Apple Watch?

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#1094647 24-Jul-2014 08:43

Things change. When I bought my first US Robotics Pilot (before it was 3Com, before it was Palm, before it was...) it was a glorified electronic diary and contacts book - by then I already had a couple of those Casio ones.

Then I bought a Handspring Visor (a Palm OS-licensed handheld) and later the Handspring Visorphone GSM module for it. When I used that to show in 1998 how to access the Internet via CSD (that's dial-up on mobile folks) people couldn't understand why I wanted a browser in my pocket.

Microsoft is said to be working on "wearables" but not as a notification device only (which is what most of the current crop is) but adding health and automation to it. And being able to connect to any platform.

That's where it is. People might think "I will buy a Apple watch or Samsung Gear" and it only works with those devices. A truly multi-platform device (the Pebble is the closest these days) would achieve so much more.

Obviously the die hard fans of one or another brand will go with their preferred option.But don't disconsider the impact of "non-smart smart" devices like the Fitbit, which currently has 50% of the worldwide market. Or the new Chinese products coming out at $15/unit that replicate the Fitbit functionality and more.

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#1096041 26-Jul-2014 11:42

From a fitness point of view I am quite excited about the potential for this product. I have resisted the urge to buy a standalone fitness watch because, as someone mentioned above, I don't like the complexities around saving or uploading data from them. I currently use MapMyRun with my iPhone on an armband, but the problem is that I can't see the display while I'm running so a watch that interfaces directly with that app would be ideal.

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#1096062 26-Jul-2014 12:04

Apple have been buying up mobile fitness and mobile health sensor startups, so this stuff will be a big plank of the value. Also think dieting, fitness, sleep monitoring, non-invasive glucose monitoring, etc. Segments of these markets already exist and will be easy to integrate. This is very cool information.

The lower side is digital watches long ago reached peak function and became a fashion item, so many will buy iWatch simply for keeping up with fashion because that is the new have. Lastly phones have long been used as watch/timezone and alarm replacement simply because the UI is better even tho the form factor is worse, so many will add this upgrade on this basis.

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#1096070 26-Jul-2014 12:12

The difference for a watch is also that it is a piece of jewellery. Or certainly in the generation I belong to they are. And without putting too fine a point on it, all the smart watch offerings so far have been fugly (IMHO). A bit like the first calculator watches really.

I am also a little self conscious about speaking into my watch in a public place to get it to do stuff, in much the same way as voice controlling my phone. The possible exception to this is when you are showing off. Therefore the UI is important.
So to me the main benefits of of a smart watch are for notifications whether it be texts, emails or social media, and for things like navigation, where the phone is doing the heavy lifting. I like the idea of having different watch faces available on a whim, and being able to select different timezones on the fly.

So I guess if it is going to help automate your home it will need NFC or something similar? Being able to swipe/talk to my watch to activate things would be more convenient than having to pull my phone out to do it.

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#1096102 26-Jul-2014 13:21

Dingbatt: The difference for a watch is also that it is a piece of jewellery. Or certainly in the generation I belong to they are. <snip> Being able to swipe/talk to my watch to activate things would be more convenient than having to pull my phone out to do it.

I assume I'm part of the same generation but I have always had a watch... I never pull my phone out just to check the time and almost always use the stopwatch feature on the watch rather than the phone if I'm wearing it (which is always).

People may argue that they are only a piece of jewellery (to which I can agree) but well executed, I would make the jump to a smart watch. I see Apple following a Pandora esque model and for me it's all abut the screen and that it can look how you want (straps/watch face).

At the end of the day all watches are the same, flash and cheap. Some are bought as jewellery, some for function (I'm a bit of both) and I don't see a smart watch being any different here.

I see it being very popular if it delivers what is being rumoured, and delivers well. Lucky thing for Apple is they have a rep for making good quality products.

I certainly won't be making calls with it though!

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#1096288 26-Jul-2014 19:24

Looks like a $US20 Casio with an apple sticker will suffice for some people (chuckle).

http://bgr.com/2014/07/24/apple-itime-smartwatch-jimmy-kimmel/

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

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#1096338 26-Jul-2014 21:11

Dingbatt: Looks like a $US20 Casio with an apple sticker will suffice for some people (chuckle).

http://bgr.com/2014/07/24/apple-itime-smartwatch-jimmy-kimmel/

That was so funny. Thanks!

blakamin

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#1096346 26-Jul-2014 21:18

I love my Pebble. Love being able to check a notification without alerting the boss.
I think touch-screen watches are a bit annoying. Not to mention daylight readability, battery life.

I also have a Sony smartwatch that has spent all its life in a drawer.

