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ELMI0001

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 5, 2009
375
10
Olympic Hills GC
My prediction for the iWatch …

I’ve been chewing on this for a while and the more I think about it the more useful I feel the product would be for someone like myself.

So what will it be? At the most basic level it will be a watch. This is obvious.

What kind of apps/functions will be on it? I would assume some integration/pairing with your iPhone. Perhaps you could forward iMessages to the watch, glance at Emails, view missed calls/voicemails, Weather, Reminders, Notes, Maps, other built in Apple stock apps. I suspect the iWatch will initially be given the Apple TV treatment. No outside apps.

Perhaps you sync Notifications between your iPhone and your iWatch?

I also believe the iWatch will have the Music/Podcasts/iTunes Radio(if they break this out into its own app) built in as well.

I think the rumored Healthbook app gets built in as well and the iWatch officially becomes the Fuelband/Garmin Forerunner product I’m hoping for. This will all be done with Nike branding.

Does the rumored Beats acquisition factor into this product? I believe so. Could Apple/Beats create a wireless headphone to deliver music from your iWatch to your new Apple/Beats wireless headphones? I believe so. This would make the iWatch an amazing fitness tool. I don’t know if this is done through Bluetooth or an Airplay 2.0/Air Drop-type technology? I’ve read mixed reviews on Bluetooth headphones but I think Apple/Beats could pull it off.

It’s my belief all of this ties into Apple’s long history of refining existing products into an amazing product. Apple didn’t introduce the first MP3 player or tablet, but they introduced the best product.

I’ve been thinking of this as I workout. I’m a runner and typically run with my iPod nano (the older smaller model, not the current model) and my Garmin forerunner. I’d love if these 2 products were one. Wireless headphones would be awesome too. My iPod has the Nike app but I don’t think the GPS on the device works great. The distance is never as consistent as the Garmin. For instance, a half marathon on the iPod comes out to 12.5-14.0. The Garmin is usually spot on.

What do you think? Am I crazy? Is this just a product I would use?

I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
 
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Here's the issue I have with this direction.

Simply put -- not everyone cares about fitness.

If you take the fitness community which everyone could say they spend 2-3 days a week going to the gym. Of that community only a subset would buy a device like this to aid their exercising. Whenever you get into exercise peripherals you step out of the realm of running a few miles a day to training for an intended purpose. I exercise 4-5 times a week in which I run 3-5 miles a day depending on how I feel. If even I buy this device I dont see how it would aid my gym activities. If I were training for a marathon and/or doing crossfit then I could totally understand it. In terms of having a streamlined music device -- no one needs that at this point, the iphone is pretty damn good. This would mean on your person at any given day you would have two devices that have music capabilities. Here's the problem with this approach -- if the watch comes without a cellular connection (which I presume it wont to reduce cost) the phone will be FAR superior because you can access your music from virtually anywhere. I'm not seeing an angle yet where the watch would have mass appeal.

As I always end my statements with saying, "I'm glad I don't have to make these decisions"
 
It's quite possible this product is intended to be marketed to Hospitals, Clinics and other health organizations.

It is arrogant for us to assume it's for our personal use. I guess we'll see soon enough.
 
It's quite possible this product is intended to be marketed to Hospitals, Clinics and other health organizations.

It is arrogant for us to assume it's for our personal use. I guess we'll see soon enough.

Not Apples current style. They are about servicing the 95 not the 5. If hospitals etc want something they can make it themselves. Apple will make something for the general public which might be usable by hospitals, not something made for them

Personally I think that IF this thing is real it will be a combo of the Pebble notification viewer and something akin to an UP/fuelband thanks to the whole A/M chip, with perhaps the music playing of the old nano. No making calls, taking photos etc.
 
Not Apples current style. They are about servicing the 95 not the 5. If hospitals etc want something they can make it themselves. Apple will make something for the general public which might be usable by hospitals, not something made for them

Personally I think that IF this thing is real it will be a combo of the Pebble notification viewer and something akin to an UP/fuelband thanks to the whole A/M chip, with perhaps the music playing of the old nano. No making calls, taking photos etc.

I don't know what Apple is up to exactly but their recent hires is all over the place.

Luxury person from St. Laurent- "Oh, Apple is going to actually make a watch that's fashionable as a watch first that also has Pebble-like notifications"

Engineer from Nike Fuel band: - "Um, a luxury fuel band? "

Biometric Experts - "A Medical bracelet that tracks your vitals, has fuel band type features and is also a luxury watch?"

:confused:
 
I don't think really anything you said is different from rumors or what other people have said.

The only part that I would like to see, and I do not even know if it is possible, would be your take on the wireless headphones/running without a phone or other device feature.

It would be nice to just wear the watch, throw in some wireless earbuds, leave the phone/ipod at home, and run/work out.
 
Where did you be the last half year? All this are the rumors which we heard about the iWatch.. :confused:
 
Where did you be the last half year? All this are the rumors which we heard about the iWatch.. :confused:

Well, some are, but not all. Nike canning the Fuelband and the Beats acquisition are very new development. I was just putting all the pieces together.

