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Apple Said To Be Working On a 'Watch-Like Device'
The WSJ reports that Apple is "experimenting with designs for a watch-like device that would perform some functions of a smartphone, according to people briefed on the effort." An excerpt: The company has discussed such a device with its major manufacturing partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., one of these people said, as part of explorations of potentially large product categories beyond the smartphone and tablet. Apple's efforts come as companies have introduced various kinds of wearable gadgets, mainly designed to measure physical activity. More sophisticated devices face big technical challenges, but also are attracting investments from large technology companies. Foxconn, as Hon Hai is also known, has been working on a spate of technologies that could be used in wearable devices, one of these people said. In particular, the Taiwan-based company has been working to address the challenges of making displays more power-efficient and working with chip manufacturers to strip down their products."
...because???
Kind of like this? http://getpebble.com/
The return of the iPod Nano!
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it! --Longbottle
Apple won't be able to blame any malfunctions on "holding it wrong."
Will it display the time?
With only one button on it. The button says "PAY".
His special watch (a "portent of things to come") - in fact, that's EXACTLY the reference I use when speaking to peers (since youngsters may NOT remember this since they're possibly not old enough to get the reference) about modern computing appliances...
Tablets & such (whatever represents the SMALLER stuff out there now that's 'trendy', that is)...?
No, it's NOT the "end all/be all" - this WILL be though, as far as external devices folks use/wear (the Dick Tracy watch)... especially once they get holography down better/pat, etc./et al!
APK
P.S.=> I didn't think of it, the comic strips' author did & here we are in the 21st century where ideas actually DO actualize & become truth...
... apk
I stopped wearing a watch years ago because I could pull my phone (not even a smart one) out of my pocket to see what time it was.
I'd be interested to know how many people still wear a watch as anything more than a big piece of jewellery.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
@ EXACTLY THE SAME TIME TOO (posttime) -> http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3449647&cid=42853213
* :)
(Both of us posted the same idea @ 5:06 p.m.!)
APK
P.S.=> See subject-line, & nice to see there's another "oldster" that thinks along the SAME lines also...
... apk
Recently we've been getting some unlikely apple rumors....AppleTV.......watch device......
What this really means is Apple has started fighting leaks by leaking false rumors. That's what I think this comes from.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
e-ink. True it cant do multimedia, but its real efficient, and more than enough for many people.
Only time will tell...
i wonder how many flops the average apple fanboy will have in home or on person in 5 years to unknowingly offer some random botnet somewhere.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Man-gets-magnetic-iPod-implant/tabid/420/articleID/254632/Default.aspx
Someone should register this trademark quickly.
Apple was so good with daylight saving and news years alarms calculation that a apple watch is certainly a good idea.
...now we have to look forward to all the Apple fanbois claiming that Apple invented the wrist watch.
The problem is:
A) The display
B) The interface
The closest Apple has come to a watch is the iPod Nano (6th gen) which had a whole host of problems, namely that the screen (and therefore the interface) was tiny. Assuming the Nano 6th gen as a template in size, what functions of my smartphone could that easily replace? Music playback would work, but not videos, nor would web or messaging work all that well. I suppose a game or two might not be too bad. But other than that I'm at a loss as to what it could have that my smartphone has. Streaming music perhaps? But really, the screen is going to be too tiny to be usable.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
I don't wear wristwatches because I am hairy, but I would like a pocketwatch-formfactor MID running Android. Gingerbread would be OK, and QVGA even, as long as it has at least a 2MP camera.
I looked at iPod Nano even though it is made by Apple but it is just too fragile and getting it coated for liquid resistance is just too expensive.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I wonder how this will play against Pebble. I am currently waiting for mine.
-B
It should read "Apple working on likable device that watches you (better). "
Silence is a state of mime.
Counting down until Eric Schidt departs Google.
In honor of its comic predecessor, the device will be called iDick. The humorous trademark-infringing Chinese knockoff will be called iPud.
So it was Siri Lela had on her wrist thingy. No wonder she barely ever uses it :)
"Apple needs to move on to a new form factor"
I hope I didn't start this rumor. It seems like a logical thing to do, but I had no evidence they were doing it.
(T>t && O(n)--) == sqrt(666)
If it was really for nerds, would they have cited a pay-walled article?
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
The concept seems pretty useless to me, given that your cellphone is almost equally as accessible nowadays. Maybe they are letting out these rumors to force their competition to re-focus their R&D in something useless and make them waste money ant time? The idea of the Apple TV screen kind of rings of the same.
Sony already makes an Android watch, the SmartWatch ...
But this will be Apple's ... Ooooh ... Shiny ...
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
Point-to-point contact? Is my childhood dream of a real Power Rangers communicator watch-like device finally coming true?! Meh. Don't care. Not a kid anymore.
I have been a captive in America my entire life. Everybody and everything uses customary units instead of metric.
Prior art:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--ZkMPJMfWl0/UITyARxb--I/AAAAAAAAAhA/dF58FFm6HX4/s1600/dicktracy.jpg
We're not in Soviet Russia, though... "In Soviet Russia, Apple watch you!" Hmm...then again, maybe we are?!
I have been a captive in America my entire life. Everybody and everything uses customary units instead of metric.
