Apple 'Aggressively' Hiring for Smart Watch Project, Looking Toward Late 2014 Launch

[appleisking]

You haven't thought it through yet. There is absolutely no new user experience that a smartWatch provides that a phone doesn't

Their user experience is absolutely the same

1) You use the same motion to use them. Bringing your arm from its resting position to your stomach.
That same motion you use to bring your phone from your pocket.

2) You both have to raise your arm to your mouth to talk to it. So no new user experience there.

3) You use the same touch functions on it. So no new user experience there aswell.

4) You need an earphone to listen to any sort of music or sound. no new user experience there also.

It even hinders privacy because everyone can see what you doing so you probably can't read text on it. with a phone you can actually hold it in an angle that blocked others from seeing what you doing.


The user experience is the same. nothing new you are bringing to users.
Its essentially a phone strapped to your hand.

While Glass provides an endless amount of new user experience

It's this sort of unimaginative thinking that sets people who produce tech apart from regular people. How about letting Apple have a shot at producing something new and then judging the product instead of bashing it before any sort of concept is produced.

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I've said it already and will continue to say that the iwatch will not be a success not because it won't be brilliant in design and function but that the watch industry is not something that needs to be changed.

The watch is a jewellery item, the ipad, iphone ipod etc are all tech items apple has made into jewellery. It will not be possible to go the other way, so so so many companies have tried and failed.

It goes against apple's mantra of not creating a product that is a compromise between two categories but is a new product in and of itself.

I don't wear a watch myself and would not start wearing one no matter how smart it was or how nice looking it was, it has no function for me, i already have the time and don't want to charge another item that duplicates other functions on my phone tablet or laptop.

I could very much see apple doing an apple TV style watch project that is classed as hobby with no real profit making outcome, that might be cool but I cannot see this project working long term as an item of the post PC era that could ever stand on it's own or work as an extra to the family.

I can see it as a sports device, swimming running etc, heart rate monitor etc and all the functions that you could link into it that an iphone in a pocket could not do but there must only be two or three things and even then there is a small but established market already doing that.

I just don't get it like I got the ipad and iphone at very first glance they were for me at least ground breaking in the way they were designed to work and run. They had endless uses that a computer did not, they were portable, instant on and connected. The watch must have a trick up it's sleeve to break out of that formula to win it's place on the wrist.

Nope. You mention tablet now in hindsight, but I bet few could have predicted how much the tablet market would explode. There's no reason to believe a watch would be any different.

 

[ElTorro]

Wow, you are a windows phone 8, android and iPhone developer. Is that like the new "I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night" thing?"

The Nike FuelBand and Garmin Forerunner do not have sensors (though the Garmin has a heart rate monitor strap) and that is why the iWatch will relegate those to the dustbin of history. Did you not listen to Tim Cook at the D11 conference? He mentioned the FuelBand and talked about how the sensor field would explode.

If you would tone down your geek hostility and listen a little to what executives at Apple say you would get a good idea of where the company is going with the product.

Regarding Glass, quite a few of the initial reviews from beta testers have not be very flattering. If the hard-core devotees who shelled out $1500 to get the device before release are disappointed, what chance does the product have with the general public?

Well, I've been hearing nothing else from Cook that there are exciting products coming later this year. I guess the iWatch won't be one of them. Apple executives talk too much and deliver too little nowadays.

 

[riverpoet]

The iWatch as in smart watch sounds simple to make, so they should have done it by now.

If we will indeed have to wait for one more year, then I'd speculate it won't be an accessory, but a full fledged, standalone mobile device - a wearable computer with bendable display that goes around your forearm/wrist, with completely new user interface. Problems here - wrists/forearms come in different sizes + battery life.

iWatch as a product might sound simple and dumb, but so does iPhone. It's not just a phone, is it, it's a mobile computer in phone form factor. Ergo the iWatch will be a mobile computer in watch form factor.

As for Google Glass, only neophiliacs will want that. Otherwise, it's either a new Segway or just an accident waiting to happen (privacy issues > bans in certain more privacy respecting countries, accidents while using it). it's simply not natural. Will it work with any sunglasses?

 

[CmdrLaForge]

If it gets as ugly as the watch in the picture I will never get one. But I trust in Jony and hope he makes something classy.

To ditch my Omega and Tag Heuers should be better something unbelievable good.

