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Microsoft Looking to Join the Smart Watch Race

phillipduran said:
I would argue that no one did smart phones until Apple made the iPhone and changed what the meaning of smart phone was. Look at the copy cats there.
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At launch, if you considered the original iPhone a "smartphone" your expectations of what consittutes a smartphone must have been very low considering all of the (already then) established features it was sorely lacking.

I do personally consider the many Symbian, Symbian UIQ and Windows Mobile phones I used before the iPhone launched to be very much smartphones.

Apple bought a lot to the table in 2007 with capacitive input but features like high speed data connections (3g), high resolution optics (Nokia N95), third party applications (all smart platforms prior to the iPhone), GPS & native turn by turn navigation (Nokia Maps) are a few features that other platforms had at the time of or prior to the launch of the iPhone

I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder or depending on where you want the goalposts to lie but people will respectfully disagree with you on what constitutes a Smartphone or not. :D
 
Briefly...

yearofthe said:
Will it tell time?
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then it will start to run very, very slowly for no apparent reason, and one day it turn blue, warn you about your 'illegal operations', and shut down, never to work properly again.

I can hardly wait!

:rolleyes:

Cheers,
Cameron
 
DVNIEL said:
Really? Is your life that important that you can't reach down into your pocket to check/silence/answer your phone? Give me a break. You trolls need Apple to tell you how to run your life better, I can't wait for them to tell you that sandpaper is better to wipe your butt with.
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I'm not sure that I would buy one of these, but I can see why they might be useful.

I keep my iPhone in my pocket. Yes, I pull it out periodically to check the time, and also catch up on notifications from Twitter, Facebook, etc. which appear on my home screen. I also pull it out when I hear my text message sound. That's a lot of "pulling it out of my pocket" moves in a given day. And I wouldn't dare do that in a meeting or at a dinner or somewhere important.

I can see how a smartwatch that can tell you, much more discreetly, what that text was that just arrived (or who it's from) so you can choose to ignore it without fear of missing something important, or respond to it immediately if it is important.

In other words, I guess the smart watch is acting like a filter now for all of the information that we are receiving on our phones.
 
DVNIEL said:
I love reading all the people that get all bent out of shape when asked who would wear such a thing.

Really? Is your life that important that you can't reach down into your pocket to check/silence/answer your phone? Give me a break. You trolls need Apple to tell you how to run your life better, I can't wait for them to tell you that sandpaper is better to wipe your butt with.
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*tells smartwatch is useless now

2 years down the road

*Buys a samsung smartwatch claiming how much better it is than apple's
 
Northgrove said:
I stopped using my watch because of smartphones. I'm certainly not going back to them for as long as we also have smartphones. I noticed that I wasn't inconvenienced by having to check the time by reaching for my pocket, because the smartphone could also do so much. So I made the choice to stop using watches several years ago. Not missing them at all, even a theoretical watch that would let me check the weather or a Facebook newsfeed. :p

Even if we could make calls with these watches, a wireless headset would work much better if it's convenience you're looking for.
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I wear a watch because I have a messy job. It's easier to look at my wrist when my hands are coated with grease then having to pull out my phone and get it covered in a layer of grease.
 
notjustjay said:
I'm not sure that I would buy one of these, but I can see why they might be useful.

I keep my iPhone in my pocket. Yes, I pull it out periodically to check the time, and also catch up on notifications from Twitter, Facebook, etc. which appear on my home screen. I also pull it out when I hear my text message sound. That's a lot of "pulling it out of my pocket" moves in a given day. And I wouldn't dare do that in a meeting or at a dinner or somewhere important.

I can see how a smartwatch that can tell you, much more discreetly, what that text was that just arrived (or who it's from) so you can choose to ignore it without fear of missing something important, or respond to it immediately if it is important.

In other words, I guess the smart watch is acting like a filter now for all of the information that we are receiving on our phones.
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You know what could be just as discrete? A customizable notification light. But then again, Apple probably thinks that would eat into its profits.
 
notjustjay said:
I'm not sure that I would buy one of these, but I can see why they might be useful.

I keep my iPhone in my pocket. Yes, I pull it out periodically to check the time, and also catch up on notifications from Twitter, Facebook, etc. which appear on my home screen. I also pull it out when I hear my text message sound. That's a lot of "pulling it out of my pocket" moves in a given day. And I wouldn't dare do that in a meeting or at a dinner or somewhere important.

I can see how a smartwatch that can tell you, much more discreetly, what that text was that just arrived (or who it's from) so you can choose to ignore it without fear of missing something important, or respond to it immediately if it is important.

In other words, I guess the smart watch is acting like a filter now for all of the information that we are receiving on our phones.
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If I was at a meeting and I was looking at my watch regularly what message would that send to the people in the room?
 
KdParker said:
I have but isn't this just a glorified controller for my phone?
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Now that the SDK is out, there will be app integration. The Pebble is a smart watch.

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HarryKNN21 said:
How about the battery life then? Normal digital watches can run for years after years, how about "smart watches"? Would we need a juice pack for that?
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The pebble is getting 3 - 4 days.
 
mr.steevo said:
If I was at a meeting and I was looking at my watch regularly what message would that send to the people in the room?
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And thus, the Smart Ring was invented...

But seriously, I agree with you, but it's probably a lot easier to discreetly peek at your watch than to try to do the same with your phone.
 
KylePowers said:
Like I said, it probably won't be for everyone. The iWatch will be as much a watch as the iPhone is a phone. Will it cost more than $20? Yes, probably. Will it be worth it? Evidently not to you, but it could to numerous others... just depends on what you value. It's quite evident wearable computing is the direction of the future (iPod Nano watches, Pebble products, Google Glasses, etc.)