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I don't think really anything you said is different from rumors or what other people have said.

I've been pretty up-to-date on the rumors and I've never read what I wrote out. That's why I wrote it out.

The only part that I would like to see, and I do not even know if it is possible, would be your take on the wireless headphones/running without a phone or other device feature.

It would be nice to just wear the watch, throw in some wireless earbuds, leave the phone/ipod at home, and run/work out.

Not sure if it's possible either but would awesome to see.

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Here's the issue I have with this direction.

Simply put -- not everyone cares about fitness.

If you take the fitness community which everyone could say they spend 2-3 days a week going to the gym. Of that community only a subset would buy a device like this to aid their exercising. Whenever you get into exercise peripherals you step out of the realm of running a few miles a day to training for an intended purpose. I exercise 4-5 times a week in which I run 3-5 miles a day depending on how I feel. If even I buy this device I dont see how it would aid my gym activities. If I were training for a marathon and/or doing crossfit then I could totally understand it. In terms of having a streamlined music device -- no one needs that at this point, the iphone is pretty damn good. This would mean on your person at any given day you would have two devices that have music capabilities. Here's the problem with this approach -- if the watch comes without a cellular connection (which I presume it wont to reduce cost) the phone will be FAR superior because you can access your music from virtually anywhere. I'm not seeing an angle yet where the watch would have mass appeal.

As I always end my statements with saying, "I'm glad I don't have to make these decisions"

It's not entirely a fitness device. Much like my iPod nano isn't a fitness device but it came with a Nike app for fitness. And my iPod nano was around when iPhones were around so it's not unheard of for Apple to replicate features across devices.

It's entirely what they are doing. Features go from Mac to iDevice and vice versa.

Remember - Apple makes the product you didn't know you needed until you saw it. That's why you can't see the angle for mass appeal.
 
Engineer from Nike Fuel band: - "Um, a luxury fuel band? "

Biometric Experts - "A Medical bracelet that tracks your vitals, has fuel band type features and is also a luxury watch?"

These two could be about improving support for such devices, but not necessarily creating them
 
Nike canning the Fuelband

Doesn't that say something about the fitness market? The Fuelband clearly hasn't been successful enough, so I'd be surprised if Apple's offering was also so fitness-centred.

I've started to really like the idea of a watch that simply acts as an extension of my phone and allows me to see any notifications, the fact it's ringing etc.

I excerise a few times a week but would have no interest in a device that measures everything to the n-th degree. Just tracking distance and making some calculation of the calories I've used etc. is enough. And my phone is perfect for that.

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I also believe the iWatch will have the Music/Podcasts/iTunes Radio(if they break this out into its own app) built in as well.

Would this mean plugging headphones into the watch? Bit odd. Bluetooth? Perhaps, but it's yet another thing to charge.

Also, after an hours run, my phone's battery has depleted about 20% (from playing music, running Run Keeper, using GPS etc.) - how would a tiny watch cope? Serious fitness fanatics might go out training for an entire day - if the watch conks out after a couple of hours it's not much use. Or some might go to the gym for an hour and then off to work - only to find their iWatch is dead by lunchtime.
 
Doesn't that say something about the fitness market? The Fuelband clearly hasn't been successful enough, so I'd be surprised if Apple's offering was also so fitness-centred.

I've started to really like the idea of a watch that simply acts as an extension of my phone and allows me to see any notifications, the fact it's ringing etc.

I excerise a few times a week but would have no interest in a device that measures everything to the n-th degree. Just tracking distance and making some calculation of the calories I've used etc. is enough. And my phone is perfect for that.

----------



Would this mean plugging headphones into the watch? Bit odd. Bluetooth? Perhaps, but it's yet another thing to charge.

Also, after an hours run, my phone's battery has depleted about 20% (from playing music, running Run Keeper, using GPS etc.) - how would a tiny watch cope? Serious fitness fanatics might go out training for an entire day - if the watch conks out after a couple of hours it's not much use. Or some might go to the gym for an hour and then off to work - only to find their iWatch is dead by lunchtime.

I don't think it says anything about the fitness market. I think Apple's incorporation in Nike apps on their iPods along with Tim Cook sitting on Nike's board says a lot more about what may be in the iWatch.

Again, the device that offers a fitness component is not a fitness centered. The iPhone is a music player but it's not music centered.

I think if the iWatch has music stored on it someway there is a way to make wireless headphones work but I have no idea how. I've heard very mixed reviews on bluetooth headphones so I doubt Apple goes that route unless they figured something out.
 
I retired in 2008 and haven't had a watch on since. It was one of my retirement statements! Now this "may" make me reconsider that position.

Unfortunately age brings along other issues. I do have a pacemaker now so maybe they come up with an app for iWatch that monitors pacemakers.. I'd probably be in for that.

Pretty exciting times on the horizon..
 
If it does all the healthbook functions, has access to iTunes Match, and has or supports bluetooth headphones, it's a dream product for me.
 
