What will the Apple Watch become in 2 years?

[respectabilia]

My thoughts on what it might become or lead to in a few years:
- it will become sleeker, thinner, like iPad 1 to iPad 2 to iPad Air
- apps will be allowed to run from the watch directly - ie no sluggishness
- becomes used in workplaces as a quick way to communicate, broadcast discreet messages to staff and colleagues and teams, etc.
- become 'freed' from the iPhone dependency, like an iPod Nano
- get ripped off and copied by Samsung.

What's the watch's potential?

 

[Natzoo]

it will become like the 5c, really cheap to buy. because when the second gen comes it, its probably going to have a camera, look at the samsung gear 2, you can expect that. I'm ashamed of apple for not coping them that good. Really a camera is the most important thing. I hope there is a smart band coming out soon that has a camera

 

[Entopia7]

I've worn a smart watch for 2 years and never once wished I could take a picture with it....

Now, if it were a FaceTime camera? That would be borderline witchcraft. We know the connection from watch to phone is robust enough to support a video feed (the camera app).

 

[KPOM]

it will become like the 5c, really cheap to buy. because when the second gen comes it, its probably going to have a camera, look at the samsung gear 2, you can expect that. I'm ashamed of apple for not coping them that good. Really a camera is the most important thing. I hope there is a smart band coming out soon that has a camera

And Samsung removed the camera from the Gear S. My guess is that the camera was a turnoff. A watch is awkward to use as a camera, and it just invites criticism that it's creepy, etc.

 

[fischersd]

And we'll just ignore how much more processing power and battery life you'll need to do video on the watch?

We need some major innovations in battery tech if we're ever going to get there.

 

[Mac 128]

I've worn a smart watch for 2 years and never once wished I could take a picture with it....

Now, if it were a FaceTime camera? That would be borderline witchcraft. We know the connection from watch to phone is robust enough to support a video feed (the camera app).

And yet the first thing kids who see the watch for the first time think is they want to take selfies with it.

For this reason and FaceTime, there will be a camera as soon as the 2nd Gen model.

 

[rwsimon]

What would be great is a more powerful battery that occupies the same amount of space as the current battery. Then the software could support functionality that would be great to have such as much longer time displays and various other things that are constrained by the small amount of energy stored in the watch. The default raise-the-wrist time view is pretty awkward if, for example, you want to show somebody else what time it is. Even doubling that time would make a big difference (Yes, I know you can see the time longer by pressing the digital crown instead of just raising your wrist). Perhaps they will make changing the default "on time" an option (with its concomitant battery drain) in some software update.

 

[edlex]

In 2 years? At this rate that's probably when my watch will be shipping

 

[respectabilia]

In 2 years? At this rate that's probably when my watch will be shipping

Lol. Hang in there!

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I strongly suspect there'll be no camera except maybe a front facing one for FaceTime. Even that...

 

[Spink10]

Why do people want a camera?

 

[5105973]

Why do people want a camera?

They apparently like seeing up each other's noses when talking to each other or taking selfies of their nostrils.

 

[BlueMoon63]

- apps will be allowed to run from the watch directly - ie no sluggishness

Apps running directly from the watch will happen before the end of June of this year. I am talking about current third party apps. I know several developers and now that they have the watch they are already working on apps that run from the watch. I'm an engineer but I do not know anything about this type of development though. I've also read a few articles on the internet with some developers saying their 3rd party apps will be 1st party apps in a matter of weeks. After that, I don't know how long it takes to be approved or what else is involved.

I don't have any desire to have a camera on a watch and would never use it... Next gen "might" be a tiny bit smaller, but my guess is the same size battery will have 100-200% improvement in 1-2 years and the processor will be faster.

 

[fischersd]

I've also read a few articles on the internet with some developers saying their 3rd party apps will be 1st party apps in a matter of weeks.

That's off just a wee bit. 1st party IS Apple. 3rd party is all of the software companies / independent developers.

They have to use the watch sdk to port their apps from iOS to Watch OS.

 

[Glideslope]

Why do people want a camera?

To make an iPhone selfie of themselves making a selfie with their Apple Watch.

 

[BlueMoon63]

That's off just a wee bit. 1st party IS Apple. 3rd party is all of the software companies / independent developers.

They have to use the watch sdk to port their apps from iOS to Watch OS.

