Apple Watch Sightings Picking Up Ahead of Official Launch

[poe diddley]

"giving us an in-use look at the device that will be attached to many of our wrists in just a few short months."

It will not be attached to my wrist. I wish apple the best of luck with it, but I haven't worn a watch since I was 12, and I'm not about to start now.

 

[riverfreak]

I stopped wearing a watch around seven years ago as everywhere I look I can see a clock: in the car, in the house, on my computer, etc. When I did wear one I felt guilty for wasting money if I spent $100 on a watch. $350 is just not going to happen. In addition I just haven't seen any reports of what it's supposed to do that make me even want to consider it. If I had an extra $350+ burning a hole in my pocket I've got better things to spend it on than an accessory for my phone.

Obviously, Apple should have named this something other than "Watch". The time-readout is probably the least useful function of the device.

It's about your technology being more seamless. It's incredibly rude to (have to) take a phone out of your pocket because you are expecting an urgent call only to discover its your friend calling to say what's up. Now, say, what if your watch silently notified you that the important call had arrived. This is just one contrived example.

In essence, it is what Google is trying and failing to do with Glass, because Glass actually makes you more immersed and more removed from your everyday surroundings, not less.

 

[autrefois]

Hundreds of Apple engineers, employees, and testers are wearing the Apple Watch on a regular basis to help Apple iron out last minute bugs and issues.

If only they had done this before releasing Yosemite... Kinda makes me wish my MacBook Pro was a wearable device, too!

 

[mateytate]

It needs to be able to operate in stand-alone mode with voice and data connectivity for situations where I can't take the phone with me.

Well it doesn't as that wouldn't be a smart watch, that would be a phone with a strap.

 

[Tonewheel]

iWatch in a coffee shop. How deliciously cliché.

 

[blucurv]

As someone who has Android wear, I can tell you that while neat and nice at times, smart watches are more or less just a novelty item.

To be fair, so far, Android Wear is sort of a novelty. Where I can see Watch being really useful is the HomeKit and Pay integration. Not having to reach out for my keys to unlock my house door, to unlock/turn on a car, to pay for transportation, or to pay for gas/groceries. Those things alone make the Watch more than a novelty.

 

[neilw]

if I had to start charging my watch everyday, I would likely stop wearing one. the first gen of Smartwatches, both Apple and Android are non-started because of it. None ofthese things are able to replicate the "jewellery" and simplicity of maintenance of non-smartwatches.

I agree. In fact, this is exactly why smartphones never took off, since they require daily (or more!) charging while the devices they would have replaced routinely lasted a week. Who needs that?

Seriously, it is amazing to me how many people are ready to make definitive pronouncements about a product they have neither used, seen in person, nor read a real review of. We're in "wait and see" mode at this point.

 

[Daalseth]

Obviously, Apple should have named this something other than "Watch". The time-readout is probably the least useful function of the device.

Absolutely right. Just like the phone is the least important part of the iPhone (Some may think that's snarky but I'm serious. The telephone partis way down the list after messaging, emails, web surfing, FaceTime, maps, ...)

It's about your technology being more seamless. It's incredibly rude to (have to) take a phone out of your pocket because you are expecting an urgent call only to discover its your friend calling to say what's up. Now, say, what if your watch silently notified you that the important call had arrived. This is just one contrived example.

True but in my case I get maybe one call a week so for me it's not really an issue. YMMV

In essence, it is what Google is trying and failing to do with Glass, because Glass actually makes you more immersed and more removed from your everyday surroundings, not less.

A very shrewd analyses. +1

 

[topmounter]

Who said you have to buy one every year?

The Joneses.

----------

iWatch in a coffee shop. How deliciously cliché.

HAHA, prepare for it to get worse. Much, much worse.

 

[spiderman0616]

I agree. In fact, this is exactly why smartphones never took off, since they require daily (or more!) charging while the devices they would have replaced routinely lasted a week. Who needs that?

Seriously, it is amazing to me how many people are ready to make definitive pronouncements about a product they have neither used, seen in person, nor read a real review of. We're in "wait and see" mode at this point.

The people making these statements are people who wouldn't buy one even if it did everything they wanted. This is just the iPod, iPad, and iPhone all over again.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

If I use the watch for apple pay will I still need to have my phone near by?

Yes you do.

 

[cmichaelb]

It does look pretty thick that you mention it.
Im hoping for significant batter improvement and/or facetime.
Granted I may still buy the low end model this time around to see if I even find it practical in my life.

Yes! When I can go full on Dick Tracy then I'll want one!

 

[LordVic]

I agree. In fact, this is exactly why smartphones never took off, since they require daily (or more!) charging while the devices they would have replaced routinely lasted a week. Who needs that?

Seriously, it is amazing to me how many people are ready to make definitive pronouncements about a product they have neither used, seen in person, nor read a real review of. We're in "wait and see" mode at this point.

Apple has already said that expected battery life of the Apple watch is ~19 hours of mixed mode usage, and approximately 3-4 hours of usage time.

I'm not opposed to smartwatches themselves. I'm eagerly anticipating the innovation and advancement of technology. Apple is in a great place to try and get into this market and do very well.