Smart Watch is a dead idea. With proliferation of mobile phones, the trend has been to stop wearing watches altogether. I don't think that making your wrist watch being able to talk to your smart phone is enough to reverse it. People like convenience and simplicity. Having another device on your wrist that duplicates most of the functions of the main device in your pocket would not improve convenience by much but would sacrifice simplicity by a lot.

Unless smart watches will replace smart phones as autonomous devices, it's not going to happen.
 
If it does all the healthbook functions, has access to iTunes Match, and has or supports bluetooth headphones, it's a dream product for me.

Me too....those are the main "wants" in a smartwatch product for me....

I've also got some "dream features" that would make it a compelling product in my book:

-Biometric security pairing with TouchID on phone (creating a two-factor authentication for mobile payments).
-NFC in the watch (not the phone) for payments.
-Utilization of various sensors for 3D mapping of environments (could be cool to see how that would affect Apple maps).
-Pairing with your iPhone as a means to keep either from being lost
-Also pairing would provide a secondary security method for using either device (i.e. if set up, a thief would have to steal both devices to use either...if one goes out of range of the other, it becomes locked - feature would be customizable).

Just some interesting thoughts. I don't want a watch to replace my phone - so things like making calls and taking pictures are NOT on my wishlist.
 
Smart Watch is a dead idea. With proliferation of mobile phones, the trend has been to stop wearing watches altogether. I don't think that making your wrist watch being able to talk to your smart phone is enough to reverse it. People like convenience and simplicity. Having another device on your wrist that duplicates most of the functions of the main device in your pocket would not improve convenience by much but would sacrifice simplicity by a lot.

Unless smart watches will replace smart phones as autonomous devices, it's not going to happen.

Plenty of people have iPhones and iPads and those products have duplicate features. Another thing an iWatch could add is security. It's going to be hard for someone to rip a watch off your wrist vs. grabbing your phone/tablet and running.

I don't think the crime data we hear about in NY has much to do with Apple's thinking but I'm sure it's on Apple's radar that they created highly coveted devices that thief's will attempt to take and resell if they can. So how do we make the product "safer" to own while keeping people in our Apple-eco-system? We attach the device to the person.
 
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Personally, I can't see ever buying an iWatch. I wear a watch all the time and carry an iPhone. Sure if you're into fitness measurements but then it has to be able to at least work independently a significantly amount of time and be able to store significant amounts of data. But I think that is a relatively small market particularly at the price people are talking about.
People want bigger and bigger devices and then want a watch sized device. Digital watches were going to take over the world decades ago and that was a short lived deal.

But the people at Apple are smarter than I am and they seem to be able to figure out what people want even when they didn't know they wanted it.
 
Allow it to control the phone's music via bluetooth, give it maps and fitness information and I'm in!

Or if it's standalone, bluetooth headphones as others have already said.. and app support. I listen to Rdio when I'm running.
 
Here's the issue I have with this direction.

Simply put -- not everyone cares about fitness.

If you take the fitness community which everyone could say they spend 2-3 days a week going to the gym. Of that community only a subset would buy a device like this to aid their exercising. Whenever you get into exercise peripherals you step out of the realm of running a few miles a day to training for an intended purpose. I exercise 4-5 times a week in which I run 3-5 miles a day depending on how I feel. If even I buy this device I dont see how it would aid my gym activities. If I were training for a marathon and/or doing crossfit then I could totally understand it. In terms of having a streamlined music device -- no one needs that at this point, the iphone is pretty damn good. This would mean on your person at any given day you would have two devices that have music capabilities. Here's the problem with this approach -- if the watch comes without a cellular connection (which I presume it wont to reduce cost) the phone will be FAR superior because you can access your music from virtually anywhere. I'm not seeing an angle yet where the watch would have mass appeal.

As I always end my statements with saying, "I'm glad I don't have to make these decisions"

41 million Americans are members of a health club. (https://www.franchisehelp.com/industry-reports/fitness-industry-report/)

20% of Americans own an iPhone. (about 66 million)(http://www.statista.com/statistics/236550/percentage-of-us-population-that-own-a-android-smartphone/)

I really think its a huge market. What percentage of those that pay for a health club don't actually use the facility? 67 percent of people with gym memberships never use them (http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2013/01/02/the-heavy-price-of-losing-weight). People buy things they don't use.
 
I go to the gym 6 days a week but have no interest in turning exercise into a statistics keeping session. A lot of people go and work out - very few keep statistics at all about how they are doing while there - maybe wrong but a think a very small, relatively, people will be interested in that detail statistic keeping.
 
I go to the gym 6 days a week but have no interest in turning exercise into a statistics keeping session. A lot of people go and work out - very few keep statistics at all about how they are doing while there - maybe wrong but a think a very small, relatively, people will be interested in that detail statistic keeping.

Maybe the goal is to make you start caring :apple:
 
I go to the gym 6 days a week but have no interest in turning exercise into a statistics keeping session. A lot of people go and work out - very few keep statistics at all about how they are doing while there - maybe wrong but a think a very small, relatively, people will be interested in that detail statistic keeping.

I think you're doing yourself a disservice by not tracking your progress. What's the point of going to the gym then?
 
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