Apple Fuels iWatch Rumors by Seeking Exercise Physiologist to Lead Fitness Tests

[Blakjack]

why do people doubt apple? I was one who thought the whole watch thing was going to be big. And I still do.

its funny to see people who just knew the watch thing was a bad idea start getting really excited about it now.

iphone-doomed, now a complete success

ipad-doomed, now a complete success

AppletV-what are they doing, slowly but surely becoming more and more successful

iwatch-no one will buy a watch. Who still wears watches?!....the iwatch will succeed because Apple will make sure the device is something that is an extention of us and not just something we use.

 

[Rogifan]

Those are some seriously cool artistic mockups.

I'm curious how you'd make something like that fit a wide range of wrists? I have really skinny wrists and bracelet type watches never fit them.

 

[EvilQueen]

Not too keen on the look of this new mockup. I agree with someone else that you would have to put your arm at strange angles to see it and it seems like it would turn more easily on your arm requiring constant adjustments to viewing angle.

 

[Chaos215bar2]

Those are some seriously cool artistic mockups.

But they look absolutely horrendous to wear.

 

[musika]

Also worth noting... While that mockup may seem eye-catching at first glance, I don't see Apple doing a UI like that. It will of course draw ideas from iOS on the phone, generally, but I think the way that information will be presented on the watch will be much different. Most context-oriented and glanceable, less icon oriented.

I think it will draw a lot of cues from traditional watches. The killer app on the watch is time. That needs to stay true to an extent, but since screens allow us to add so much more, things like subtle weather, fitness and phone-related notifications. But if we just start throwing app icons on this tiny screen, it'll defeat the purpose.

So hopefully Apple does something different there. I think they will.

 

[Rogifan]

Entirely possible, the Nike Fuelband, which the above mockup takes most of it's design cues from, already incorporates the design....

Nike Fuelband teardown

Image

With this in mind, along with Apple hiring several key people from the Nike Fuelband team, I really do think we're going to see Apple's much cooler take on the Fuelband sometime soon.

I'd much rather have something like this than a Pebble or Gear type device. I can't see myself spending $200+ on a device that's basically a secondary notification screen. It's not that difficult to pull a phone out of a pocket or purse IMO.

 

[QuiteSure]

I'm Shocked, Shocked!

Apple is leaking these rumors to keep its customers from buying Pebbles or Gears.

 

[Lennholm]

As cool as those mockups look, I wonder how practical they would be. I can imagine they would either be too slim to make anything discernible on the small area or too wide to wear comfortably.

 

[brsboarder]

doesn't this mean its quite far off if they're still hiring people like this?

 

[iBreatheApple]

That mockup is exceptional. This is everything I wanted out of the iWatch. Let's do it right, Apple. Take your time. We need another 2007 announcement in terms of innovation and ovation.

 

[RedOrchestra]

An Apple BANGLE - looks pretty girlie!

 

[iBreatheApple]

doesn't this mean its quite far off if they're still hiring people like this?

As hard as it is for me to say this... Who cares? I want this done the right way and I want my mind to be blown. If they can follow that mockup, I'd be glad to wait until 2015.

An Apple BANGLE - pretty girlie!

Oh God, here we go. If people are saying this already about a black version, I can't even imagine what they'd say about the white one.

 

[puckhead193]

I think that they're gonna blow us out of the water with this thing. Knowing Apple, they're probably putting the time and thought into all of the basics that nobody else is.

While all other companies rush their stuff to the market with the longest lists of terribly implemented features, Apple is taking their time. I mean, of course we'll have to wait and see. But I expect good things.

apple wasn't the first to invent the mp3 player... they looked at what the competitors were doing wrong and completely did the opposite.

 

[osx11]

Not too keen on the look of this new mockup. I agree with someone else that you would have to put your arm at strange angles to see it and it seems like it would turn more easily on your arm requiring constant adjustments to viewing angle.

Maybe it has a 360° screen and with the sensors it will know which way is facing up. That would be awesome!

 

[iBreatheApple]

What I do hope, however, is that this is more of a long-term device that's not refreshed every year. I know that's now how companies think, but still...

 

[IJ Reilly]

I'm curious how you'd make something like that fit a wide range of wrists? I have really skinny wrists and bracelet type watches never fit them.

Likewise. And women also have skinnier wrists than men, in general. It would have to be adjustable or offered in sizes.

 

[oliversl]

This kind of renderings only hurts Apple. Is the same when a news iPhone is close to announcement. What happen in peoples mind is that they create a lot of excitement and fantasies. Then, the real product is revealed and some people feels down.

 

[iCore24]

This is gonna be great! I mean they hired professionals for every aspect of it, a sleeping expert for sleep tracking, physiologist for exercise monitoring, some company to test your blood for glucose, blood pressure etc, a fashion designer (plus Jony Ive) for design, and of course APPLE for the basic functions and UI! This watch will also be Tim Cook's first major project, so I'm excited to see how he does?

 

[musika]

apple wasn't the first to invent the mp3 player... they looked at what the competitors were doing wrong and completely did the opposite.

I never said they were the first.

 

[simonmet]

I'm starting to think this whole iWatch thing is more like a "reimagined" iPod nano/shuffle concept rather than a watch concept. Those product lines (and iPods in general) have really stagnated in recent years and are in dire need of a major rethink and refresh.

As a sport and exercise iPod I can see how something like this could work and be popular for Apple. I never saw how Apple would market a digital watch that we're supposed to wear all the time. That just doesn't recognise or acknowledge why most people wear watches which is as jewellery and nor is it practical from a battery life perspective.

Is this what other people are thinking?

 

[Smithy0521]

If it does look anything like this what would be the starting price? Would it be waterproof? I imagine it has to be sweatproof.

 

[AppleInLVX]

it's a cool mockup but they wouldn't work in actual use. You'd have to bend your arm kinda weird to actually look at the screen.

To say nothing of the fact that if they're at all loose, and you want to use the touch screen, the device would slide all over and around your wrist, making it unusable.

The worst part of cool mockups is that they take away from the 'wow' factor of the actual thing when it's released. I remember thinking that about one of the iPhone releases when the mockups were making the rounds and settled on a popular one, like this design has settled on the watch concept.

 

[crsh1976]

Those are some seriously cool artistic mockups.

And totally unusable, thankfully they're just mock-ups.

 

[bbeagle]

You're getting excited about something you know nothing about? Life just isn't doing it for you, then.

I'm excited about the next Star Wars movie, I'm excited about the Olympics, I'm excited about my upcoming vacation, the concert I'm going to in the summer.

It's NORMAL to be excited about things coming up in the future. It's NOT NORMAL to pick on people just because they're excited in something you're not.

 

[EvilQueen]

Maybe it has a 360° screen and with the sensors it will know which way is facing up. That would be awesome!

Well there's an idea. But I still think I would like it being tighter and not like a plastic bracelet. Guys don't want something that looks like a bracelet...unless it matches my wardrobe.