 

[Mazeman]

I think Jobs would have just called it stupid, and that would have been the end of it.

 

[Bladers]

Wow, you are a windows phone 8, android and iPhone developer. Is that like the new "I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night" thing?"

Maybe its because I am? maybe its because I run a startup called "Assistive Desktop". Maybe its because I have a degree in Computer Science. Maybe its because I develop software for a living. Or maybe you are just making excuses.

The Nike FuelBand and Garmin Forerunner do not have sensors (though the Garmin has a heart rate monitor strap) and that is why the iWatch will relegate those to the dustbin of history. Did you not listen to Tim Cook at the D11 conference? He mentioned the FuelBand and talked about how the sensor field would explode.

Lmao, you just said they have 'biosensors'. Infact I quote "Anyone who has a Nike FuelBand or Garmin Forerunner knows part of what the iWatch will do. It will have biosensors to track you heart rate, calories burned and other things."

So which is it? Or is it because you are clueless of wtf you are talking about. what a 'biosensor' is and does, or how calories are calculated and other things.
But I thought I was the clueless one? Don't quote Cook like he's Jesus. You made a statement and I'm calling you out on it, and yes I did watch the D11 conference part where he was talking about wearables.

If you would tone down your geek hostility and listen a little to what executives at Apple say you would get a good idea of where the company is going with the product.

Now if you toned down your fan hostility touchey and wake up to reality, you would understand what I meant when I laid out those 4 limitation points. You shouldn't be this bent out of shape over me laying out a few obvious limitations which has nothing to do with sensors.

Regarding Glass, quite a few of the initial reviews from beta testers have not be very flattering. If the hard-core devotees who shelled out $1500 to get the device before release are disappointed, what chance does the product have with the general public?

Disappointed? I have yet to find someone who is disappointed with the progress of Glass. Having watched about over 500 videos about Glass. Infact all I have seen are people who are excited to get a chance to use Glass. How many videos have you watched? One? Five? Cute!

 

[Ryth]

Glass is set to be released late 2013.

I don't understand how you can hate on a piece of tech that if the company you love came out with it, we wouldn't hear the end of it from u.

My gosh, you people are too much for me. I'm done.

Slated is not the same as released. GG is nothing to write home about. Even tech pundits and reviews of it are luke warm at best.

 

[62tele]

It's mind-boggling that this company has decided on a watch as its next avenue for revenue growth. What a dumb idea.

You do realize that everyone thought the same about the first iPod when Steve presented it. Apple parlayed that one seemingly trivial product into several revolutions and unsurpassed growth.

Who knows what it is? Maybe it's an accessory. I doubt it is the linchpin to their growth strategy. However, since Samsung, Google and Microsoft are all developing similar products there's reason to believe it has merit.

 

[Bladers]

Slated is not the same as released. GG is nothing to write home about. Even tech pundits and reviews of it are luke warm at best.

I have read so many Glass reviews and videos (hundreds) and the only negative thing said about Glass are Privacy Concerns & Battery Life, Plus Picture Quality. All which will be improved when Glass is made public.

 

[Ryth]

The iWatch as in smart watch sounds simple to make, so they should have done it by now.

If we will indeed have to wait for one more year, then I'd speculate it won't be an accessory, but a full fledged, standalone mobile device - a wearable computer with bendable display that goes around your forearm/wrist, with completely new user interface. Problems here - wrists/forearms come in different sizes + battery life.

iWatch as a product might sound simple and dumb, but so does iPhone. It's not just a phone, is it, it's a mobile computer in phone form factor. Ergo the iWatch will be a mobile computer in watch form factor.

As for Google Glass, only neophiliacs will want that. Otherwise, it's either a new Segway or just an accident waiting to happen (privacy issues > bans in certain more privacy respecting countries, accidents while using it). it's simply not natural. Will it work with sunglasses?

I don't think it's as simple as you think. They are most likely combining many many features such as biometrics, NFC payments, bluetooth, wifi, and maybe even LTE/radio and voice/Siri.

On top of that, the interaction with your iPhone or iPod.

Many think this watch is going to be a solo/duo device that operates solely on its own but also will be combined with your iPhone/iPod when it is on your person or in your bag/backpack/purse and will be your interface/notifier/etc.

Many people would love to have a device that interacts with their iPhone without having to pull the iPhone out to do simple tasks or interactions.

