NYT: Apple is Working on a Curved Glass Smart Watch

[blueroom]

I think it would be great to have a Bluetooth smart watch with alarms, notifications, speaker and mike (telling the time would be nice too).

[ersatzplanet]

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.

[heyyoudvd]

Originally Posted by mouser45

Am I the only one who thinks the whole smart-watch thing is a gimmick?

I thought so too, until I read this article by Bruce Tognazzini, a former Apple human interface designer.

The possibilities with an iWatch are absolutely fantastic. I recommend checking out that article. It will completely change your mind.

[sshhoott]

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?

[Robin4]

Originally Posted by weing

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.

Not really. It could be a pedometer, a heart rate monitor, etc., etc. young people use them all the time.

[baryon]

I like the idea, but I don't like the thought of yet another thing to buy that will become obsolete every 3 months and needs charging and updating constantly.

Get a MacBook, an iPad and an iPhone, and then an iWatch, and you'll be basically buying these over and over again every year to keep up with updates.

[Chumburro2U]

Originally Posted by baryon

I like the idea, but I don't like the thought of yet another thing to buy that will become obsolete every 3 months and needs charging and updating constantly.

Get a MacBook, an iPad and an iPhone, and then an iWatch, and you'll be basically buying these over and over again every year to keep up with updates.

Nobody is forcing you to buy anything.

[lilo777]

Wow, I have never seen this one before!

[QCassidy352]

Originally Posted by sshhoott

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?

Silly, uninformed post. There were MP3 players before the iPod, smartphones, before the iPhone, and tablets before the iPad. Apple defines the market by reimagining how people will use and interact with these products - and making products that people actually want to use - not by making up whole new product categories.

[ArtOfWarfare]

Apple's shown some obvious interest in the area with their wearable Nano (interesting no one mentioned that yet.)

I can't see this as operating on its own but maybe as an accessory to the iPhone...

The biggest thing I can imagine is pedestrian/transit/biking directions. Whenever I'm walking through a city I need to pull my iPhone out every other block to figure out where I'm going. It'd be a lot more handy (+ I'd feel less concerned about a phone that costs me $1K/year) if I could just glance at my watch.

The iOS SDK wouldn't even need to change to work with a watch at all. There's already a method for detecting all screens that content can be displayed on... normally all it returns is the iOS device's built in screen but sometimes if it's hooked up to one or set to stream to one, the method will also return a TV screen. That same method could start returning iWatch screens.

[maxosx]

Only a company named Apple with its superior Brand Strength could build an iGizmo like this and not be laughed at. At a time when wearing a watch is _ not_ at the top of most people's preferences, in fact there's been many articles about the average watches decline, then Apple decides to focus on this project. Just one more thing to carry, even if it is strapped to your wrist. And redundant to the hoards of smartphone users.

Oh sure there are those enthusiasts that enjoy watches, but they're unique analog models. Luxury high end, beautifully crafted, watches of great appeal & significant heritage. Enthusiasts will view an iWatch with the same distain they do digital watches of the past.

The message seems clear, in order to continue to grab headlines that fascinate the general public, it's time to focus on something that the Walmart shopper can identify with & understand.

[MisterKeeks]

I don't believe that this is the case. A watch seems like a fairly niche market.

[tonyshaker]

Originally Posted by JoEw

iWatch starting at just $499

No man it wont be that expensive ahhhhh

[ghboard2010]

Originally Posted by JoEw

iWatch starting at just $499

Finally an Apple product for the pervert in the rest of us . . .

[bestproduct]

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

[fawlty]

Facetime on a watch would be interesting. I wonder if this is what Tim Cook was thinking of when he referenced the Jetsons? (not sure if they had video watches?, but it fits with the futuristic genre).

[sshhoott]

Originally Posted by QCassidy352

Silly, uninformed post. There were MP3 players before the iPod, smartphones, before the iPhone, and tablets before the iPad. Apple defines the market by reimagining how people will use and interact with these products - and making products that people actually want to use - not by making up whole new product categories.

Gotta agree with your deeper thought. I guess Apple makes their breakthrough products through addressing deficiencies that already exist in something. I guess they "complete it" to perfection and then release it to the market, and hence their success.

[Carl Sagan]

Originally Posted by weing

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.

Not crazy at all 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...

[Chupa Chupa]

Originally Posted by bushido

a watch in 2013 is as useful as my ex gf in 2012

edit: unless its something u use for a workout

Your edit is quite paradoxical to your initial post.

[Risco]

I think this year will finally see some innovation from Apple again. They have been resting on their previous success for too long now.

[blueroom]

Originally Posted by sshhoott

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?

Apple's often not the first but give them a bone and they'll turn it into steak.

I have a feeling you'll be able to buy an iWatch before the Pebble is available at a retail level. Plus when it comes to warranty I'd rather place my bets with Apple as there are several Apple stores nearby.

If I can think of improvements for the Pebble watch, I'm sure Apple can too.

[turtlez]

no they aren't NYT

[JarScott]

Never really worn a watch. But an Apple watch...THAT I'd wear.

[stilted]

Originally Posted by sshhoott

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?

There were MP3 players before the iPod. Apple simply took an existing product and made it a must have.

[bdkennedy1]

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