Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

vomhorizon

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 24, 2013
952
68
Can it be done? I would be interested to see if apple can patent the tiniest of wifi chips and have it run iTunes radio on wifi..What a device that would be, if it could give a decent amount of music from iTunes radio (from wifi) via bluetooth.. Battery tech and component size will be the challenges i suppose, but apple has been known to painstakingly design products given constraints...
 

jamesjingyi

macrumors 6502a
Dec 20, 2011
841
144
UK
Can it be done? I would be interested to see if apple can patent the tiniest of wifi chips and have it run iTunes radio on wifi..What a device that would be, if it could give a decent amount of music from iTunes radio (from wifi) via bluetooth.. Battery tech and component size will be the challenges i suppose, but apple has been known to painstakingly design products given constraints...

I think this would be a step in the right direction or make it so that the 6th gen nano became the iWatch would be awesome. I think that they could do this, they have the technology as wifi chips really can be that small. I just wonder about battery life...
 

vomhorizon

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 24, 2013
952
68
I think this would be a step in the right direction or make it so that the 6th gen nano became the iWatch would be awesome. I think that they could do this, they have the technology as wifi chips really can be that small. I just wonder about battery life...

Thats my concern as well, running bluetooth and wifi at the same time would really stress battery life, but then most would probably make that tradeoff given the benefits of the device while working out especially if can charge quickly..Use bluetooth and wifi to run iTunes radio and/or music in addition to the fitness features while working out, and then charge the device..wifi can remain off for the rest of the time giving you days of battery life...
 

jamesjingyi

macrumors 6502a
Dec 20, 2011
841
144
UK
Thats my concern as well, running bluetooth and wifi at the same time would really stress battery life, but then most would probably make that tradeoff given the benefits of the device while working out especially if can charge quickly..Use bluetooth and wifi to run iTunes radio and/or music in addition to the fitness features while working out, and then charge the device..wifi can remain off for the rest of the time giving you days of battery life.

Unless they could make it so it was fully dependant on an iPhone e.g. that you could listen to iTunes Radio or media on your device and it just streamed it from there. Then you could have it so that the watch only required bluetooth and just got the data from the phone (both on 3/4G and WiFi).

I think battery life will be where Apple makes leaps and bounds considering their notebook battery life at the moment. I can see that they will be the first to pioneer a 7-10 day battery life.

I can't wait for this to be reality though, it is (when or if it comes) gonna be awesome! :D
 

vomhorizon

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 24, 2013
952
68
Unless they could make it so it was fully dependant on an iPhone e.g. that you could listen to iTunes Radio or media on your device and it just streamed it from there. Then you could have it so that the watch only required bluetooth and just got the data from the phone (both on 3/4G and WiFi).

I don't want to have a phone nearby when i'm in the gym..I'd be much happier if i could leave it in the locker..I also think the ability to give the device a dedicated wifi chip would really open up the market for those folks that have other iOS devices (iPads) but do not use an iPhone.

I think battery life will be where Apple makes leaps and bounds considering their notebook battery life at the moment. I can see that they will be the first to pioneer a 7-10 day battery life.

I can't wait for this to be reality though, it is (when or if it comes) gonna be awesome! :D

Battery life is all about tweaking the software, optimizing each and every hardware component with that focus (as opposed to sourcing ready made stuff)..This could explain why apple is taking its characteristic "time" to finish the device .. I think it would be more " stand alone" than what most expect.
 

jamesjingyi

macrumors 6502a
Dec 20, 2011
841
144
UK
I don't want to have a phone nearby when i'm in the gym..I'd be much happier if i could leave it in the locker..I also think the ability to give the device a dedicated wifi chip would really open up the market for those folks that have other iOS devices (iPads) but do not use an iPhone.



Battery life is all about tweaking the software, optimizing each and every hardware component with that focus (as opposed to sourcing ready made stuff)..This could explain why apple is taking its characteristic "time" to finish the device .. I think it would be more " stand alone" than what most expect.

I think you could be right but I still wonder how the Wifi chip will affect battery life. Wifi and Bluetooth already take away 20% more on my iPhone and that has a much larger battery. The iWatch will have to have a relatively large battery, maybe stretching round the strap so that it will be able to stay awake. They can tweak the software all they like but they still have to have a battery that is big enough to take the strain of the applications running and the Wifi and Bluetooth...

