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A $249 accessory for a $349 watch...

At that price, you might as well buy another watch, and swap them out each day while the other is charging.

That's what I would do vs a $250 ugly band.

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Let's hope Apple drops the "let's get it super thin" and add some bulk with a larger battery. At some point, my iPad Air 5 will be paper thin with 3 hours of battery life and it will break at the slightest pressure.
 
It's an elegant solution to what is inevitably going to be many people's #1 complaint.

But at $250 this thing is going absolutely nowhere.

Elegant? It looks dreadful. The watch is chunky enough without this. I bet Apple are really worried about the battery. Something tells me they have been hoping for a miracle these last 18 months, and battery technology is still not where it needs to be. They will put a brave face on it, of course, but there will be a negative backlash. The stats are for a brand new battery, too, which will only degrade with charge cycles. I reckon it isn't sensible to buy the first gen watch. I don't think the battery technology is there yet for such a demanding device. And yes, the cost of the strap is ridiculous!
 
Technically this will not work. Induction charging the Apple Watch through some batteries in the strap is close to impossible. These guys have not figured out the physics of this.

In addition the strap adds additional bulk, AND it is not guaranteed that the sensors can work through the holes in the back.

This will not get close to market introduction,

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A $249 accessory for a $349 watch...

At that price, you might as well buy another watch, and swap them out each day while the other is charging.

Or you can save the money for the extra watch and charge it while you are asleep..
 
Am I the only one that thinks it is not necessarily a good idea to be wrapping Lithium battery cells around someone's wrist without being encased in a more puncture resistant material? What happens when there is a pinprick-sized hole or small crack in the band and moisture gets in there?
 
Quick pre order our product before Monday when it becomes immediately apparent that the Apple Watch won't function fully with it because of no skin contact.
 
A $249 accessory for a $349 watch...

At that price, you might as well buy another watch, and swap them out each day while the other is charging.
My thought.
How can you justify $250 for a battery and a plastic band?

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Quick pre order our product before Monday when it becomes immediately apparent that the Apple Watch won't function fully with it because of no skin contact.

Correct. How can you accept preorders for a product you don't even know if working ?
 
This also, also assumes that the sensors on the back don't need to be in direct contact with the skin.

I know I'm not the first, but I wanted to go with the theme.

I thought direct contact was how it determined it was still on your wrist and would otherwise deactivate to prevent data theft and Apple Pay use.
 
Delusional Pricing on Reserve Strap

Shift the decimal place one space to the left & they may have a realistic price.
Give up now. I'll be buying two Apple Watches ASAP with several straps. Will be hugely successful. Roll on Monday.
 
That's what I would do vs a $250 ugly band.

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Let's hope Apple drops the "let's get it super thin" and add some bulk with a larger battery. At some point, my iPad Air 5 will be paper thin with 3 hours of battery life and it will break at the slightest pressure.
Nope, it will bend . . .
 
Elegant? It looks dreadful. The watch is chunky enough without this. I bet Apple are really worried about the battery. Something tells me they have been hoping for a miracle these last 18 months, and battery technology is still not where it needs to be. They will put a brave face on it, of course, but there will be a negative backlash. The stats are for a brand new battery, too, which will only degrade with charge cycles. I reckon it isn't sensible to buy the first gen watch. I don't think the battery technology is there yet for such a demanding device. And yes, the cost of the strap is ridiculous!

I don't see anything elegant about it.

The product will definitely appeal to a small number of users, but for seriously heavy users of their watches this is MUCH more elegant than having the watch tethered to a power bank in your bag for example.

How would you propose of better implementation of extra battery life?
 
The product will definitely appeal to a small number of users, but for seriously heavy users of their watches this is MUCH more elegant than having the watch tethered to a power bank in your bag for example.

How would you propose of better implementation of extra battery life?

If the more "glamorous" way for heavy users is to buy this $249 junk, I'd say it's a wiser move to just buy another watch. In terms of portability, the extra band takes space too, and, that $249 US band is so ugly, this item will eventually drop to $19.99 US as an impulse buy at Walmart.
 
Using batteries to inefficiently wirelessly charge! This will never see the light of day.

I emailed Tim last year saying that if they had electrical connections between the strap and the body, they could put all of the batteries in the straps and users could, if they wanted, change the straps to prolong battery life.

That's why I was interested when the rumour of the contacts showed up.

Maybe the flexible battery tech isn't there yet, maybe it'll be in the 2nd gen version. Either way, it'll arrive eventually and it'll be the innovation that allows the Apple watch thin right down.
 
what about this quote from another article?

"The smartwatch will not ping you for notifications without being in contact with skin"

How will this device even work?
 
I guess it's a non-starter unless they use pass-through contacts that will let the watch know its on a person's wrist so it will work.
 
Assuming the watch even works normally while charging...

Then if it's using the pulse rate optical sensors as a proximity alarm, it all depends on the minimum threshold of reflected light that it considers enough to indicate that it's still on a wrist.

As long as the piece under the watch is not more than ~3 mm thick, and the band was kept tight, it might work.
 
I can't think of any ways they can stop them, assuming there are no data connections in the strap

The way the strap connects could possibly be unique enough to be patentable. I don't know if that's the case, or if they even want to prevent third-party straps.
 
Have you seen any precedents for wireless charging from a battery that is so low powered? I can't see this working without massive hits on energy efficiency. That 125% is a very very bold statement.

Well, let's see. Assume the Watch has a 360 mAh battery.

To go another 125% means we need to be able to transfer another 450 mAh to the Watch.

At 80% best case transfer efficiency, the spare band would need to hold ~560 mAh. At worst case, maybe 800 mAh.

Do you think they could fit enough combined cells for that in the band?
 
Will not work, cause there's no connection for the watch to your skin..

LOL, absolutely correct. Apple was coy in keeping this under raps until last week. I'll wager this company is not alone.

I also don't see 3rd party bands for a while without the "This device will not function without an approved accessory."

We aren't talking iPhone Cases here. Apple is offering a wide variety of materials, styles, and colors for their "House Bands." It's by intention. :apple:
 
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