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Wireless charging from a meter away? What tripe. Even if they used the watch strap as an inductive receiver coil, the transmission coil would have to be the size of a door and would suck up many tens or even hundreds of watts, not to mention the interference caused to radio stations...

Ya, because there's no way they could come up with new technology or advancements to make that a reality. If it can't be done now, it'll never be done!

Seriously? Did you even read your own post? :rolleyes:
 
No battery life for over 3 days = no buy. If I go out camping for a weekend, I don't want a dead weight on my wrist. I'm glad that they're taking their time and not rushing it out so they can shout "I was here first!"

How long does your phone last now? I doubt the watch will have any usefulness (except tell the time) without your phone to feed it data.
 
It would actually be alright to have a watch that can communicate with my phone and use the phones power to do everything. Basically like a UI that just remotely accesses the processing of the phone to do all the lifting and then is just a remote display with its own UI. That way you could use it to do everything that your phone could do but since all the radios and processing is done on the phone the battery life would be pretty good as literally the screen would be the only major consumer of power. The only issue I have with this is my iPhone sits in the drawer because I can't read on a 4" display and a 1.5" watch display could only be worse
 
If true, wireless charging will come to the iPhone at the same time. We'll be able to do that and charge directly if needed, at least until the technology matures and wireless charging becomes available in the car, etc.
 
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I have a Casio Pathfinder.

It's solar powered and never dies.

It's survived Iraq, Afghanistan, jumping out of helicopters, IED's, mortar attacks, mountain biking, skiing, rock climbing, hikes, week long camping adventures, swimming, rafting...AND EVERYTHING.

That's a watch. Unless Apple's iWatch can approach that level of endurance and durability, I probably won't be in the market for an iWatch. A watch I have to baby and charge often has a low value in my world, even if it has music, messaging, or whatever. I can just as easily throw on a iPhone Lifeproof case, and use my headphones.

This wearable device will never be marketed as useful and should not be. It is designed as a fashion accessory that everyone desires. Oh and it also monitors your health and relays messages that you don't feel like pulling out your phone for.

Now do you want one?
 
Pointless! Men wear watches as "jewlery" and I can't imagine apple building a watch that is nicer than my navitimer
 
you would be a fool to buy first generation iWatch.

Just look at iPad 1, original iPhone, retina macbook pro ..


Hmmm. Just got rid of our first gen iPad last month. That thing was a beast and was still going strong. The only issue we had was no iOS 7 and a lot of apps for our kids wouldn't run on it d/t it's age.

I loved my original iPhone. So much so that I've upgraded to the current iPhone every 2 years. I used to use a Treo and the original iPhone put that thing to shame.

Have yet to get a retina MBP, so no comment there.
 
Would anyone need a watch with more features than a Pebble, if so, why?

E-ink display is great for "B&W, clear in bright sun", but most people will (given the option) want color readable in home/office/car lighting. OLED would be great, with comparable power draw (when balanced with other power improvements).

Full ecosystem integration with iOS / OS X. Calendars & contacts fully synced. Text messaging alerts (show incoming, if not compose outgoing). Possible music/video. Conceivable FaceTime (hello, Dick Tracy). All leveraging nearby iPhone/iPad for larger storage and (relatively) powerful cellular/wifi radios.

As repeatedly exclaimed in the past: Apple's products are not necessarily fantastic innovations in specifications, they're spectacular for getting the UX right. Everyone else can do 90% the same or better; it's Apple's mastery of that last 10% that dominates the competition. They don't have to do much more than the Pebble, they have to "do Pebble" better than Pebble and in perfect symbiosis with other Apple products.
 
Just got rid of our first gen iPad last month. That thing was a beast and was still going strong.

Ditto. Got it minutes after first release, used it darn near 24/7 (it seems) until getting a gen4, still used it thereafter. Only limitation was lack of iOS 6/7. Only let go of it because of Target's $200 trade-in making an upgrade to iPad mini retina a no-brainer.
 
Ya, because there's no way they could come up with new technology or advancements to make that a reality. If it can't be done now, it'll never be done!

Seriously? Did you even read your own post? :rolleyes:

Seriously, did you know there's this thing called physics? Surprisingly, Apple is limited by it too. You seem to forget this is a rumour site.

With current technology it's possible but has the disadvantages I stated before, inductive charging is terribly inefficient over any sort of distance. Targeted RF can be used, but its dangerous since it can cause any unprotected electronics placed in its path to burn out, and it still uses loads of power.

If Apple has managed to come up with a new type of energy transfer, and thus a new branch of physics; solving what thousands of other companies/universities have been striving to do for the last 10 years, hats off to them.
 
Use an E-Ink display. It will last a month.

Hardly. The Pebble uses an e-ink display, not terribly high res either, with a 130mAh battery and I typically would get 3-5 days use out of it. Apple would need some amazing tricks up their sleeves to out do that using only a 10mAh battery. Using something like Mirasol (used on Qualcomm's Toq) would help but that watch is using a 240mAh battery and supposedly only lasts a few days.
 
Ditto. Got it minutes after first release, used it darn near 24/7 (it seems) until getting a gen4, still used it thereafter. Only limitation was lack of iOS 6/7. Only let go of it because of Target's $200 trade-in making an upgrade to iPad mini retina a no-brainer.