I think that they could go with a new low powered processor in the watch as well; like an Low Powered one? Maybe L8 (to go with the A8?) which efficiently powers the Bluetooth and WiFi chips. What they will need though is a nice touchscreen interface that compliments iOS 7 but isn't it, like the 6th Gen nano did. And a nice curved touchscreen so that its more of a band than a watch (a bit like the gear band thing but not as chromey and blingy).
 

Fred Stein

macrumors newbie
Sep 22, 2012
15
0
Los Altos CA
agree - well timed

Can it be done? I would be interested to see if apple can patent the tiniest of wifi chips and have it run iTunes radio on wifi..What a device that would be, if it could give a decent amount of music from iTunes radio (from wifi) via bluetooth.. Battery tech and component size will be the challenges i suppose, but apple has been known to painstakingly design products given constraints...

I like this thought - Earlier today I read that iPod sales are falling off. So it makes more sense. The genius, Jobs, made the original iPod simpler than other mp3 players and at the same time more capable by moving the 'smart' to iTunes. The next generations of iPod will continue this but do much more than music. Plus, just my hope / guess is that Apple has invested way more time and money in the components, packaging, design, and integration so that their "wrist device" will be markedly slimmer and more rugged.

iBeacon - pay by wrist? nice.
 

Infinus.gold

macrumors regular
Jan 23, 2014
144
0
Can it be done? I would be interested to see if apple can patent the tiniest of wifi chips and have it run iTunes radio on wifi..What a device that would be, if it could give a decent amount of music from iTunes radio (from wifi) via bluetooth.. Battery tech and component size will be the challenges i suppose, but apple has been known to painstakingly design products given constraints...

Why do you think iWatch will be music player device ?
 

MH01

Suspended
Feb 11, 2008
12,107
9,297
If it is a watch, battery life will be critical, and due to that I suspect the first generation will come with less features. Last thing you want is a watch you have to charge every 2 days.
 

afsnyder

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2014
1,270
33
If it is a watch, battery life will be critical, and due to that I suspect the first generation will come with less features. Last thing you want is a watch you have to charge every 2 days.

Wouldn't you say the same thing when cell phones came out? Now we have to charge them daily.
 

MH01

Suspended
Feb 11, 2008
12,107
9,297
Wouldn't you say the same thing when cell phones came out? Now we have to charge them daily.

I always wanted my phone to do everything, and happily accept the reduced battery life.

From my watch, I expect for it to spend as much time on my wrist as possible. I have the nike fuelband se, 4 day battery life, and it's annoying to be honest . My first gen I lost was almost a week.

It's a deal breaker for me. The only application I might use it for is excercise, and go back to my regular watch after.
 

afsnyder

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2014
1,270
33
I always wanted my phone to do everything, and happily accept the reduced battery life.

From my watch, I expect for it to spend as much time on my wrist as possible. I have the nike fuelband se, 4 day battery life, and it's annoying to be honest . My first gen I lost was almost a week.

It's a deal breaker for me. The only application I might use it for is excercise, and go back to my regular watch after.

How about rather than knock an inexistent product with battery life..how about knock it with useful innovative features?
 

afsnyder

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2014
1,270
33
Long battery live is an innovative feature.

That would be for existing products... if all a phone did was call and text we would want it to last for days but because it can web browse and play videos and games we are okay with it only lasting one. Just trying to justify the latter.
 

MH01

Suspended
Feb 11, 2008
12,107
9,297
That would be for existing products... if all a phone did was call and text we would want it to last for days but because it can web browse and play videos and games we are okay with it only lasting one. Just trying to justify the latter.

Sure, but when phones had battery life of 3-4 days and we hit smartphone age and we came down to 1day, I was happy with ghost.

For a watch.... Digital, your starting point is 10years ;) tough ask for people to recharge 1-2 days....just saying. We never recharge our watches....almost.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0BFY8ABD5ZM5Y7Z0941Y
 

afsnyder

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2014
1,270
33

Crichton333

macrumors 6502
May 4, 2014
344
32
If it is a watch, battery life will be critical, and due to that I suspect the first generation will come with less features. Last thing you want is a watch you have to charge every 2 days.

Didnt they invent recharging with body heat, you already have emergency flashlight that turn on when you hold them in your hand, no battery needed. Youtube it, some girl in the US invented it for NASA.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.