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CES 2014: Apple's Competition in the Smart Watch Arena
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I know. No different than talking about Apples phablet competitors without actually having a real Apple product to compare to. Just because there are rumors of a 5.7 Apple phablet does not mean that Apple is going to release one anytime soon. Pretty low of this site to pull product out of thin air and compare to others that have actual product to show.
None of these companies get it. All of their designs are bulky and they demonstrate no new functionality over a phone.
Why do I want to read that I have unread messages on my watch or do anything else my phone can do? Most people carry their phones almost everywhere today. This means their phone can do anything a watch can, with more screen area to work with, and is within close reach.
Design Hint: Where don't people carry their phones?
Design Hint 2: Where do people carry iPod Shuffles?
Answering those questions probably leads to where a watch should be innovating. Probably something pertaining to fitness and health. Maybe not too different from some existing bluetooth devices that talk to phones, but done much much better, perhaps even independent of a phone or other device.
Track various exercises by sensing my motions and knowing my form. Allow me to train it by recording the motion of an exercise so I can add to it.
Track my running, swimming, and biking.
Track my heart rate.
Play music for me.
You have enough screen space for one or two touch controls, so use it wisely and integrate with voice commands.
Think about an accessory that would integrate with the iPhone and Mac and give you something that's impractical to have now given their larger form factors. Think what you can get if you have something relatively cheap strapped to your wrist instead of something relatively expensive hanging precariously in your pocket. Don't duplicate functionality that existing devices can already do!
This entire industry is filled with so many idiots.
Why do I want to read that I have unread messages on my watch or do anything else my phone can do? Most people carry their phones almost everywhere today. This means their phone can do anything a watch can, with more screen area to work with, and is within close reach.
Design Hint: Where don't people carry their phones?
Design Hint 2: Where do people carry iPod Shuffles?
Answering those questions probably leads to where a watch should be innovating. Probably something pertaining to fitness and health. Maybe not too different from some existing bluetooth devices that talk to phones, but done much much better, perhaps even independent of a phone or other device.
Track various exercises by sensing my motions and knowing my form. Allow me to train it by recording the motion of an exercise so I can add to it.
Track my running, swimming, and biking.
Track my heart rate.
Play music for me.
You have enough screen space for one or two touch controls, so use it wisely and integrate with voice commands.
Think about an accessory that would integrate with the iPhone and Mac and give you something that's impractical to have now given their larger form factors. Think what you can get if you have something relatively cheap strapped to your wrist instead of something relatively expensive hanging precariously in your pocket. Don't duplicate functionality that existing devices can already do!
This entire industry is filled with so many idiots.
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I agree that current 'fashionable' watches are ridiculous. Look at Diesel's watches, some of which have a diameter of 6 cm and multiple dials. TW Steel is the same. And there are hundreds of others.
Best is to save up for something more classy, such as a Rolex Seadweller or GMT Master or a Breitling Navitimer. More expensive but they will last you a lifetime as opposed to mass produced brands such as Fossil, DKNY, Armani etc.
A leather case from Apple for an iPad costs $79. I'm betting the watch will be nowhere near $99.
It would be hilarious if Apple didn't release a "smart watch" after all.
Yes.... I don't really see a use for a smart watch except that it's a novelty... spend time and money on something else.
I don't see how Apple is "behind" in the smart watch field. If there was a compelling reason to have one already to market, I am sure Apple would have done so already. Perhaps, like with smart phones, they are waiting to see where the market goes, whether it picks up or fizzles and how they can address it with a unique product. If they cannot figure out a way to do it better, why bother? That's been their approach for years.
Author, you forgot regular watches. Biggest competition of all.
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But the leather case is in much higher demand if it is true that the smart watches aren't very useful. There's no "Apple tax", just supply and demand.
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But the leather case is in much higher demand if it is true that the smart watches aren't very useful. There's no "Apple tax", just supply and demand.
Agreed. Although they were the first to release the Retina displays. Not sure how widespread pixel dense displays were before iPhone 4S. And the Retina display on the MacBook Pro was a whole endeavor in and of itself; literally the only laptop at its time (probably the only mass market computer) to have a HiDPI screen.
All this depends on your view point of what a smart watch should do.
IMO, a smart watch compliments a smart phone and isn't a standalone device.
You certainly shouldn't be able to play angry birds on it, as your point, a small screen.
Depending on your situation, a phone isn't always at hand, or convenient to be at hand, and this is where a smart watch is useful.
Some of these smart watches already have health related functionality, for example, a pedometer built in. They can certainly control your phone, i.e., control your music - pause, next, previous tracks etc.
Calling the industry 'idiots' because they don't fulfil your personally needs, is a bit over the top.
IMO, a smart watch compliments a smart phone and isn't a standalone device.
You certainly shouldn't be able to play angry birds
on it, as your point, a small screen.Depending on your situation, a phone isn't always at hand, or convenient to be at hand, and this is where a smart watch is useful.
Some of these smart watches already have health related functionality, for example, a pedometer built in. They can certainly control your phone, i.e., control your music - pause, next, previous tracks etc.
Calling the industry 'idiots' because they don't fulfil your personally needs, is a bit over the top.
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I treated myself to a 40th B'day watch. Had a lot of G Shocks, but wanted something a bit more classy, less bulky but still cool.
Lots of net research later i found my watch. Casio Oceanus OCW T2000. Titanium, thin but has all the things i need. World time, atomic, etc, etc. I tried a pebble before that, and it was just to patchy on iphone connectivity. Plus with the Casio it doesn't need the battery being charged every week, its solar. I don't think i could go to a watch that needs a charge every few days/weeks.
In a pretty much completely new industry, which has not hit the mainstream yet, the small startup behind Pebble managed to sell, manufacture and ship 300,000 pebbles over the last year or so.
There is definitely a market for these devices, even if you personally don't want one - imagine that!
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So are forums on the internet!
Sure, if you push the meaning of the word 'market' until it is meaningless. Keep in mind that Pebble was selling into 1,000 years worth of pent-up demand for a smart watch and still only managed such meager sales- gives you an idea what the sustainable sales figures are going to look like (100,000 per year?). There is also a pet rock market, should MacRumors speculate on Apple's entry into that one too?
If Apple does enter the smart watch market, their product will not resemble this garbage.
Except.... Smart watches existed before the Pebble.
I can just imagine where you got your statistics from.
Yeah but that's just an advancement, like bluetooth v5, USB3, Thunderbolt2, or longer-lived batteries. These are just incremental advances along a scale, not whole new paradigms. Apple is the KING of incremental advances though, I won't argue there. . . I am typing on a 2012 first edition Retina Macbook Pro as we speak.