its production line isn't
This clue tells us that it is mere propaganda. Apple doesn't have a production line.
Tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a decent track record on Apple production issues, has risked breaking the hearts of fanbois everywhere with the prediction that the iWatch might not be released until next year. In a brutal swipe at Apple's production skills, Kuo said Cupertino just doesn't have the technical grunt to produce …
They contract out production to companies like Foxconn, who have enormous factory towns in China. This is exactly like the rest of the industry, and chances are they are already making smart watches for Samsung, Motorola etc., so it's unlikely to be a production issue. Software or components I could accept as a reason for delay, but production capacity? They can buy as much of that as they want.
But I'm still not convinced there's a real market for these things. I've yet to meet anyone who owns a smart watch, or is even considering one.
That said, I'm very interested to see if the Moto 360 takes off - it's the first half decent looking specimen.
My current watch:
Small, looks good in a plain way, tough, waterproof, years on batteries. Days, hours, minutes.
So, what 'smart watch' features would I find useful? And what comprises would I be willing to incur in order to have them?
Some features could be implemented without drastically affecting the appearance of the watch. I wouldn't want a Galaxy Gear, but a conventional watch that had a RGB notification LED or two, plus some simple media playback controls could be good. For that I might trade a 3-year battery life for a 6-month battery life, perhaps.
Citizen and Casio already make simple connected watches, but the implementations appear to be in the 'close but no cigar' territory.
Indeed, Citizen's effort is solar-powered:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizen-Proximity-Bluetooth-Chronograph-AT7035-01E/dp/B009LDL7TU
For me the killer feature would be payment by NFC, supposing the nation's infrastructure is up to it. For example, it should save me having to carry a pre-paid bus card. (Having NFC in a phone isn't enough for convenience, because getting a phone out isn't any harder than getting a wallet out; but my watch is already out.)
Other people want vibrate notifications for incoming messages and the like. Having the watch alert if it gets too far away from the phone would be useful for people who leave their phones behind, and having the phone lock/unlock depending on its proximity to the watch would useful for people who are concerned about their phones getting stolen.
Whether any of these features is included in any given smart watch product is another matter.
" I'm still not convinced there's a real market for these things. "
We all said the same about the i-pad and now everyone and their cat seems to have a tablet.
We even have one in the house (in a drawer, still boxed, as the girlfriend got it as a freebie and we still can't see the point!), so I'm going to reserve judgement here... Apple seem to be masters at generating markets where none seems to exist.
If all they are trying to do is replace your watch and add a bit of basic connectivity to your mobile then you're probably right. The devil is in the detail. We don't yet know what else it will do, and if that will make it worth purchasing by a significant number of users.
Brings back memories of my first digital watch in 1975 or so, which proved that teenage enthusiasm + LEDs was not a great mix; about a month per set for the first few months was about as good as it got. Fast forward to 1981, and the 10 dollar Casio LCD I bought on a trip to the states was still going on the same batteries till 12 years later, a longevity no watch I've owned since has ever bettered.
Smart watches to date seem to offer little of great merit for my needs, and I wonder how many people would really be prepared to add another (doubtless pricey 'daily charge' item to their list of battery management tasks - even if Apple manage to squeeze in functions no-one else has come up with or managed to get working. Short of a mighty improvement in battery life, the only rabbit you can pull is a novel and relatively pain free method of charging, because if it isn't on your wrist, its not much use as a watch.
I ditched my previous watch because the battery only lasted a year, switched to an Eco-drive and haven't looked back. That said, if it was wireless and I could just drop it on a recharging pad at the end of the day then daily would probably be fine but I'd prefer a week or more for traveling.
The thing with a watch is that it shouldn't ever stop and people are creatures of habit so if it fits the daily routine it has a spot, likewise if it fits a weekly or monthly routine it is easy to work with. The real pain in the arse is when it lasts 3 or 4 days or less than a day and doesn't fit nicely into the routine. Whatever it does it has to work on a convenient and consistent schedule because battery gauges suck sewage through a straw because the use and power draw profiles are so varied.
@Eddy Ito: "likewise if it fits a weekly or monthly routine it is easy to work with"
Weekly, I'd understand somewhat, but monthly? Do you have a monthly routine? I definitely agree that lasting 3 or 4 days would be a right pain.
For me, if I were to actually wear a watch (haven't for over 15 years), I'd probably charge it daily to keep it topped up, but I'd expect it to last a minimum of 2 weeks on a charge -- nice for camping holidays etc.
My pebble lasts a week or so quite easily, and I use it to control my music on my commute and netflix on the Chromecast at home. It also controls my heating (via nest, so I suspect a lot of commenters will loathe me on sight for such blasphemy as enjoying a connected house)
So weekly's good for me, only takes a couple of hours to charge too.
Though sometimes I do miss the reassuringly solid feel of my old Citizen ecodrive.
> How will they manage to tell the time without a why-oh-why watch strapped to their feeble wrists?
I guess most (the ones with real lives) will just keep using whatever they have now.
On the other hand, some rabid closet fanbois care more about the rumour than about the product. Those will obsessively parrot away any unsubstantiated rumour in order to garner attention and attempt to pass the gossip as "journalism".
"Hey guys, here's another rumour. What to you think? Huh? Huh? Comment on this!"
-- Rej Llama Phis
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