I however think that Apple will not sell 20+ million of these things. maybe 5-10m. Because of limitations of the current technology.

Battery life is a big deal. During the smartphone advances, we saw battery life drop from feature phones of a few days to a day. it sucked, but the overall improvement in functionality and displays were a willing trade off.

However, for my own usage, we're talking about going from a watch with unlimited battery life and never needs to be charged to a watch that will require itself being charged every night, or sometimes if a heavy usage day, twice in a day.

Not a willing trade off for convenience for me.

 

[GenesisST]

Maybe I'm alone here but I haven't worn a watch since I was a child, and I don't plan on spending $350 for a new watch when my iPhone can tell the time, check my mail and do pretty much anything I need when I'm mobile.

I haven't worn one since my last one died, which is about 14-15 years ago. I do reserve judgment on the Apple Watch. Will probably wait a generation or two.

I would absolutely need waterproof, because, well, I'm a klutz and am absent-minded.

 

[Consultant]

Could it be the fake one sold at CES?

 

[I7guy]

I remember the lines for the first IPad and I had a reservation and bypassed the people camped out.

I don't wear a watch because I have to download a 100 page PDF file just to change to daylight savings time. After the third time, this watch is not intuitive and I just use my phone for time.

But even though I have an iPhone 6, I would still use the watch for ApplePay which I use all of the time, especially after I found many more stores with this app https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mobile-pay-finder/id942307294?mt=8

The other thing I like about the watch is the ability to change bands. And if it can track my distance running and walking that is an added advantage as well.

My rank of features.
1. Apple Pay integration
2. Calendar
3. Automatic Time Setting
4. Fitness Tracking
5. Interchangeable Bands.

I haven't worn a watch I ages but Im thinking of the surge or the Iwatch as I wear a fitbit for the last year. The success of android wearables has shown there is a market for "smart" watches.

I guess I'll make up my mind after the Iwatch is announced.

 

[tonyp1222]

I harbor the same feelings as most people here. I really want to want it. I just don't.

The biggest reason being that I don't know if this is best execution of the user experience that Mark Sullivan outlines in his thoughts from VentureBeat. I mean, this is what I want too:

I could see it as a powerful personal assistant that's always just an arm's lift away to help you make sense of the minutiae of daily life: the schedules and reminders and appointments and social media and everything else we all have to process every minute of every day.​

I just don't think Apple Watch is just that yet, for a few key reasons. I wrote an article about this that was published on PSFK a while back (headline was not my headline, but I digress).

http://www.psfk.com/2014/09/apples-smartwatch-fails-cant-cursory.html

The Apple Watch may have some appeal and may sell relatively well, but it hasn’t quite changed perspectives on smartwatches in the way the iPhone did with smartphones.

Let’s think for a moment about the core function of a watch. For the longest time, it has given us a quick glance of critical information: the time. As more devices started giving us the time, the watch became more of a fashion accessory. In order to generate demand, tech companies have infused their watches with new smart functions as a way to overcome any reservations about fashion appeal. The problem is that all of that functionality adds up to an experience most of us don’t want: spending a whole lot of time tinkering with our wrists.

Even when the function of telling the time was a critical application of the wristwatch, the maximum time we spent looking at it was 1-3 seconds. By the very nature of its position on our bodies and its diminutive size, the wristwatch isn’t meant for browsing maps or opening secondary menus with hard presses. Watches are instead meant to consistently live with us in a way our phones can’t. The experience shouldn’t be immersive like a phone; it should be cursory, much like time itself.​

With that in mind, I proposed a design that isn't too far from the general idea of Withings Activite. I doubt it's actually possible yet (technologically speaking), but I think the holy grail of smart watches would be something I dubbed "The ICE." It sports a mechanical watchface with only one “smart” addition, a “Glacial Glass” display that frosts over to show information in select situations - info that would only take about 1-3 seconds to absorb.

 

[nezr]

fugly

Moto 360 looks x100000 better

 

[Poochi]

Apple has already said that expected battery life of the Apple watch is ~19 hours of mixed mode usage, and approximately 3-4 hours of usage time.

I'm not opposed to smartwatches themselves. I'm eagerly anticipating the innovation and advancement of technology. Apple is in a great place to try and get into this market and do very well.

I however think that Apple will not sell 20+ million of these things. maybe 5-10m. Because of limitations of the current technology.

Battery life is a big deal. During the smartphone advances, we saw battery life drop from feature phones of a few days to a day. it sucked, but the overall improvement in functionality and displays were a willing trade off.

However, for my own usage, we're talking about going from a watch with unlimited battery life and never needs to be charged to a watch that will require itself being charged every night, or sometimes if a heavy usage day, twice in a day.

Not a willing trade off for convenience for me.

Exactly that..

You'll need to bring ANOTHER charger to leave at work to charge the watch mid day!

Also, forget about sleep tracking... you would be charging the watch instead!

Lastly, with frequent charging, what's the longevity of the battery? It does not appear to be user replaceable, so this would be yet another gadget to be upgrading frequently (unlike traditional watches)

 

[spiderman0616]

The people calling it "iWatch" are about 100x more annoying than the people who say "iTouch" instead of "iPod Touch".