I would have to find the articles - maybe it said "in a matter of weeks we will have our third party apps working like first party apps" but yes, wee bit off.

 

[fischersd]

I would have to find the articles - maybe it said "in a matter of weeks we will have our third party apps working like first party apps" but yes, wee bit off.

Heh. Never gonna happen. Apple always keeps the best API's for themselves - and gives others to the devs. That's how they always ensure their apps work better than everyone else's on their devices.

 

[BlueMoon63]

Heh. Never gonna happen. Apple always keeps the best API's for themselves - and gives others to the devs. That's how they always ensure their apps work better than everyone else's on their devices.

Well, hopefully I got my point across that there is no way it is going to take two years to have apps running directly from the watch. Again, I don't know the development involved but my friends say the issue with slowness will not be around for very long... along with "well, nothing like it is now".

 

[anez]

In two years time, I'm hoping for speedier apps and better battery life-- perhaps a slimmer case, and increased band options for the Sport models. That's about all I can reasonably look for, considering my first preference (calling-over-wifi/phone-access-via-wifi) seems unlikely given security/lag issues.

The last thing I want from the Watch is a camera. Unless you are very muscular, holding your phone at face level for extended periods will be incredibly uncomfortable, tilting your face down would cause neck pain, and the only other alternative is a delightful up-nose view.

 

[GLS]

It will be blend-proof.

 

[TallManNY]

Better battery life will come from improvements in cpu efficiency, not improvements in battery tech. Smaller internals might allow a bigger battery in gen 2 as well. But we know apple will want to make it thinner.

 

[Spink10]

They apparently like seeing up each other's noses when talking to each other or taking selfies of their nostrils.

To make an iPhone selfie of themselves making a selfie with their Apple Watch.

Exactly - yet everyone is calling for it. Seems people want features just to have features. Lets start with features that are more useful please. IMHO

 

[Oppressed]

it will become like the 5c, really cheap to buy. because when the second gen comes it, its probably going to have a camera, look at the samsung gear 2, you can expect that. I'm ashamed of apple for not coping them that good. Really a camera is the most important thing. I hope there is a smart band coming out soon that has a camera

I can't tell if this guy is joking or not, because obviously a camera on a watch is such a terrible idea he has to be joking right?

 

[fischersd]

Better battery life will come from improvements in cpu efficiency, not improvements in battery tech. Smaller internals might allow a bigger battery in gen 2 as well. But we know apple will want to make it thinner.

The problem is, we've been beating that horse for several years now. CPU's get smaller and more efficient, but the battery tech hasn't advanced much at all.

Sure, Apple created formed batteries to get the most of the space they could out of the new macbook. But the Lithium Ion tech is more than a decade old.

The chip manufacturers have hit a wall in terms of miniaturization. If we don't get an advance in battery tech soon, we're going to hit some hard limits in terms of functionality.

 

[fischersd]

Well, hopefully I got my point across that there is no way it is going to take two years to have apps running directly from the watch. Again, I don't know the development involved but my friends say the issue with slowness will not be around for very long... along with "well, nothing like it is now".

Apple already has their handful of native apps running on the watch. Most definitely we're going to have a plethora of new 3rd party apps running natively on Watch OS by the end of the year. I fully expect Apple to give a bunch of new capabilities to the 3rd party developers at WWDC in June!!

Myself, I hope they open up 3rd party watch faces...but I won't hold my breath. They seem to be holding the watch functionality close to chest - it may take pressure from Android to get them to loosen THOSE purse strings.

The bit I would take with a grain of salt is saying that there won't be the "sluggishness" that we see now. Developers need to keep in mind that the watch is very limited compared with the iPhone in terms of CPU and memory capabilities. There are many apps that will need to stay in a paired functionality where the UI is on the watch, but the heavy lifting is done by the application on the phone.

It will only get better!! Very much looking forward to the "killer apps" that will make every one else clamour for the Apple Watch!!

 

[Dhonk]

It will likely get thinner with slightly better battery life (2 days). It may also appear in more sizes and perhaps even offer more shapes. It will have more memory, 3rd party native apps.

Now for the photos....putting a camera on this device is ridiculous. The Galaxy Gear was as creepy as Google Class with how it allows people to take photos without anyone else knowing what they're up to. I am shocked the current watch doesn't have a FaceTime camera--it should. A GPS chip seems likely too.