Morning Report: Swatch Refutes iWatch Rumor, iPhone 6 Delay Intentional?

Foursquare revealed plans to move check-ins to its new Swarm app some weeks ago, and on Wednesday, the company announced that transition is now complete. All that's left now is to revamp the original Foursquare app, which will receive a major overhaul within the next two weeks; in the meantime, the company is offering a peek at its new logo and branding, promising that both apps will "work seamlessly together" — which is apparently more than can be said for Swatch and Apple, as you'll find out in today's Morning Report.

Swatch Disputes Rumors of iWatch Work with Apple

Maybe the iWatch is entirely Apple after all? Bloomberg today reported that Swatch Group AG has denied a Wednesday rumor claiming they're working closely with Apple to develop a smartwatch often referred to as "iWatch." The world's largest maker of wristwatches snuffed out the rumor mill with the simple email statement “Swatch is not working with Apple on smartwatches" after VentureBeat reported exclusively yesterday that Swatch (and potentially, competitor Timex as well) were working with Apple to create "a family of smartwatches to suit all tastes," according to an unnamed source.

While the idea that Apple could be creating an entire iWatch platform with the potential to trump Google's Android Wear is an interesting concept, it certainly doesn't make a lot of sense considering Cupertino's penchant for designing its own hardware products. Back to the drawing board, rumor mongers... nothing to see here!

Apple May "Avoid Competition" by Delaying 5.5-Inch iPhone 6

DigiTimes reported Wednesday that Apple could be intentionally looking to launch the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 by as much as "several months" after the 4.7-inch model "in order to avoid competition between the two models," rather than due to any rumored manufacturing issues with the larger device. Sources close to Apple's supply chain claim Cupertino "does not want to repeat the mistake it made in 2013 when it launched the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c simultaneously," where the former wound up cannibalizing sales of the latter. Such thinking makes sense, but is unlikely to come as welcome news from iPhone fans anxiously awaiting a "phablet" version of their favorite smartphone.

OS X Developers Receive New Safari 7.1, Safari 6.2 Builds

MacRumors reported late Wednesday that Apple has begun seeding new builds of Safari 7.1 for OS X Mavericks, along with Safari 6.2 for OS X Mountain Lion, even as the company's software engineers continue their big push toward OS X Yosemite. Developers have been asked to focus on AutoFill passwords and credit cards in addition to "general website" and extension compatibility.

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