Hewlett Packard is still king of the watches IMHO. The HP-01 is a true classic:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-01
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-01
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Apple Working With Swatch for iWatch With Multiple Designs, Price Points?
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I don't see an iSwatch ever coming into existence.
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Are you calling Hublot a POS ??
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Are you calling Hublot a POS ??
A small screen that is curved on the band itself, below the watch module. So if you look at your watch, and rotate your hand away from you, you will see a screen that is dedicated to the iwatch functionality. It will show notifications and sensor data. Kind of like whena watch has one of those tiny compasses around the band- there below the watch face.
That is quite interesting. Your idea/impression really seems like the most realistic yet. This would enable Apple to get a big piece of the market, while still allowing consumers to purchase say a Rolex, Omega, or POS watch face. If I am understanding what you are saying specifically. So the face itself will be mechanical, but will also be an electronic wearable. Am I correct in your assertions here?
No. Casio made the most innovations in the digital watches area and more recent in the analog watches field.
A typical diabates tester costs nothing. You can get them for free directly from the maker (at least where I live, Western Europe). They are not making the money by selling these devices - the big money lies in selling the testing stripes. Compare it to a printer and its printer cartridges - same business model.
If the rumors are true that the iWatch (or any other smartwatch) will not need any testing stripes and will be able to measure the blood sugar level by sweat only, then I bet you will get such a watch instead of a traditional diabetes tester from your health insurance. It would be a revolution. Abbott, Roche and others companies who produce and distribute diabetes testers/stripes would lose an unbelievable amount of income. So the iWatch would be maybe 1,000 $ for once, but testing stripes for type 1 diabetic are about approximately 100 $ a single month...
So... I believe those iWatch rumors could be true, but I can't believe those about the blood sugar sensor...
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I don't think it would be of medical standards. I won't trust any wrist worn watch to make a real accurate heart rate nor would I trust it for blood sugar. But now if you made the bracelet composed of mini lancets, I might give it a second look..
Then look away again...
Go ahead and collect your Casios if that's what you like. I rather have the HP-01.
Sounds unnecessarily complex. My bet is for the band to be plain and simple and if any may have some sort of indication mechanism. It will use magnets and not a silly clip latch. The interface will be via the face but the smarts will be in the band.
Agree with your prediction of opening up the band interface to watch manufacturers. Watch manufacturers will need to move with the times and innovate electronics into there watch faces. This mechanical stuff is archaic.
So this article is suggest a sort of iOS in the car for watches.
Sounds plausible only for the fact apple makes better hardware and has better ID than 99% of watch makers and can do a better job by working with premium brands.
Swatch is cheap crap that was popular in the 80s, everyone thinks they're chintz and not worth the plastic their made from
Sounds plausible only for the fact apple makes better hardware and has better ID than 99% of watch makers and can do a better job by working with premium brands.
Swatch is cheap crap that was popular in the 80s, everyone thinks they're chintz and not worth the plastic their made from
Partnership
One thing that not everyone of you might know is the following:
1. If you want a watch to be labelled "Swiss made", then the assembly and a certain amount of pieces have to be done in Switzerland. And being swiss made in the watch industry, especially for a new player is THE most important thing.
2. Swatch not only sells watches but dominates 80% of the component market for brands that are not manufacturing mechanisms on their own (besides the internal brands there's brands like Hublot and the ones made under license, like Armani watches and others).
So one scenario would be that apple seeks components that are watch specific by swatch, to be labelled "Swiss made".
One scenario is also that the Iwatch will be assembled in Switzerland with part of Swiss components and part of Asian made ones (the high tech sensors).
Remember: the Swiss are good at keeping secrets so leaks might be zero up to now, also because there already are several assembly lines for third party watches, so figuring out one is for apple might be pretty difficult...
The Swiss watch industry (swatch group grew 4% in the quarter), would manufacture the Iwatch under license from apple with some apple components in it but under Apple design and specification.
Swatch group knows how to handle materials like sapphire and liquimetal (omega made one liquimetal watch).
Swatch knows how to produce watches from 60 dollars (Swiss made, mechanical, 60 dollars is bout as hard as it gets), to the average tissot (with t-touch tech, touchscreen on mechanical watch) to omega.
All this would be: an easy secret to keep, catch the whole smart watch industry flat footed and immediately entrench apple with the traditional watch industry's biggest player. Sharing patents and erecting barriers for competitors.
All the rest of the industry of smart watches would look geekish overnight.
Cook is the only guy that can pull this off (jobs would have never been capable).
And, for apple, this would really mean entering the wearable markets in style. With their own design (not, like the post suggest, repeating the iTunes Motorola fiasco).
Apply that to luxottica (look up the brands that they own: bonus tip: Ray ban, Oakley)....
You might consider this as a major shift for apple, but it would make total sense.
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2 billion Swiss francs net income in 2013...
http://www.swatchgroup.com/en/conte...ion/3/file/2013_annual_report_complete_en.pdf
Swatch group assembly
http://www.swatchgroup.com/en/brands_and_companies/production/swatch_group_assembly
Makes for an interesting read. Remember: you might not be "into it". But developing countries, and affluent middle aged people are buying watches in droves. And the luxury market doesn't know the meaning of recession.
