NYT: Apple is Working on a Curved Glass Smart Watch

I like my watches (I too have a Swiss automatic) and for a night out/work etc its gotta be a "proper" watch.

That said, when I do sports I don't like wearing it. An apple smart watch that was waterproof I would buy for wearing during sports. Imagine taking a call whilst swimming!!!

Can't help the thought that Apple is starting to become way too mainstream for my taste...

tonyshaker said:

No man it wont be that expensive ahhhhh

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gotta have that 50% margin..

It could be interesting when you're into running other time related activities that make it not easy to get to your phone. But I don't see any mass market in this product.


I'm more interested in some update on new Mac Pro BTW ...

antonis said:

Can't help the thought that Apple is starting to become way too mainstream for my taste...

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Apple's already very mainstream.

Chupa Chupa said:

Your edit is quite paradoxical to your initial post.

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To be fair, I consider a watch pretty useless in the times we live in now where most everyone has a phone in their pockets 24/7. However, I can see their use from a work point of view where you may not be allowed to have a mobile on your person and need to tell the time.

I fancy one, but ill wait for the seven inch version as my eyesight isn't too good these days...

sshhoott said:

It seems now Apple is trying to follow the market instead of the market following them. I mean, look at iPhone +, which will have 5" screen to imitate the S3. And the iWatch will be an imitation of the Pebble watch. Is Apple just surviving?

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Just curious what this iPhone + phone is? Do you have a photo of it or a release date?

A watch could allow for the start to the end of passwords... let that sink in...

also proximity wake and sleep, FaceTime, streaming music from iCloud, pedometer, remote that works with Apple TV, voice recorder, and could be the next ... small thing. oh and it could give you the time...

ersatzplanet said:

I have seen this topic on other sites and people obsess about the watch part - STOP thinking about it as a watch and START thinking about it as a bluetooth remote display for your iPhone in your pocket, purse, or briefcase. Notifications, caller ID, Map apps, emails or whatever on your phone all get mirrored from your phone to your wrist if you want it. If it is just a watch with a few tricks added it will fail.

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As I don't want to carry three devices (this thing plus iPhone, iPad) why not add phone functionality to this bracelet and iPad? This wearable device could be the future iPhone, wallet and remote. Thats what I like to see.

blueroom said:

Apple's already very mainstream.

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Ditto. Apple is the most valuable company in the world, of course it's mainstream! We're not still in the 90s when Apple was worth about the same price as a chocolate bar!

bdkennedy1 said:

Dear Apple,

I've gone through 3 car stereos in 4 years. Every time iOS receives a major update, it renders the bluetooth on the stereo useless. Put out your own car stereo please so I can stop flushing my money down the toilet.

Thanks

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...stop updating iOS...?

weing said:

Call me crazy ,but I think getting young people to wear a watch-like item on their wrist other than as a short-lived fad is about as likely as getting them wanting to wear a bowler hat.

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I do think it will be horrible with the 16-28 demo perhaps, but it'll make a killing on the 29/30+ group. Those demographics still (mostly) wear watches either regularly or as a dressed up accessory. My demographic (24) at most wears them as a dressed up accessory - and even then not the majority.

It's a clear divide at work. I can totally see the 30+ crowd being interested in one of these, while I can't see anyone in my age range going for this. I certainly won't.

MacRumors said:

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


Nick Bilton reports for The New York Times that Apple is "experimenting" with smart watches made of curved glass, "according to people familiar with the company's explorations".

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While I don't doubt that Apple has looked into the issue if only to better support such third party devices in IOS and so on, I call BS on this insider talk. People at Apple are not allowed to talk to co workers about projects so the number of folks what could be these insiders is likely very small. Small enough that it would take less than a day to find out and fire the person who blabbed. So either this was a planned to look like insider leak for press, someone was taking the piss on Bilton or he made it up.

This is a dead-end story

Since people don't buy watches to tell time.

They buy it as decorative jewelry.

Watches are fashion statements, not a useful product.

It might work while training for sports or something, but not for formal or even daily activity.

weing said:

Call me crazy ,but I think getting young people to wear a watch-like item on their wrist other than as a short-lived fad is about as likely as getting them wanting to wear a bowler hat.

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Who says its for young people. Could be for all the old folks that are used to wearing glasses.

Meanwhile the kiddies will be all over the iGlasses. Designed with help from some of the top designers in the world, these stylish glasses are actually a heads up display for notifications, etc from your iOS devices. Exclusive tech displays the information on the inside of the lenses while obscuring it from view in the other side of the lens. Models can be made with prescription lenses for those with vision issues, color changing lenses for wearing as computer/gaming glasses or even sunglasses etc.

