NYT: Apple is Working on a Curved Glass Smart Watch

[b11051973]

Here is my standard post for every story about a smartwatch.

I want one right now!!!

[motrek]

Originally Posted by macs4nw

Point taken, but this rumored APPLE 'iWatch' would likely be 'touchscreen' curved glass; also, for all we know, it might be that new variety of curved glass that's flexible.

Okay, now we're getting somewhere because this discussion of "curved glass" is ridiculous. Maybe they mean curved touchscreen, in which case, fine, although it seems like there are already several cell phones on the market (Nokia Lumias?) that have slightly curved screens. As for flexible glass, maybe, although that means the electronics inside would also have to be flexible for that to be worthwhile. I know advances have been made in flexible electronics/batteries but not sure we're there yet?

As for wearing a watch being obsolete--I wonder if the people who rely on their cell phones to tell the time don't have anywhere important to go. I'm often in situations where I'm counting the minutes before I need to leave somewhere or arrive at somewhere and check my watch every 2-3 minutes. Pulling my cell phone out every 2-3 minutes seems like a hugely annoying amount of effort.

[damir00]

Flexible 4"-ish screen - like an iPhone or S3 sideways - on lower forearm like a QB's cheat sheet.

With a Jawbone++ earpiece.

Sign me up.

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Originally Posted by mozumder

Would you rather have a $1,000,000 Patek Philippe or an Apple watch?

Neither.

But I'll take the $1,000,000 in cash...

[QCassidy352]

Originally Posted by mozumder

Yah, the opposite of this.

In fact, watches become more desirable the MORE expensive they are.

Would you rather have a $1,000,000 Patek Philippe or an Apple watch?

The apple watch, unless I could resell the other one and pocket the difference. I prefer function over obnoxious status symbols.

[Xiroteus]

Originally Posted by motrek

I wonder if the people who rely on their cell phones to tell the time don't have anywhere important to go. I'm often in situations where I'm counting the minutes before I need to leave somewhere or arrive at somewhere and check my watch every 2-3 minutes. Pulling my cell phone out every 2-3 minutes seems like a hugely annoying amount of effort.

This is something I have been aware of, I just use my cell phone however I notice if I have to keep good track of the time that pulling out the cell phone every few minutes can be annoying.

[Fatalbert]

Originally Posted by motrek

Okay, now we're getting somewhere because this discussion of "curved glass" is ridiculous. Maybe they mean curved touchscreen, in which case, fine, although it seems like there are already several cell phones on the market (Nokia Lumias?) that have slightly curved screens.

CRT touch-screens have curved glass

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Originally Posted by motrek

As for wearing a watch being obsolete--I wonder if the people who rely on their cell phones to tell the time don't have anywhere important to go. I'm often in situations where I'm counting the minutes before I need to leave somewhere or arrive at somewhere and check my watch every 2-3 minutes. Pulling my cell phone out every 2-3 minutes seems like a hugely annoying amount of effort.

Same here. I guess they just don't need to know the time that precisely, or maybe they have exceptional mental time-keeping abilities. It would suck if I didn't have a watch.

[motrek]

Originally Posted by Xiroteus

This is something I have been aware of, I just use my cell phone however I notice if I have to keep good track of the time that pulling out the cell phone every few minutes can be annoying.

You could do worse than getting a watch. They are a combination of jewelry, fashion accessory, status symbol, one of the only pieces of wearable technology available, and if you appreciate mechanical things at all, you can get a mechanical/automatic watch, which contains literally hundreds of tiny, precisely machined parts made out of materials like synthetic rubies and various alloys that have been carefully engineered to be resistant to temperature changes, magnetism, etc.

[WilliamLondon]

Originally Posted by Rogifan

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.

Me too - I'm a watch wearer, I love wearing a watch I feel naked without one, and if it could do more than simply tell the time, I'd be quite happy to see a real push in this area by Apple and others.

[Fatalbert]

Originally Posted by heyyoudvd

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.

Yeah, but it seems expensive to make a watch that can do all that. One thing that is easy to forget is that you could be able to change the watch-face on your smart watch to whatever style you want.

As for the passcode thing, I don't use a passcode with my iPhone. I think it's a bad idea. If someone steals or finds and dishonestly takes your iPhone, he'll see that it's locked and seek to unlock it. It's easy to unlock with a computer. It's better to just leave it unlocked and hope that he will use it unlocked, thus allowing FindMyiPhone to do the job. I guess if you have sensitive information, this would be bad, but I wouldn't keep sensitive data on a smartphone that I can lose. It's definitely possible to get the data in spite of the passcode.

[yourtoys7]

I've learned to never say never, we'll see

[Robert.Walter]

Originally Posted by Maddix

I wear a Swiss automatic quite often as jewelry. I'll pass on buying an Apple watch.