Moreover: swatch is not an amateur company, it had gross sales of 8.4 billion Swiss francs in 2013 (up 8% from previous year).
Apple is not dumb. They want to tap in that market. High margins, high sales.
One thing that not everyone of you might know is the following:
1. If you want a watch to be labelled "Swiss made", then the assembly and a certain amount of pieces have to be done in Switzerland. And being swiss made in the watch industry, especially for a new player is THE most important thing.
2. Swatch not only sells watches but dominates 80% of the component market for brands that are not manufacturing mechanisms on their own (besides the internal brands there's brands like Hublot and the ones made under license, like Armani watches and others).
So one scenario would be that apple seeks components that are watch specific by swatch, to be labelled "Swiss made".
One scenario is also that the Iwatch will be assembled in Switzerland with part of Swiss components and part of Asian made ones (the high tech sensors).
Remember: the Swiss are good at keeping secrets so leaks might be zero up to now, also because there already are several assembly lines for third party watches, so figuring out one is for apple might be pretty difficult...
The Swiss watch industry (swatch group grew 4% in the quarter), would manufacture the Iwatch under license from apple with some apple components in it but under Apple design and specification.
Swatch group knows how to handle materials like sapphire and liquimetal (omega made one liquimetal watch).
Swatch knows how to produce watches from 60 dollars (Swiss made, mechanical, 60 dollars is bout as hard as it gets), to the average tissot (with t-touch tech, touchscreen on mechanical watch) to omega.
All this would be: an easy secret to keep, catch the whole smart watch industry flat footed and immediately entrench apple with the traditional watch industry's biggest player. Sharing patents and erecting barriers for competitors.
All the rest of the industry of smart watches would look geekish overnight.
Cook is the only guy that can pull this off (jobs would have never been capable).
And, for apple, this would really mean entering the wearable markets in style. With their own design (not, like the post suggest, repeating the iTunes Motorola fiasco).
Apply that to luxottica (look up the brands that they own: bonus tip: Ray ban, Oakley)....
You might consider this as a major shift for apple, but it would make total sense.
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2 billion Swiss francs net income in 2013...
http://www.swatchgroup.com/en/conte...ion/3/file/2013_annual_report_complete_en.pdf
Swatch group assembly
http://www.swatchgroup.com/en/brands_and_companies/production/swatch_group_assembly
Makes for an interesting read. Remember: you might not be "into it". But developing countries, and affluent middle aged people are buying watches in droves. And the luxury market doesn't know the meaning of recession.
Moreover: swatch is not an amateur company, it had gross sales of 8.4 billion Swiss francs in 2013 (up 8% from previous year).
Apple is not dumb. They want to tap in that market. High margins, high sales.
I don't know, I gave a generic answer since I've never needed exactly a diabetes tester.
I still don't think apple will compete with them nor have clinical accuracy. I don't think apple would like to enter in that kind of rough terrain. Amateur, sure, professional, I don't think so. And, again, it seems unheard to me that apple will compete in price with medical companies. It would surprise me enormously to see the government giving iwatches "for free", not gonna happen.
Time will tell.
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Exactly. The watch could be mechanical, or it could be digital- the i watch is really just a sophisticated, sensor- laden watch band with its own dedicated display on it. Let every other watch manufacturer make compatible watches for it, and design something that exists in the place of an object people wear now. Should also be useful without a watch just as a set of sensors.
I think its safe for me to say this stuff now...
I'm still not getting the point of a smart watch showing me the weather, messages, phone calls (so I can scream at my wrist), etc....it just doesn't make any sense to me.
I wear high-end watches daily but do so knowing the beauty of the time piece on my wrist. The engineering that goes within the mechanism and so therefore as a piece of jewellery.
The only "smart" watch which really isn't a smart watch I've taken to so far is the Withings Activité. I can see myself wearing this, but I can't see any business professional walking around with a chunky, bloated device on their wrist!
I'm probably missing the point entirely but this is nothing more than a gimmick for kids to have fun with (Remember those awesome Casio watches with a gazillion functions? This is modern version of this!)
I wear high-end watches daily but do so knowing the beauty of the time piece on my wrist. The engineering that goes within the mechanism and so therefore as a piece of jewellery.
The only "smart" watch which really isn't a smart watch I've taken to so far is the Withings Activité. I can see myself wearing this, but I can't see any business professional walking around with a chunky, bloated device on their wrist!
I'm probably missing the point entirely but this is nothing more than a gimmick for kids to have fun with (Remember those awesome Casio watches with a gazillion functions? This is modern version of this!)
Some of the impressions
Remind me of when people said that tablets would go nowhere. Because notebooks, because netbooks.
Remind me of when people said that tablets would go nowhere. Because notebooks, because netbooks.
Yeah I'm with you. I haven't followed the iWatch development so know nothing about it, but if the intention is that it will need to be used in conjunction with the Iphone in order to send messages and make calls, then it has fail written all over it. A colleague has the Samsung watch thing and was running around showing everyone how cool and functional it was... not wanting to dampen his enthusiasm I showed interest, but it really came across as some kind of gimmick from the 1960s. Bemusing really..
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Swatch is also: Breguet, Glashütte, Omega, Rado, Tissot, Hamilton etc.
But i don't see the need of working with swatch for an iwatch, unless they are working on some kind of automatic-digital watch.
