Weekly Highlights: iWatch In October, Apple's Smart Home Platform And More

This isn't the first time that the iWatch was rumored be released in October 2014.

Last December, a report claimed that the device would arrive in time for Halloween.

Now the October release date has resurfaced, thanks to a Nikkei report.

The report also claims that the device will feature a curved OLED touch screen.

Apple didn't introduce the iWatch or any other anticipated product this week, but it did unveil HomeKit, a platform for smart devices within the home.

Honeywell's (NYSE: HON) Mike Bruce told Benzinga that HomeKit "will allow us to provide a simple and easy experience for our customers, with the ability to securely pair and control devices throughout the house, including integration with Siri."

InterDigital and Samsung finally worked out a new licensing deal this week, resolving all pending litigation between the two parties.

"We're very happy with the agreement with Samsung," William Merritt, President and Chief Executive Officer of InterDigital, told Benzinga.

The 10-year deal continues the relationship between Samsung and InterDigital. Samsung initially licensed InterDigital's technology in 1996 but briefly stopped in 2013.

Gary Atkinson, Director of Emerging Technologies at ARM, told Benzinga that the company will "absolutely" benefit from Apple's new initiatives.

"I think if you want to put a connected device either directly on the Internet via a [sensor] or you want to connect the device to a smartphone like a wearable device or a heart rate monitor -- you know, wellness, fitness, or a watch (I have a Pebble, for example)," said Atkinson.

He added that if you want to connect any of these devices to a smartphone, "the vast majority of those are using ARM-based chips."

Whitney Tilson is not a fan of Apple.

The famed investor told Benzinga that Apple is a risky investment because the company is required to constantly come up with new and innovative, "must-have products."

Without those new products, the company can't defend its high margins.

Instead of buying into the Mac maker, Tilson has chosen to initiate a small position in Apple's chief competitor, Samsung.

Benzinga asked its readers if they agreed with Whitney Tilson's assessment.

Spoiler alert: they don't.

An impressive 87 percent of respondents said that investors should not be worried about Apple's inability to maintain its margins.

When asked if Apple will be as innovative without co-founder Steve Jobs, 77 percent said "yes."

Finally, 89 percent of respondents said that they thought Apple shares would gain more value than Samsung over the next year.

Did Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) waste $19 billion buying WhatsApp?

According to Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry, the answer is "yes."

"I think [WWDC] is a wakeup call," Chowdhry told Benzinga. "If you saw what Apple announced [this week], it was WhatsApp plus three steps forward. Basically, you could do all the features that WhatsApp had, but you're not limited to just your phone."

Chowdhry initially touted the WhatsApp acquisition, but he said it didn't take long for its value to disappear.

"Something that Facebook paid $19 billion for was probably worth not more than $200 million," said Chowdhry. "That is one message that came from WWDC."

Google Glass owners might want to reconsider their plans to wear the device in public.

A new program could prevent them from connecting to Wi-Fi.

It's not a terribly painful attack, but it could prove to be very annoying to those who paid $1,500 for Google's newest device.

The preceding slideshow was just the beginning. Check out these other hot stories right here on Benzinga.

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