Take some Viagra and get over it! ;0)

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Originally Posted by Fatalbert

Yeah, but it seems expensive to make a watch that can do all that. One thing that is easy to forget is that you could be able to change the watch-face on your smart watch to whatever style you want.

As for the passcode thing, I don't use a passcode with my iPhone. I think it's a bad idea. If someone steals or finds and dishonestly takes your iPhone, he'll see that it's locked and seek to unlock it. It's easy to unlock with a computer. It's better to just leave it unlocked and hope that he will use it unlocked, thus allowing FindMyiPhone to do the job. I guess if you have sensitive information, this would be bad, but I wouldn't keep sensitive data on a smartphone that I can lose. It's definitely possible to get the data in spite of the passcode.

"Obscurity Security" is so last century. Use the Passcode.

[Fatalbert]

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.

Or just keep everything old and at the same update level. Speaking of that, is it just me, or does the Apple TV only check for HDCP after an update? I'm afraid to update my Apple TV because my other one kept complaining about my TV not supporting HDCP once I updated.

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Originally Posted by Robert.Walter

"Obscurity Security" is so last century. Use the Passcode.

Never!!!!!!11111
Seriously though, what is the point of using a passcode? Isn't that also "obscurity security" since you can easily break it? Even if someone doesn't know how to break it, he'll Google it once he finds a locked iPhone in a taxi.

[Bubba Satori]

It saves time by taking 30% off of every hour.

[BornAgainApple]

iPass

[SkyBell]

Am I the only person in the "Under 25" age group that wears a $30 watch simply because I think it's a pain to pull my phone out of my pocket to tell the time?

[iSunrise]

If you´ve ever seen Knight Rider you know why a smart watch is a perfect idea. There´s endless possibilities what you could do with it.

It should at least do these things very well:
- Talk (Siri, anyone?)
- Transfer (e.x. NFC)
- Display

I would buy one if it´s good enough for sure. Just remember how useful it is without having to use your phone all the time.

One thing that Apple needs to come up with though, is at least one design that is strikingly amazing/simple or different watch designs to appeal to women/men and maybe even kids. Many people also wear watches, because they simple look great. Won´t be easy to satisfy everyone. Maybe Jonathan Ive can make it happen.

[WilliamLondon]

Originally Posted by mozumder

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.

Generalise much?

I wear a watch and there is one reason I wear it - so I always know what time it is. I'm never without a watch, I feel naked without one. For people like me who own watches as function first (with equal attention to form of course), adding functionality to it is a win-win - we already wear a device, making it more functional is nothing but smart use of devices we already carry with us. If this item on my wrist morphs in the future into some other primary function, as long as it still tells time, I will always wear it happily whatever it ends up becoming.

For those people who wear watches as fashion statements, do you not think it's possible even they (those shallow people who don't know what function is and are really more interested in what status their attire screams<wry grin>) might find this adornment on their wrists that suddenly is able to do more things to be interesting? Or perhaps they would only find it interesting if using it made them more popular?

[SAIRUS]

Until a watch can let me talk to a giant head in a tube and move me around to other places instantly, consider all watches not so smart.

[ChristianJapan]

Originally Posted by Fatalbert

CRT touch-screens have curved glass

And Coke bottles ... But I think the challenge is the optical quality of curved glass in high quantities.

[tmroper]

It would be great if they put voice and text capabilities in it--no more iPhone, just a watch and an iPad for data.

[osaga]

A thin round watch with a big dial might be cool. There is a huge dork factor here though.

A few things come to mind:

- Livestrong bracelets; incredibly popular at one time, now cliche.
- Nike FuelBand; pretty gimmicky, but currently very popular niche.
- Bluetooth headsets; incredibly dorky.
- google glasses -jk. our lives are too techy already, even if they were useful.

The market for a smart watch would probably be limited. Maybe 30% of 18-30 year old males?

I hope Apple passes on this, unless it does something incredible.

So far all i can see is:

- tells time, devoid of direct sunlight.
- gives you push notifications.
- a handy pedometer, gives you directions.
- maybe makes calls through siri and speakerphone.
- makes nfc payments.

Am i missing something?

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I could see Tim pushing for this because....

1. He's a board member of Nike. (FuelBand)
2. He loves to work out.
3. He likes the Jetsons.
4. He's under tremendous pressure to "do something innovative."

[dinggus]

I don't wear watches, so I doubt I'd get this unless it Nike can implement their fuel band somehow in it.

[apolloa]

Hmmm so........ will the alarm stop working every new year for the first week?

[Fatalbert]

Originally Posted by SkyBell

Am I the only person in the "Under 25" age group that wears a $30 watch simply because I think it's a pain to pull my phone out of my pocket to tell the time?

No.

[apolloa]

Originally Posted by mozumder

Would you rather have a $1,000,000 Patek Philippe or an Apple watch?

Easy, the Patek Philippe as it will last a hell of a lot longer, be worth a hell of a lot more, in many many many many years. Oh and it won't need the battery charged, cause it doesn't have one!