People like you are good for society. To hold back technological innovation and the endless possibilities there of. It keeps us grounded and focussed on what's truly necessary. Luckily we thrive on a free market, so society will surely dictate if an iWatch is useful or not. People pay hundreds of dollars for a watch that only tells time... why is it so strange to think someone wouldn't pay half that for a device that does 1000x more?

If you can't understand the possibilities, features, and conveniences, then don't buy into it. Simple as that. No one's forcing you. Now if you held a respectable amount of stock in the company, then perhaps your concern would be more worthy and truly warranted.

Also, I have 4 iDevices and consider myself fairly normal. iPhone for texting, phone calls, pictures, internet browsing, etc. iPad for taking notes in lecture, having textbooks with me at all times, etc. iPod Nano as a watch, but also as a music device for running and working out. iPod for in my car (which has mainly gotten replaced by streaming Pandora via bluetooth from my iPhone, but meh).

A good analogy is the AppleTV. Why pay $100 to stream Netflix when you can just use your 360 or PS3 or hook your computer up to the TV? Why pay $100 to do anything that hooking up your computer to the TV will do just as well, if not better? I suppose it comes down to convenience, and people are clearly willing to pay for that. Why have bottled water when you can get water straight from your tap? Why have a car when you have two perfectly good legs? Why have a smartphone when you have a Point-&-shoot, a Ti-83, and a Garmin? Advancement in technologies that have withstood the test of time have all been related to convenience in one way or another. Most certainly people have refuted it, but that doesn't mean there isn't money in it.
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I'm not complaining. I definitely won't buy it. I'm just extolling the absurdity of such an superfluous device and saying why Apple would be foolish to make it. This is not really advancement in anything, it's just another thing to check the same data provided by a device 2 feet away in the other pocket.

It doesn't matter what I want. MOST people won't understand the "features and possibilties" of lots of things. Therefore, it won't sell, and therefore it's irrelevant to society. To be innovative is one thing, to make it useful is something else.

So you're saying buyers of the first Iphone really held back innovation huh? Somehow they ignored their disdain for tech and just zombie-bought the Iphone? They bought it because it was useful tech. Not just tech.

People are willing to pay for convenience. I always pay extra for convenience. An iWatch is another thing to put on and keep track of, if you have a phone as well. That's management, not convenience.

"Why have a car when you have two perfectly good legs?" -- that's just stupid.
 
Analog all the way!

My watch is analog... no second hand, no numbers. I can't even be sure if it's set correctly or what the exact time is... and I like it that way. Besides that, costs more than any of these iWatches will.
 
Some will find this product useful. But I predict a Newton type of reception.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Nonsense. Take guys for example, I see all ages on the subway, at ball games, eat at casual restaurants with all types of watches, sports bands, or some sort of man-bracelet (college age kids on that one). I'm just using this as an example outside of work. A good chunk of the male population still wear watches either for fashion or practical use (not to tell time, but for fitness tracking). Sure it's below 50%, but still a sizable % of the population just for starters. The idea watches are dead is just silly and unfounded.

Watches trended downward because people didn't need them to tell time, but a smartwatch's primary purpose won't be as a time piece. Getting info on your wrist instead of digging in your pocket for your phone is going to be of huge interest to people IF the said watch is cool looking and fashionable.

Of course, MS isn't capable of that, based on past and current projects, but Apple is.
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You must have a male wrist fetish.

Watches are dumb. The ONLY reason to wear one is fitness training and you shouid only wear it while training.

They might as well make a smartfedora.
 
MacRumors said:
...The Wall Street Journal indicates that Microsoft is also exploring the possibility of a smart watch.
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Of course they are... If there were rumors Apple was creating a line of pizza restaurants, Google, Samsung and eventually Microsoft would all announce plans to do the same.
MacRumors said:
The report notes that this is not Microsoft's first foray into smart watch technology, with the company having launched its Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) platform in 2004 through partnerships with watch companies such as Fossil and Suunto.

Those watches, which received data through Microsoft's MSN Direct FM radio-based service, were discontinued by 2008, but the idea of smart watches is experiencing a rebirth as companies look to make the experience of today's mobile devices even more "personal".
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I have the feeling we're going to see the same pattern over again. MS does something, badly. Eventually they give up. Apple, comes in and does it right to wild success and good press. Google comes in and does it almost as well, but open, to wild success and good press. Microsoft comes back with their same old failed strategy and can't figure out why trying the same thing twice fails both times, and blames on Apple snobbery...
 
komodrone said:
encountered one a few months ago, happened when I plugged in an external drive via usb.
just sayin'
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I encountered basically the Mac equivalent to the BSOD the other day on OSX by doing a simple task. Just saying.

While I love OSX I have an open mind. Windows 7 is just as stable as OSX.
 
marksman said:
You must have a male wrist fetish.

Watches are dumb. The ONLY reason to wear one is fitness training and you shouid only wear it while training.

They might as well make a smartfedora.
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No, just a logic and reality fetish. Your opinion isn't fact. Neither is mine. Just reporting what I've observed since this whole smartwatch idea popped up. Clearly there is a market for a smartwatch whether you wish to acknowledge it or not. The Pebble wouldn't have gone over so gangbusters if there wasn't. Just imagine if a well known company like Apple puts one out. Ka-ching.

I do find it interesting why so many are so overtly hostile to watches though. Now maybe if we were talking about ties, I'd understand, but a watch?
 
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