Six months later they will release v2 with Bluetooth stereo ear piece options. V3 six months after that will have video/still cameras built in for recording your world, in 3d even.

And of course as Apple is going green, all models will include Apple's new solar charging tech so you only need to use the battery at night.

I heard all about it from this guy who's shagging this girl whose roommate's brother's boyfriend worked at an Apple Store with a guy that claims he saw Jony and Tim wearing the prototypes around campus

Don't Count This Out!

weing said:

Call me crazy ,but I think getting young people to wear a watch-like item on their wrist other than as a short-lived fad is about as likely as getting them wanting to wear a bowler hat.

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I'm not so sure - this could be a breakthrough product. I imagine it being able to act as a remote satellite for your iPhone that could further integrate Siri and enable a number of features of your iPhone from your wrist. Maybe it would be a good spot for the mini-fingerprint reader (company) that Apple "bought" in the last year or so.

Rogifan said:

I'm sure there are lots of experiments happening in Ive's über-secret design lab. Doesn't mean they'll ever become products available for sale. I'd love to see what Apple could do in this space though.

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And then there's the things going on in the uber über secret lab

"What are we doing tonight, Jony?"
"Same thing we do every night. Plot to take over the world."

Seems odd when watches are being phased out by smartphones.

I wonder if it will be as successful as the calculator watch was back in the 80's.

sshhoott said:

It seems now Apple is trying to follow the market instead of the market following them. I mean, look at iPhone +, which will have 5" screen to imitate the S3. And the iWatch will be an imitation of the Pebble watch. Is Apple just surviving?

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Crazy and perhaps stupid thought. But how about you save the doom and gloom talk for after Apple actually announces any of this. Rather than doing it based off totally sketchy rumors.

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bdkennedy1 said:

Dear Apple,

I've gone through 3 car stereos in 4 years. Every time iOS receives a major update, it renders the bluetooth on the stereo useless. Put out your own car stereo please so I can stop flushing my money down the toilet.

Thanks

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If you are buying stereos that don't have the means to update the firmware that is not Apple's issue. After all, being able to connect to a stereo is not a mandated function for a device to work as intended. It's just a happy bonus.

Why do we need an apple watch? This is getting silly now.

This is a watch.

The rumors here was that the iPhone 5 was suppose to have "Curved Glass" with no bezel.

SmokyD said:

This wouldn't happen on Steve's "watch"

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Nice pun, but, uhmm.......

MacRumors said:

.....Apple wanted to use curved glass designs in the original iPhone but the technology available at the time wasn't sufficiently advanced. With the recent advances at Corning however, it appears that Apple's curved glass ambitions could soon be coming to fruition. Article Link: NYT: Apple is Working on a Curved Glass Smart Watch

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bestproduct said:

i don't believe they are building just a watch, that's just our way of understanding it. i wouldn't be surprised if they are making a curved glass screen that contours to your forearm. a screen that stretches from your wrist to half the arm length.

imagine such a piece with...
-touch capabilities- no buttons
-a headphone jack
-a camera embedded into the glass
-a vibrator for messages
-waterproof build
-apps of course
-ability to respond to actions based on tendon/wrist movement
("flick of the wrist")
-a screen that has no "top or bottom" ie the content moves along the arm when you transition form underforearm to upperforearm.
-an advertisers dream! no longer an excuse for not being "available" or away from the phone, because we will always be connected.

this is a the start of a whole new definition of mobile tech, where we finally become physically integrated into our devices. we are the computers.
#thinkdifferent

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If such a product is ultimately released, I can't wait to see where they are going with it, the possibilities seem endless.

Carl Sagan said:

.....this is the key problem with the idea, releasing a watch is something only of interest to over 35s and it will fix the perception that Apple is for your dad not you...

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This could be a very interesting product, especially to under 35s.
Fads come and go all the time; have you seen how many 20-somethings are playing board games lately, either with their friends or with strangers in Board game cafes. And I thought, those games were from grandma's era and gone for good.

A well thought-out wrist watch with all encompassing functionality could come back big time, and could be the next big must-have product. Don't write it off just yet.

They could sell billions and billions and billions. Sorry Carl Sagan, couldn't resist.

One of the things I love about my iPhone (and smartphones in general I guess) is that it allows me to carry fewer items with me when I go out. It's an iPod, a camera, a phone, a compass, a map, a portable gaming system, an eReader, and *drumroll please* a watch, all in one.

An extra device to take with me everywhere is the exact opposite of what I want.