Apple already has Watch in their labs that doesn't require iPhone?

[John6Plus]

Nooooo. No speakerphone culture!! I KNOW not everyone will wear Bluetooth headsets.

Can I get the Nextel sound as an alert?

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I keep seeing this statement but can't for the life of me figure out why. You're talking about a device which has a screen that's a couple of inches across at absolute most. How on earth is this expected to replace a smartphone screen? How do you type or view anything bigger than a few lines of text or use a web site or manage any media with a complex list (music, photos etc) or play most games or... well just about any task that's made smartphones so popular.

Now I can see some use cases for having a device that can operate independently from a phone but, sorry, I really think they're only going to affect a minority of users.

I agree completely. No way watches replace phones - phones have been getting BIGGER because we like something that's still portable (if you have big pockets) that can do a lot of stuff. No way am I streaming a baseball game to my wrist while I wait for my flight.

 

[kdarling]

It strikes me as odd that we hear leaks that imply Apple struggled to finish the watch on time.

Cook's rep was on the line. He had promised new stuff back in 2013. He had to show something off in 2014.

Holograms? That is so 23rd century... everybody knows Steve received neural-transmission nano-spore technology from the aliens before he died. I think it's about time they start using it.

Died? I thought the aliens took him home.

I agree completely. No way watches replace phones - phones have been getting BIGGER because we like something that's still portable (if you have big pockets) that can do a lot of stuff.

No way am I streaming a baseball game to my wrist while I wait for my flight.

Ah, well that's because no one's done it correctly yet. The phone should be able to not only wrap around your wrist for portability, but also be able to come off and become a regular large smartphone screen.

Something like the slap bracelet or the Philips Fluid concepts:





Or the famous Nokia 888 concept, which predated the iPhone by three years:

 

[thekeyring]

Can I get the Nextel sound as an alert?

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I agree completely. No way watches replace phones - phones have been getting BIGGER because we like something that's still portable (if you have big pockets) that can do a lot of stuff. No way am I streaming a baseball game to my wrist while I wait for my flight.

I keep seeing this statement but can't for the life of me figure out why. You're talking about a device which has a screen that's a couple of inches across at absolute most. How on earth is this expected to replace a smartphone screen? How do you type or view anything bigger than a few lines of text or use a web site or manage any media with a complex list (music, photos etc) or play most games or... well just about any task that's made smartphones so popular.

Now I can see some use cases for having a device that can operate independently from a phone but, sorry, I really think they're only going to affect a minority of users.

Really good points. I think for some users some of the time the Watch is all they need, and it's nice to not have to have a phone in your pocket, too.

Again, I personally would always want both. But there's something - and I can't put my finger on why exactly - that I don't like about the Watch's reliance on the iPhone. Maybe it's irrational, and it won't stop me from getting a Watch, but it's there.

 

[McCool71]

I keep seeing this statement but can't for the life of me figure out why. You're talking about a device which has a screen that's a couple of inches across at absolute most. How on earth is this expected to replace a smartphone screen?

I think the situation over time - not in a year or two of course - will be that all the processing power, storage, communications and so on will move to the wrist, and the 'big screen' you need for certain stuff will be just a 'dumb' screen that communicates with the watch when you need it. And it will probably be a fold-out version that gives way more screen size than what a reasonably pocketable phone does today.

In other words the exact opposite of the relationship between smart watches and cell phones today where the majority of stuff is handled by the phone.

Don't forget that most websites have cell phone versions of the site available, and there is no problem surfing most of them on something like a Samsung Gear S (which actually has a higher resolution screen than the original iPhone). No problem typing on that screen either - if you insist on doing that instead of using voice to text that works very well these days. Of course you do not write long e-mails or novels on such a device, but no-one in their right mind would do that on a cell phone either.

That being said; why does a smart watch need to have a small screen? I hope some manufacturers have the guts to move away from the 'it has to look like an old-fashioned watch for some weird reason'-thinking, because that way of handling the design just leads to lots of artificial constrains that cripples a potentially great product.

If I could have something like kdarling shows in the concept renders post a little bit up - a curved large screen that wraps around your wrist - I would ditch my regular cell phone in a heartbeat.

I think the Samsung Gear S (big curved screen, sim card support, GPS +++) is the best smart watch today by a huge margin if you look at the potential and usability of the technology. But then again, it does not look like an old-fashioned watch at all and quite a few people seem to have an issue with that.