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Hidden Diagnostic Port on Apple Watch Could Allow for Smart Band Accessories [Updated]

RichardH1 said:
...untill you actually envision how awkward the band design would have to be.
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Or how much arms impact things: good impact plus battery acid = wearing your replacement :apple:watch on the other "good" arm after the accident.

Conceptually, if one can get about a day into the size of the watch body itself, then one could imagine band sections of about a similar (uniform?) size wrapping around the arm. Maybe that's 4-6 or so sections (not actually so different than the look of the picture in post #7). If each has "about a day" of juice, such a band might yield 3-5 days of battery before needing a recharge (assuming in some inefficiencies rather than just going with 6 times 1 day).
 
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Maybe when the watch battery gets low you can plug your iPhone into it and it will run off the phone battery? :D
 
erinsarah said:
Right. So Should spend a grand or so on a laptop if I just want a screen to watch Netflix?

Really my point being, to each his own. iPads are far, FAR from useless, but if depends on your needs. My family of four currently has three working iPads in the house, and they are all used regularly. As are the laptops. And the desktops. If you can't find a productive use for an iPad, you're probably holding it wrong.
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Of course it's useful. I'd probably prefer watching a movie at the bed using a iPad Mini 2 or 3, but the question is if it's worth spending the money. I end up watching movies on my 15" rMBP. It's bigger, heavier and a bit uncomfortable, although it gives some extras besides the iPad, like a bigger screen and better sound.
 
Heart Monitor/Force Touch

I've been thinking that pressing two fingers to get the heart beat isn't for the fingers at all. It is to press the back of the watch firmly against the wrist. It's kind of a clever misdirection. It sure isn't getting the pulse from the fingers.
 
Apple does have patents for putting a battery in a watchband. In this patent illustration, a bank of tiny batteries go in the segments of a steel wrist band.
image.jpg
 
phillipduran said:
I've got no interest. Unlike any other device from Apple that I have ever bought, I would feel awkward wearing it. Like I came to work in a zebra striped suit.
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Wow, almost a half hour before the first "I don't want one" comment. The naysayers really need to get their act together. It usually takes only a few minutes before the dumping starts.
 
Rogifan said:
The whole backside seems like a lot of engineering for just a hear rate sensor. Compare the backside of Watch to the competition:
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The backside is engineered for more than JUST a heart rate sensor. There is the "taptic" feedback, the charging surface, and the sensors that de-authorize Apple Pay when the watch is removed from the wrist.
 
Lepton said:
I'm hoping that sensor section unscrews for access to the insides for upgrades, repair, etc.
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I'm sure it's removable, but the actual manufacturing assembly is through the front glass, just as iPhones and iPads are assembled this way. It's the largest "opening" to the interior assemblies.
 
doelcm82 said:
The backside is engineered for more than JUST a heart rate sensor. There is the "taptic" feedback, the charging surface, and the sensors that de-authorize Apple Pay when the watch is removed from the wrist.
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I don't think that haptic feedback and charging is through the "glazed" openings, but who knows...
 
phillipduran said:
I've got no interest. Unlike any other device from Apple that I have ever bought, I would feel awkward wearing it. Like I came to work in a zebra striped suit.
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If you think this subtle look of the Apple watch is zebra, I don't know what kind of watch would you wear.
 

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In the reveal video, there is a clip where a milanese loop is being slid into place on an apple watch. In the clip there is a distinctly black pice of the connection on one side of the loop half of the back face. The same thing can be seen on main video at 7:04.

So there are three oval on the band side of the watch band connection, two are black and one is the metal connection opposite the release on the apple watch. Could those be a location for a proprietary connector for the future?
 
Heh reminiscent of an event in the construction of the original mac. Engineers tried to put one over on Jobs re: hardware expandability by building a "diagnostic port" connected to the computer's bus that could basically allow you to alter any of the machine's hardware.

"That things really a slot, right? You're trying to sneak in a slot!", Rod finally accused us at the next engineering meeting. "Well, that's not going to happen!"
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http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Diagnostic_Port.txt
 
IJ Reilly said:
Wow, almost a half hour before the first "I don't want one" comment. The naysayers really need to get their act together. It usually takes only a few minutes before the dumping starts.
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The naysayers team was on an emergency meeting when this thread started. The guy saw it on his what looked like a giant spider on his wrist. It is that high-tech, it is supposed to notify everyone in the team, instantly, everytime a new MR is posted about Apple Watch.

We have a mole in that team, me thinks, he was successful in preventing anybody to take a break in that meeting. The naysayers team thought that the spider looking-like gadget on our mole's wrist is also a Pee Gear.

Tee-hee. :D
 
AleXXXa said:
iPads are still useless. You can't do anything special on them that you can't do on a laptop or on a smartphone.
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But there's a lot of stuff you can do on an iPad without having to pull your laptop out, wait for it to boot up and enter your password.
 
a0me said:
But there's a lot of stuff you can do on an iPad without having to pull your laptop out, wait for it to boot up and enter your password.
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Hmmm. I open my MBA clamshell and its instantly ready to be used. What's "boot up"?

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erinsarah said:
Right. So Should spend a grand or so on a laptop if I just want a screen to watch Netflix?
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But you spend a half of a grand (or more) on a small portable screen to watch Netflix? I guess...
 
AleXXXa said:
iPads are still useless. You can't do anything special on them that you can't do on a laptop or on a smartphone.
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And you can't do anything "special" on a laptop that you can't do on a desktop. So what, exactly, is your point?
 
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Rogifan said:
The whole backside seems like a lot of engineering for just a hear rate sensor. Compare the backside of Watch to the competition:

Image
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That's what I thought from the start. Why all the crazy sensors for something so simple? Maybe it's super accurate, or maybe they're just not telling the whole story until Monday. I'm not getting my hopes up, but it would be cool.

I'm kinda sad the story was updated saying it won't be happening. I think they would be really smart to do something like that, but then again you wouldn't have a reason to upgrade your watch every year. BTW is anyone actually going to do that? Because I certainly won't.
 
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