We did the exact same thing. The $200 trade-in for a newer Mini for the kids. That's the only reason we finally got rid of it. :)
 
Apple entered the music industry with the iPod because 'people love their music.'

Apple entered the mobile phone market because people were passionate about their phones and Apple knew they could make it a better experience.

I'm not sure enough people wear watches and/or are passionate at all about them.

At least in my circles only about 10% wear watches at all. (But 90% had some sort of cell phone in 2006).
 
E-ink display is great for "B&W, clear in bright sun", but most people will (given the option) want color readable in home/office/car lighting. OLED would be great, with comparable power draw (when balanced with other power improvements).

Ummm. Do you own a Pebble? Because I do. It's clear and readable in any light setting, plus it has a backlit display. Color would be cool but's it's not the end all.

Really the only thing I need my pebble to do is allow me to canned reply to a message. Based on the way they upgrade the OS, I'd say it's a possibility. They just updated it yesterday with some great features.
 
...wireless charging capabilities which will allow the device to charge from up to a meter away.

That would be awesome. Put the charger next to my bed, and the watch would charge on my wrist while I sleep...


... along with my eyeballs and brain....

....twitch...

...twitch...
 
I'm not sure enough people wear watches and/or are passionate at all about them.

Well, in So Cal, it's a status symbol, which is really the only reason I'm not sure the iWatch will really catch on. I wear my Pebble when I running around and DJing because it's convenient, but when I go out or have a real business meeting, I throw the Rolex or Movado on.

As good as the pebble is, it still screams Casio G-Shock.
 
Seriously, did you know there's this thing called physics? Surprisingly, Apple is limited by it too. You seem to forget this is a rumour site.

With current technology it's possible but has the disadvantages I stated before, inductive charging is terribly inefficient over any sort of distance. Targeted RF can be used, but its dangerous since it can cause any unprotected electronics placed in its path to burn out, and it still uses loads of power.

If Apple has managed to come up with a new type of energy transfer, and thus a new branch of physics; solving what thousands of other companies/universities have been striving to do for the last 10 years, hats off to them.

So you tell me its a limitation of physics (essentially saying its impossible), then go on to say countless other institutions have been trying to do it for the last 10 years?

Have you ever seen Ted Talks? I remember seeing one about TRUE wireless charging - called it Witricity. Obviously there are issues currently....that's what technological advancement is all about. Do you think society 50 years ago would've thought it possible to fit a computer in the palm of your hand?

Hell, you can see what people in the 80s and 90s thought the "future" would be in shows like Star Trek. Obviously in many places, there are advancements not yet made. But look at the pads characters in that show used.....iPads and tablets today are FAR more advanced than those devices. Maybe not as indispensable (those characters would use those pads like pieces of paper).

Technology is the tool used to make the "impossible", possible. In however many years, we'll be wirelessly charging our devices through our wifi connections and will wonder about the next advancement.

And ya - Apple with its $150 billion in cash and vast resources across the globe could certainly have accomplished something like this. Not all that surprising.
 
Pointless! Men wear watches as "jewlery" and I can't imagine apple building a watch that is nicer than my navitimer

I am sure that within minutes the case manufacturers will have jewelry cases made to protect this each.

By now we should expect that it's made completely out of glass and aluminum and of course with a new triple weld Fusion technology, which will get a repairability rating of minus 100 at iFixIt
 
Wireless charging from a meter away? What tripe. ..
I think you are exaggerating a bit for effect, but I agree in principle.

The real issue is not the size of the transmitter, but the inefficiency of the process. How green can you be when you are building an RF transmitter to transmit power like this over a meter sphere? The power reduction is a function of the radius cubed (unless you are dealing with directed antennas at very high frequencies, which can cook birds out of the sky)... Seems kind of un-Apple like.

All those people complaining about "vampire losses" from wall worts plugged in all over the place will finally have a new cause to champion, because this thing will not be efficient.

Tesla worked on this for decades, along with beamed energy weapons (kind of the same thing), starting in the early 1900's. Notice we still have high power transmission lines all over the place.

Note: recent MIT experimentation with resonance to allow efficient transfer of power is interesting, and possibly what we are talking about here. This is interesting, because Tesla was also convinced that resonance was the key to long term power transmission, and was trying to find the resonance frequency of the entire earth. Commonly known as "Tesla's Folly".

http://phys.org/news100445957.html
http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_todre.html
 
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... make a payment via the NFC in the watch

I like that idea a lot.

Make the watch fully waterproof like some others are saying and you'd never have to take the thing off. So when you go to the gym or the beach, your "wallet" stays with you - and not left behind in a locker, car or beach bag where it can be stolen.

Payment could be the killer feature that brings watches back into fashion.
 
Apple entered the music industry with the iPod because 'people love their music.'

Apple entered the mobile phone market because people were passionate about their phones and Apple knew they could make it a better experience.

I'm not sure enough people wear watches and/or are passionate at all about them.

At least in my circles only about 10% wear watches at all. (But 90% had some sort of cell phone in 2006).

Few wear watches anymore for the reason that there are convenient options to see the time. Some still wear them as fashion accessories, or as employment necessities (nurses for example), some as timers, dataloggers and navigators for sports.

Either way, these will be great for athletes if BLE sensors are available for things like oxygen saturation (a must for pilots in unpressurized aircraft and high altitude climbers).
 
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