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I have read so many Glass reviews and videos (hundreds) and the only negative thing said about Glass are Privacy Concerns & Battery Life.

So have I. Battery and Privacy are two big concerns...so much it will make or break the device...especially battery.

So is looking ridiculous, cumbersome and the #1 issue...people hate wearing glasses. It's why the 3D TV market is tanking. The reviews are simple. The majority of people don't like wearing eye wear.

They'll be a niche market for it...which will be sorta like the GoPro market along with some journalist/sports/etc type.

For everyday users it's not going to work or catch on.

 

[Rogifan]

I think Jobs would have just called it stupid, and that would have been the end of it.

You mean like how he felt about video on the iPod? Or an app store on the iPhone? Or when he said that nobody reads anymore? I'm glad Steve Jobs didn't always have the final say, or at least was able to change his mind every now and then.

 

[chairguru22]

I have a Pebble and think it's really cool. But the idea of a smartwatch is just a cool gadget, not a game changer. I'm sure Apple will make a watch that really integrates with the iPhone, but it'll just be a cool accessory. Unless they can make it a phone substitute.

 

[Ryth]

It's mind-boggling that this company has decided on a watch as its next avenue for revenue growth. What a dumb idea.

Open up your mind. You are thinking about watches in their current form/iteration.

What Apple is designing is only a watch by what we can possibly compare it to. It will be something vastly different. A device you wear on your wrist. But a watch it is not going to be.

 

[Bladers]

As for Google Glass, only neophiliacs will want that. Otherwise, it's either a new Segway or just an accident waiting to happen (privacy issues > bans in certain more privacy respecting countries, accidents while using it). it's simply not natural. Will it work with any sunglasses?

Spoken like someone who has no clue what Glass is or how it works.

 

[Rogifan]

Well, I've been hearing nothing else from Cook that there are exciting products coming later this year. I guess the iWatch won't be one of them. Apple executives talk too much and deliver too little nowadays.

Cook said later this year and across 2014. He didn't give specific dates or say what products would come when. I don't know why people think Apple executives talk to much... it seems as though they talk a lot less than other executives.

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You do realize that everyone thought the same about the first iPod when Steve presented it. Apple parlayed that one seemingly trivial product into several revolutions and unsurpassed growth.

Who knows what it is? Maybe it's an accessory. I doubt it is the linchpin to their growth strategy. However, since Samsung, Google and Microsoft are all developing similar products there's reason to believe it has merit.

Because Google fanboys are doing most of the reviews?

 

[Bladers]

So have I. Battery and Privacy are two big concerns...so much it will make or break the device...especially battery.

So is looking ridiculous, cumbersome and the #1 issue...people hate wearing glasses. It's why the 3D TV market is tanking. The reviews are simple. The majority of people don't like wearing eye wear.

They'll be a niche market for it...which will be sorta like the GoPro market along with some journalist/sports/etc type.

For everyday users it's not going to work or catch on.

You are hilarious. Glass is not an actual eye glasses. You don't need to wear a glass to use it. This has nothing to do with 3D TV market. You are so off base it is not even funny. You are reaching at the bottom of the barrel at this point.

GoPro? Lmao, you coudn't be anymore glueless as to what Glass is, does and how it works.

 

[StyxMaker]

Hopefully they are working hard on the battery life.
It's kinda useless for a watch to have to recharge everyday like an iphone,
I wont wear it and would rather use the iphone for clock if it has short battery life.

This is the kind of product that battery life can make or brake. I'm used to a light powered Citizen watch that never needs batteries. I don't expect that from an iWatch, but I would expect three or four days at a minimum.

 

[skaertus]

An iWatch is a very risky move. Apple is entering the fashion arena, and it holds no monopoly in good design or quality materials here. A smartphone or a tablet are electronic devices, and they compete against offerings from other high-tech companies such as Samsung, Motorola, Google, HP, and so on... you don't wear a smartphone or a tablet, it's not a fashion product, and you may hide them in your pocket or in your suitcase when it's not appropriate to use them.

A smartwatch is something completely different. Apple would be entering an unknown field. Watches are designed and produced by companies such as Rolex, Swatch, TAG Heuer, Patek Philippe, Tissot, Breitling and Bulova. These companies have produced beautiful and precise watches for years, decades and even centuries. A smartwatch is different from a regular watch, but a person would only use one at a time. So, the iWatch competitors wouldn't be only offerings from Sony and Google, but also all the very fine crafted watches out there. Would an iWatch replace a Rolex on the wrists of Wall Street executives? Would an iWatch be a proper wearable for a gala event?

