Apple iWatch

[Bozza]

I think the general consensus will be that the battery life is WAY below what we need it to be. But whatever the battery life does end up being, you'll have to charge it every day for sure. The issue as I see it will be how much 'screen on' time Apple has accounted for in that day.

At first, people will be checking their watch more than their phones. It's a new shiny toy which has to be played with. That will result in reports of watches dying by 11am, raising questions of "how should we use this thing" etc.

It's such a new industry and nobody really has any idea where this is all going. But as long as it looks great, plays nice with iPhones and has great apps I think it will do very well.

Expect 2.5 hours of heavy use, 3.5 hours of standard use or 2-3 standby (i.e. doing nothing) time.

I can kill my iPhone 6 by 11am. Battery tech is shit.

Talking of which, has anyone been following this almost unreal-sounding charger: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/265641170/kraftwerk-highly-innovative-portable-power-plant

 

[Nitram]

I think the general consensus will be that the battery life is WAY below what we need it to be. But whatever the battery life does end up being, you'll have to charge it every day for sure. The issue as I see it will be how much 'screen on' time Apple has accounted for in that day.

At first, people will be checking their watch more than their phones. It's a new shiny toy which has to be played with. That will result in reports of watches dying by 11am, raising questions of "how should we use this thing" etc.

It's such a new industry and nobody really has any idea where this is all going. But as long as it looks great, plays nice with iPhones and has great apps I think it will do very well.

The screen time is an important issue, if I was to buy one I would expect the time to be shown without me having to activate it, if the case is that the screen has to be put into a sleep mode and activated to tell the time it would put me off as that is not how I expect a digital watch to operate. However until we find out how it operates after it is launched its all academic.

 

[wehatepalace]

Did you see this news from this week?
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...mproved-since-unveiling-can-be-worn-in-shower

I hadn't until now, but you are the bearer of the best news of the week, I think I may love you !

 

[Bozza]

The screen time is an important issue, if I was to buy one I would expect the time to be shown without me having to activate it, if the case is that the screen has to be put into a sleep mode and activated to tell the time it would put me off as that is not how I expect a digital watch to operate. However until we find out how it operates after it is launched its all academic.

There is no way the time will be displayed continuously.

You won't have to put the watch to sleep - it will do that by itself. It will then either need a tap of the screen or a press of a button to come back to life and/or the internal gyroscopes will detect when you raise your wrist and activate the screen at that point.

 

[Rookie]

Big fan of my iphone, but don't get the whole iwatch (or similar) thing. How will it change my life?

 

[The Lemming Stomper]

I love my Pebble so will make do with that ( for the moment )

 

[tinx]

Yeah I have the original pebble which offers some good functionality at a fraction of the price. I bought one to see how much I used a smart watch without spending a fortune and I really like getting notifications on my wrist and it saves me missing calls when I don't feel or hear my phone.

I will consider and apple watch but I suspect the price will put me off for the extra functionality I gain over my current pebble. Plus the pebble lasts at least 4 or 5 days without charging I very much doubt we will ever get that from an apple watch.

 

[Superphil]

I wear a 1965 Omega Chronostop, I can't see how any of these Apple watches could be any smarter, so I think this is one bit of Apple gear I'll steer clear of..

 

[beorhthelm]

interesting, if the Apple fans are questioning the iWatch, maybe we've hit peak Apple. its a lovely looking device, but whats it going to do? its a pretty slim set of use cases, they've already ruled out lots of medical monitoring posibilities (data privacy reasons and i gather geting them to work anyway), so its a bit of heart beat, pedometer, alerting and telling the time. anything else and why wouldnt you use your iphone instead? i dont believe the battery is going to be such an issue, because the device wont do anything much to use up battery. smaller screen dont use so much power and theres not much to process so they can give it a small efficient processor. it would be daft if they shoehorn in a big processor just so it "can" play games or somthing that people arent going to do.

It's such a new industry and nobody really has any idea where this is all going.

new industry? the watch has been around a while now, including ones that do more than just tell time. its maybe a new sub-market sector, sitting between fashion and technology. they'll sell millions for sure, but 100's of millions? even dozens of millions might be pushing it once the geeks have theres, the novelty erodes and people adopt other equally capable watches.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

DEFINITELY interested. Why wouldn't you be interested in the greatest product launch since the iPad!?

Since you ask, I'm not interested for 2 reasons, firstly I don't like wearing a watch, secondly, I have no desire to spend lots of money on something I'd have absolutely no use for.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Just LOOK at it though

View attachment 63412

I guess it's down to personal taste, but that looks like the sort of shit that you'd find on the wrist of some glow in the dark TOWIE wanchor.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Don't wear a watch that often...but having read this thread i could find the Pebble one useful when working and will research further

 

[Goldstone1976]

Talking of which, has anyone been following this almost unreal-sounding charger: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/265641170/kraftwerk-highly-innovative-portable-power-plant

Yes; I'm in, with, by their standards, a sizeable pledge. It's a punt (mostly around prototype-to-production issues), but I think it's just a timing implication. I've checked out the patents they've applied for and they're real. They cover all aspects of the FC tech, with perhaps, imo, a small gap around anode connectivity. Philips also has one possible prior art claim, imo. That's about as good a coverage as anything I've recently seen. So, for me, it was worth a punt.

 

[beorhthelm]

Yes; I'm in, with, by their standards, a sizeable pledge. It's a punt (mostly around prototype-to-production issues), but I think it's just a timing implication. I've checked out the patents they've applied for and they're real. They cover all aspects of the FC tech, with perhaps, imo, a small gap around anode connectivity. Philips also has one possible prior art claim, imo. That's about as good a coverage as anything I've recently seen. So, for me, it was worth a punt.

that is brilliant. but... i dont like they way they market is as reliable, power anywhere, unlimited fredom...etc. as long as you have a handy camping gas supply in can form handy. its also fantastically expensive way to charge, about x100. would like to see the technolgy scale up to something more usful or using a larger, more cost effiecent gas source, like say a home scale power plant.

 

[Goldstone1976]

that is brilliant. but... i dont like they way they market is as reliable, power anywhere, unlimited fredom...etc. as long as you have a handy camping gas supply in can form handy. its also fantastically expensive way to charge, about x100. would like to see the technolgy scale up to something more usful or using a larger, more cost effiecent gas source, like say a home scale power plant.

I agree with all 3 points, and comment as follows: the initial target market are people for whom access to a portable power source outweighs the inconvenience of having to carry a gas canister(s) or the (relatively) considerable cost of recharging. Their (and my) judgement is that that market (combined with the techies who will buy just because it's a cool product), is big enough to generate a return. Personally, I doubt whether the product will, in its current form, generate the volume to NGOs or in developing countries that they are projecting, because of cost; but that's only a top slice off their revenue projections, albeit a bigger dent in their CSR strategy.

To your third point: a quick flick through the visitors' book revealed EDF, Centrica & BMW.

None of the above should be taken as investment advice - I am neither licensed nor qualified to offer it. I also feel that I'm in danger of straying into marketing them, which is not my intention! I'm out of this thread.

iWatch 1? Not for me.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Like many I was questioning the need and use of a smartwatch. I have just had a week away snowboarding and our mode of communication when lost on the slopes and/or meeting up in bars and restaurants is WhatsApp. Most of us have to remove our gloves and get our smartphone out of our backpack or pocket. Not ideal and a somewhat fiddly exercise. Not so my smart-watch wearing friend who simply checked the messages on his wrist. Handy huh?