is expected to launch this fall.

According to the patent, the patented device is called the iTime, and it appears to be a smartwatch intended to pair with larger mobile devices. It also features a wrist strap with sensors built in that presumably activate additional functionality. 

According to Gizmodo, the iTime is composed of two main components, a "smart strap," which is apparently interchangeable, with different straps providing different functionality, and a touchscreen not unlike the recent versions of the iPod Nano. Though, the iTime's touchscreen is expected to be far beyond that of the Nano, both in quality and in interactive features. 

The strap as put forth in the patent is interesting because unlike previous smartwatch offerings from other major tech manufacturers, this smartstrap appears to be central to the devices overall ability to carry out functions.

Some duties handled directly by the iTime's smartstrap could include GPS functionality, haptic feedback or sensing of wrist gestures as commands. And though the straps are apparently interchangeable, it is still unknown if different straps will provide different features and abilities. 

Another feature outlined by the patent is a "personal wireless network" that would allow the device to interact with iPhones, iPads and iMacs, including the ability to share notifications and messages across different devices. 

Though core functionality of the proposed device appears to be similar to that of other smartwatches, it is unclear at this point exactly how closely users will be able to interact with their mobile devices as paired to Apple's smartwatch. 

Up to this point, many had assumed that the new device would be called the iWatch, and this new patent would seem to cast serious doubt on that assumption.

Although, past patents (by Apple in particular) have trademarked device names that ended up merely being alternate names for upcoming devices. iWatch does sound way better than iTime. 

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