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Apple Watch Series 3 Unlikely to Support Direct Phone Calls, but VoIP Calling a Possibility
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Which people? Those who don't use ANY of the computing or consumption features of a smartphone?
And I thought the 4" iPhone SE screen was small...
Remember when a phone was “too small to be a real computer”? What changed? We don’t have laptop sized phones in our pockets, yet most people can live without a laptop and rely on only their iPhone.
The answer: The user interface paradigm changed. Unlike other companies, Apple didn’t try to fit a desktop cursor based UI into a phone screen. UI’s designed for desktops and laptops weren’t going to work effectively on small screens. Instead, apps with finger sized buttons and simplified user interfaces made the unlikely reality of phones replacing laptops, reality today.
The same will happen with wrist worn computers. The paradigm for interacting with computers will change once again. Siri is the answer to that. When you’re able to interact with your computer in natural speech conversations, there won’t need to be a screen at all for most tasks. A small screen on a watch will augment spoken info with basic visual information. As of watchOS 4, Apple is getting really good at that. They’ve managed to make a small screen incredibly efficient at conveying information. Siri itself is catching up and moving towards being capable of natural conversation.
So saying that the watch won’t replace a smartphone is like those who said that a smartphone would never replace a laptop. You’re going to be proven wrong.
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The future of Apple is wearables,
You need to call somebody, check your notification or send a short text, you will use the Apple Watch.
Do you want to do more serious reading, more serious writing, searching the web, buy articles online, playing games or work in your area profissional software you will use augmented reality glasses.
Think about it, throught your airpods Siri tells you John1 is calling and you answer the call throught your Apple Watch.
John1, tells you he is going to send you the new design for the motorcycle he is working on.
The call finishes...
You ask Siri to send a mensage to John2 saying that John 1 sent you the design, and that you will revise It and then forward it to him.
While Siri sends the mensage to john2 throught Apple Watch 6, you take your Apple Glasses from your shirt pocket and put them on.
Then have an augmented reality UI that surrounds you.
Siri says you have received a new file from John, you open it and there you go you see the motorcycle right in front of you, It looks cool, and you forward It.
As wearables displace Iphones, IPads will get their shiny years. Slimmer and slimmer they will become foldable displays, that you may bring with you as a little magic book.
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This stuff from Ming is speculative drivel at it's best and isn't worth the time of day. Macrumors, Can you move on from posting this crap?
Nobody has to buy Apple but when they do, they have to spend a lot. When they do spend a lot, they don't want to have it decrease in resell value so quickly.
Ming Chi Kuo is pretty accurate when it comes to iPhone and iPad rumours, as those info come from Foxconn factories (where he gets his Intel from). Less so for other products like the watch which aren't assembled at Foxconn.
It's about knowing which of his info to listen to and which to be skeptical about.
I'm thinking he is wrong here. Phone calls would be one of the biggest reasons to add LTE. Now that most of the US carriers allow your calls to come thru on your iPhone, iPad, Computer, etc it only makes sense to extend that the the watch as well.
An LTE Apple Watch and a set of AirPods (or other bluetooth headphones/headset) would be a great setup for taking calls, not to mention listening to streaming radio when you aren't near your phone. I'm sure you'll have some goofballs trying to talk on their watch using it like a speakerphone though.
LG and Samsung already have watches out that do this as far as I know. I believe it costs $5/month to add them to your Verizon plan, not sure about other carriers. If the new Apple Watch has LTE and supports calls/texts/notifications when away from your phone I may finally pick one up for myself. As I've explained elsewhere my employer has WiFi locked down so I can't get my phone/watch on there. That would make the current watch much less useful if I walk away from my desk without my phone, so I have never bothered buying one. My wife's employer allows her to add her phone/watch to their WiFi so I bought a series 2 for her on Mother's day and she has been very happy with it since she leaves her iPhone in her office many times when she has to walk around the building.
An LTE Apple Watch and a set of AirPods (or other bluetooth headphones/headset) would be a great setup for taking calls, not to mention listening to streaming radio when you aren't near your phone. I'm sure you'll have some goofballs trying to talk on their watch using it like a speakerphone though.
LG and Samsung already have watches out that do this as far as I know. I believe it costs $5/month to add them to your Verizon plan, not sure about other carriers. If the new Apple Watch has LTE and supports calls/texts/notifications when away from your phone I may finally pick one up for myself. As I've explained elsewhere my employer has WiFi locked down so I can't get my phone/watch on there. That would make the current watch much less useful if I walk away from my desk without my phone, so I have never bothered buying one. My wife's employer allows her to add her phone/watch to their WiFi so I bought a series 2 for her on Mother's day and she has been very happy with it since she leaves her iPhone in her office many times when she has to walk around the building.
Screen size is everything to me. The current watch is simply too small for my needs. But if the watch evolves into a standalone phone with a wireless (blue tooth) "fold up" screen that can be unfurled for more screen RE, THAT would be the point where I would jump in. Bye bye iPhone....
I don't think he is. His information is constantly changing and he puts out everything under the sun. If you pick and choose the stuff he's correct on, then you're simply looking at confirmation bias for him being accurate.
What do voice calls use these days? GSM? GPRS? Don't the LTE chipsets include that stuff? If you can do VOIP and you can do cellular data, why wouldn't you do cellular voice calls? Seems mad.
Will I be able to talk to my iWatch and summon my iCar? "KITT, I need you buddy!", said Michael.
You could ask me for a list of 10 things I would want for the next Apple Watch and LTE support wouldn't crack the top 20.
Give me week long battery life, give me always on, smaller footprint, give me better health tech.
Who needs to make a call with their watch? A small percentage of runners???
Give me week long battery life, give me always on, smaller footprint, give me better health tech.
Who needs to make a call with their watch? A small percentage of runners???
Sure, that's why there won't be Android app for Apple Watch.
But strangely I have Iphone app for my Android watch.
The sting for those original 17k edition purchasers has worn off by now, so yearly updates won't hurt as much now, lol
That is exactly what an eSim purports to be. A Sim card built into the electronics of the device. A device with no sim at all would definitely get better value... because it wouldn't be able to connect to any kind of network, so the cost of data would be $0.
lol.. MacRumors reporting an Apple rumor from a source who’s provided reliable and credible information time and time again? Imagine that!
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The most important thing: will the new series 3 watch bands be compatible with series 4 and 5 offerings. Apple owes us this information at the very least!
If you had said the future will be displays-on-glasses... projecting a virtual desktop in front of my eyes... I could imagine that.
But a 1.5" screen on my wrist doesn't sound like a fun future.
I wouldn't want to read your 221 word comment on an Apple Watch... and I wouldn't want Siri to read it to me aloud either.
Displays will still be a part of computing for quite some time. And there's a limit to how small a display can be and still be comfortable and enjoyable.
Paradigms don't change that much.
You're right... some people have a phone as their only device. They don't even own a computer. And that can work well enough.
Phones have a good balance of screen size and portability. Smaller than a laptop... but still visually rich. In fact... most of the web and plenty of entertainment are now viewed on phone-sized screens.
But an even tinier watch? Instead of a phone? I'm not seein' it.
It all comes back to screen size.
Even as voice-assistants get better and better... you still have LOOK at stuff quite often. And you'll have to type more than a couple words at a time. Siri also won't help with pictures and video. Tiny watch screens don't make any of that stuff better.
You said people can live without a laptop and rely on only a phone. And I agree.
But let's see how many people can live without a phone and rely on only a smartwatch.
Masochists
emergency calling is about all that matters to me. That and music streaming. Those two will have me buying. Anything more is icing on the cake.