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#1121661 4-Sep-2014 10:37

The apple stock price in thje states took one to the jaw over night . After its expected steady climb towards release date It was a bit of a shock , but then again we should have expected the kneejerk reaction to "icloudgate" (i just made that up)

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#1121790 4-Sep-2014 13:11

I remember taking a look into smart watches a decade or so ago with regards to Human computer interaction. The issue that I encountered was that there wasn't enough space for [useful] information to be either legible or large enough to interact with meaningfully using a tactile display. My feeling at the time was that the display needed to be much bigger (about the size of a smart phone today).

The audio became an issue, other than beep type notification, general audio also was difficult to represent - given differing scenarios - busy office, move theatre, noisy shopping mall. Phone calls required either speakerphone functionality or a separate set of headphones - this functionality is also provided in modern smart phones with Bluetooth.

If I were looking at something today, I would probably just create a basic LTE phone with a small display, long standby/talk time and the ability to voice dial with Bluetooth to attach to some headphones/in-car stereo or receive calls from other devices. If I were developing it a bit further I'd probably add an alarm function, the ability to wake up to internet radio/music play-lists and perhaps message notifications (IM/Twitter etc.)

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#1121798 4-Sep-2014 13:26

gnfb: The rumors are gaining momentum as we approach the October Apple Conference date. Will Apple introduce a watch? and how will they convince teenagers to wear one?

I think Tim Cook was mindful of this when he said.
" I think for something to work here, you first have to convince people it's so incredible that they want to wear it."

- Apple CEO Tim Cook at D11 Conference: May 28, 2013

Yes. It's hard to imagine how Apple can beat my 1968 Omega Constellation...!

The idea of talking to your watch kind of went out with Dick Tracy.....

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#1121801 4-Sep-2014 13:27

gnfb: The apple stock price in thje states took one to the jaw over night . After its expected steady climb towards release date It was a bit of a shock , but then again we should have expected the kneejerk reaction to "icloudgate" (i just made that up)

Do you think if someone had a cloud service called 'Gate' and it got hacked we could actually end up with the asinine 'Gategate'?!

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#1121831 4-Sep-2014 13:44

I have a Pebble and enjoy it.

The smartwatch business is interesting in many ways. Watches declined as mobile phones became commonplace, now they're making a comeback. Many folks who will fall in the target market for smartwatches will not wear a watch currently, so the value proposition is quite different - 'Why would I want to wear something?' instead of 'I wish my existing watch did more'.

I was one who did continue to wear a watch, and a chunky stainless steel G-Shock at that. So, for me, the vast majority of this first generation (Samsung may have released three different iterations, but they are still very much the first gen of this technology) are less than ideal, because the displays are not on all the time, and the battery life is insufficient. The Pebble fixes those two, which is key to my use-case as an actual watch (I don't want to charge my watch every day, or have it run out on me). I believe smartwatches and wearables will take off.

The 'killer feature' of smartwatches that no-one is talking about is simply that my phone never has to make any noise or vibrate, because notifications are pushed to my wrist. No ding-dings, no phantom leg twitches, just a buzz that I can't miss. I can easily dismiss what's not important right now, or grab my phone if it's urgent, without having to pull it out of my pocket only to find the alert was bacn.

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#1121874 4-Sep-2014 14:30

NikT: I have a Pebble and enjoy it.

The smartwatch business is interesting in many ways. Watches declined as mobile phones became commonplace, now they're making a comeback. Many folks who will fall in the target market for smartwatches will not wear a watch currently, so the value proposition is quite different - 'Why would I want to wear something?' instead of 'I wish my existing watch did more'.

I was one who did continue to wear a watch, and a chunky stainless steel G-Shock at that. So, for me, the vast majority of this first generation (Samsung may have released three different iterations, but they are still very much the first gen of this technology) are less than ideal, because the displays are not on all the time, and the battery life is insufficient. The Pebble fixes those two, which is key to my use-case as an actual watch (I don't want to charge my watch every day, or have it run out on me). I believe smartwatches and wearables will take off.

The 'killer feature' of smartwatches that no-one is talking about is simply that my phone never has to make any noise or vibrate, because notifications are pushed to my wrist. No ding-dings, no phantom leg twitches, just a buzz that I can't miss. I can easily dismiss what's not important right now, or grab my phone if it's urgent, without having to pull it out of my pocket only to find the alert was bacn.

If email you do not want is spam, and email you want later is bacn, is email you want now 'rstpork'?

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#1121877 4-Sep-2014 14:32

I have to say I would still rather have the new Breitling Emergency II....!

However at $22,000 that may have to wait.

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