The iPhone is beautiful and elegant, and distinct from every other product in the market. Every effort any luxury brand made into entering the phone market was a miserable failure. But the watches market is something completely different. Some watches are timeless jewels. Wouldn't an iWatch be considered something tacky or kitsch, which is the exact opposite of what Apple would want?

 

[ClemyNX]

I'm sure that the watch will turn itself on and off. The way it's oriented and moves when not using it and when looking at it are really different and it should be 'easy' to make software distinguish between the two states.

 

[riverpoet]

Spoken like someone who has no clue what Glass is or how it works.

This quote from The Guardian review says it all:

The menu is too long to fit onto the screen, so you have to learn to tilt your head up or down to see the others (though after time you'd remember them).

LOL. Tourette's syndrome included in the package?
Will NSA subsidy it?

Seriously, it's for people who long for attention.

This review really sums it up nicely:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jul/02/google-glass-review-augmented-reality

- doesn't do much
- interface is not for everyone
- makes you look like a Borg drone (Google = collective)

 

[ClemyNX]

Apple has to complete with Glass somehow.

Ahahah

Oh that wasn't a joke?
'Somehow'??

Glass will never go public.

 

[daviddth]

Does anyone else not care at all about an "iWatch?"

I'm actually looking forward to what they come up with, and may consider it, depending on features etc.

 

[Bladers]

This quote from The Guardian review says it all:



LOL. Tourette's syndrome included in the package?

Seriously, it's for people who long for attention.

This review really sums it up nicely:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jul/02/google-glass-review-augmented-reality

- doesn't do much
- interface is not for everyone
- makes you look like a Borg drone (Google = collective)

lmao. this is what you could dig up for a bad review?

- doesn't do much?
- interface not for everyone. lmfao you wrote that with a straight face after that iOS7 garbage? lmao.
- makes you look like a Borg drone (Google = collective) lmao.

LMFAO those things doesn't even exist in the review itself.
This is the worst review you could find that is actually praising Glass? speaks volume.

In response to it doesn't do much. That's saying a-lot to someone who doesn't know what it does. Other than doing the obvious:

1) Taking Pictures by voice or through pressing Hardware button.
2) Recording Video by voice or through pressing & holding Hardware button.
3) Social Integration (Making Posts and Sharing Media by voice or through UI)
4) Texting, Making Calls & Hangout by voice or through UI.
5) Google Knowledge Graph Search, Example in this video: 20 Searches [through Google Glass]
6) Coming Full Google Now Integration.
7) Turn by Turn Directions.
8) App store.

In the months that Explorer edition has been active. Hundreds of applications have been created for it. Including applications like controlling your Car with Google Glass.

Tesla S and Google Glass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHbwrE6006c

And This is just the beginning.

 

[big787]

Where do I send my application?

Where can I sign up?

 

[ClemyNX]

lmao. this is what you could dig up for a bad review?

- doesn't do much?
- interface not for everyone. lmfao you wrote that with a straight face after that iOS7 garbage? lmao.
- makes you look like a Borg drone (Google = collective) lmao.

LMFAO those things doesn't even exist in the review itself.
This is the worst review you could find that is actually praising Glass? speaks volume.

In response to it doesn't do much. That's saying a-lot to someone who doesn't know what it does. Other than doing the obvious:

1) Taking Pictures by voice or through pressing Hardware button.
2) Recording Video by voice or through pressing & holding Hardware button.
3) Social Integration (Making Posts and Sharing Media by voice or through UI)
4) Texting, Making Calls & Hangout by voice or through UI.
5) Google Knowledge Graph Search, Example in this video: 20 Searches [through Google Glass]
6) Coming Full Google Now Integration.
7) Turn by Turn Directions.
8) App store.

In the months that Explorer edition has been active. Hundreds of applications have been created for it. Including applications like controlling your Car with Google Glass.

Tesla S and Google Glass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHbwrE6006c

And This is just the beginning.

What happens if I'm in a place where I can't speak?
Oops.

Dude, just look at how successful Bluetooth headsets are. This is like ten times what Glass would sell. It looks silly, and stupid. Make it look like any pair of glasses, and it would have much more success. They are never going to sell it.