 

[blubyu]

Maybe I'm alone here but I haven't worn a watch since I was a child, and I don't plan on spending $350 for a new watch when my iPhone can tell the time, check my mail and do pretty much anything I need when I'm mobile.

I have worn a watch every day since I was 13. I regularly buy a new watch every couple of years that cost more than $350. Just because you don't, doesn't mean that nobody does.

I understand that there are people that don't buy watches. I also know that there are quite a few people that still do. If we didn't, then the watch makers would be out of business by now.

 

[DanielSw]

No one is going into Apple Watch caring about time. iPhones already do that for everyone. What iPhones can't do is be worn on your wrist. So now you have a proxy for an iPhone on your wrist. It won't be able to do everything but iPhone can't do everything the watch does either. And the wrist is infinitely more convenient especially when you think of receiving many texts, emails or even calls in a day.

Finally! Your post stands out from the vast array of mindless drivel posts from the chronically blind and stupid.

It's the form factor that's significant, not what it's called. The iPone is actually a mobile computing device. Jony Ive said the Watch was the most personal device Apple has ever produced. The first one was the "personal" computer, the Macintosh. Then the form factor shifted to the iPhone and the iPad. Now it's shifted to the "wrist device" conveniently called Watch.

We have yet to see its functionality thanks to Apple and third-party developers.

LOOK, don't THINK, is the watchword. We'll SEE what it can do.

 

[AdonisSMU]

The one in the coffee shop looks incredibly huge on the guys wrist. I really can't see tons of people flocking to them or at least not the larger of the 2.

I prefer the bigger one in silver.

 

[spiderman0616]

I harbor the same feelings as most people here. I really want to want it. I just don't.

The biggest reason being that I don't know if this is best execution of the user experience that Mark Sullivan outlines in his thoughts from VentureBeat. I mean, this is what I want too:

I could see it as a powerful personal assistant that's always just an arm's lift away to help you make sense of the minutiae of daily life: the schedules and reminders and appointments and social media and everything else we all have to process every minute of every day.​

I just don't think Apple Watch is just that yet, for a few key reasons. I wrote an article about this that was published on PSFK a while back (headline was not my headline, but I digress).

http://www.psfk.com/2014/09/apples-smartwatch-fails-cant-cursory.html

The Apple Watch may have some appeal and may sell relatively well, but it hasn’t quite changed perspectives on smartwatches in the way the iPhone did with smartphones.

Let’s think for a moment about the core function of a watch. For the longest time, it has given us a quick glance of critical information: the time. As more devices started giving us the time, the watch became more of a fashion accessory. In order to generate demand, tech companies have infused their watches with new smart functions as a way to overcome any reservations about fashion appeal. The problem is that all of that functionality adds up to an experience most of us don’t want: spending a whole lot of time tinkering with our wrists.

Even when the function of telling the time was a critical application of the wristwatch, the maximum time we spent looking at it was 1-3 seconds. By the very nature of its position on our bodies and its diminutive size, the wristwatch isn’t meant for browsing maps or opening secondary menus with hard presses. Watches are instead meant to consistently live with us in a way our phones can’t. The experience shouldn’t be immersive like a phone; it should be cursory, much like time itself.​

With that in mind, I proposed a design that isn't too far from the general idea of Withings Activite. I doubt it's actually possible yet (technologically speaking), but I think the holy grail of smart watches would be something I dubbed "The ICE." It sports a mechanical watchface with only one “smart” addition, a “Glacial Glass” display that frosts over to show information in select situations - info that would only take about 1-3 seconds to absorb.

Image

You base a lot of your comments on what you THINK the Apple Watch is going to do and how it's going to do it. The truth is, only Apple and its testers have that information. Ok, a Venture Beat guy looked over some guy's shoulder for a second. That still tells us nothing. 99.99% of the world has not gotten to use these things and has only seen pre-release software running on non interactive demo units.

Perhaps Apple's mistake here was announcing this thing before the software was ready. They've left the door wide open for haters and skeptics to declare it a failure. Though, the same thing happened with the iPhone and iPad, and those were shown with what was (we thought at the time) working software.

The peanut gallery is always going to have their comments. Most of them aren't Apple's market anyway, and if their current pace of iPhone sales tells us anything, it's that most tech writers, Wall Street analysts, and forum troll really don't understand how Apple operates.

 

[Totalkharnage]

You'd think people would learn before dismissing an new Apple product out of hand.. We heard similar comments expressed with the original iPhone, the iPad and the latest iPhone 6/6+.

I'm not saying it's going to be a runaway success but until we get to use it ourselves and developers have had a chance to get hands on and develop native apps, we can't say one way or the other wether it'll be a success. Many peoples original reaction to the iPad was 'it's a big iPod Touch'. I remember many people at work saying the same thing when I showed them my iPad but within a year all of them had bought one.

What we can do, and many are doing, is expressing an opinion based on what Apple have shown us already and, admittedly, they did a rather poor job of it at the keynote.

Roll on April I say. Just hope we get it in the UK shortly after.