Tog has a better take on the iWatch: http://asktog.com/atc/apple-iwatch/
"[...]the Taiwan-based company has been working to address the challenges of making displays more power-efficient and working with chip manufacturers to strip down their products[...]" Hm... Maybe they are building iGlasses. Hipsters gonna like that.
Do you read me?
Considering Apple's lack of success with handling alarms, new years, and DST switches, would anyone really want a watch from Apple?
Perfectly Good Watch
Now that Apple was forced to license the Swiss Railway clock design (a la iOS 6), maybe their license extends to future products like iWatches?
The smart phone has retreated from shrinking for good reason - all things, no matter how advanced, reach a limit to their usefulness as input and display devices.
Ideally, a watch-like "smart phone" would be better as a peripheral, ala the Pebble, acting with a smart phone for additional freedom (and to replace an actual watch with something more flexible in function).
I can see a future where people throw their hand up to the side of their face with a "phone handset" gesture, speaking into their pinky, listening into their thumb, with a watch-style interface on their wrist to handle it (and some implants in the hand), while a smart phone stays in your pocket or on your belt, ready for more "heavy duty" functions.
This is the same reason why optical discs have not shrunk... and why sellable media will probably remain no smaller than a typical DS cart or SD card. Too small, and it's easy to lose, even if it handles the volume of data it needs to carry out its function.
I'm guessing most of them are cock rings.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Back in 2004 Microsoft launched its Smart Personal Object Technology (SPOT). The technology wasn't just limited to watches, it also found itself on coffee makers and was promoted as a great solution for a raft of other consumer items.
I own a couple of SPOT watches...they gave me 24x7 access to stock prices, news headlines, weather and a large selection of other news items that I could customize through the SPOT configuration page (now long gone...)
Good old SPOT was laid to rest just over a year ago - rendering my SPOT watches new additions to my Microsoft Abandonware shelf...joining the Office Keyboard, my two Zune players, the fingerprint scanner / mouse combo, WebTV Settop box, my copy of Visual Basic for DOS and Windows 3.1 for Pen and countless others.
I think that SPOT failed for three reasons:
1) Outrageous annual subscription fee ($55 per year or $99 'Lifetime').
2) Very limited transmission range for the Direct Band transmission system limited the tool's use to just a handful of Canadian cities.
3) Microsoft gave up. (Just like they have with everything else in that abaondonware bin...)
Now it is up to Apple to (once again) show us (and Bill and Steve) how it is done right!
When Microsoft killed off the 4-year-old SPOT watch in 2008 they should have shown some true leadership and open sourced the entire platform.
Get your new iWatch as in "I watch you sleep at night" !
it's the newfangled geezer pocket watch, and Siri tells me it also does fancy useful stuff when I ask it things. win-win, Apple's had it out for years now.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I thought CrApple was working on the smelly iToilet ?
Thanks, but ill keep my Moto Activ. Phone and text notification, weather, wireless music, fitness features and gps.
The other sites talk about Apple also pursuing a device with curved glass. I have to wonder if they've taken a page from the CST-01 design validation unit on KickStarter. Could they be pursuing an iDevice in the wrist bracer form factor? I'm looking at the pictures and I'm telling myself that Apple has got to be exploring some sort of electronic device in this form. If so, it is going to be significantly more complex than a watch.
...on this one. Going back to 1946.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dt2wrr.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tracy
Seems LG beat them to it as well; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEMsW4FE54Y
machete carrying muggers!
by having rounded corners?
Calling Dick Tracy! Pruneface has escaped!
I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
It is rude to look at your phone while meeting with someone
That's why you set your phone on the table beforehand, so you can just glance at it.
People notice you looking at watches, much harder to hide that action.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I stopped wearing a watch years ago because I could pull my phone (not even a smart one) out of my pocket to see what time it was.
Same here - watches always irritated my skin (even hypoallergenic ones), and once I carried a phone always that just made more sense to tell time with. A watch was excess that you had to be careful not to damage.
I can see watches making a retro comeback of some kind, but I can't see any electronic watch being a mass-market item in the way they used to be.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Well, maybe they will come up with something better than a LED watch.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
So an iPod Nano with a wrist-strap?
The Nomad plays Sega Genesis cartridges, the vast majority of which are 4 MB or smaller. The sixth-generation iPod nano, the one that snaps into wristbands to become a watch, was available in 8000 MB and 16000 MB capacities.
...here we come!
(Depending on features, of course. Can't access the FA.)
While walking through the Old Orchard Apple Store recently I was interested to see the variety of non-Apple products on display, which included things like Philips remote-controlled LED mood lighting systems, and the Nike Fuel Bands.
Because of the presence of the Fuel products, as well as Apple's previous integration of Nike stuff in their iPods, I am slightly more inclined to believe in the idea of an Apple "wrist" device than most of the Apple rumors that I hear.
G.
If your life requires you to wear a watch,
you're living it wrong.
The FIRST smartwatch.
I'm Watch
Apple already had a watch out years ago, during the "Think different[sic]" era. I have one. It's much like an ordinary watch, but it goes backwards.
The annoying thing is that it's no longer compatible with iOS 6, or in fact anything. Battery life is good though.
If this is true, I will sell my stake in AAPL and never buy their shares again. This would indicate Tim Cook's lack of vision and focus, and his inability to listen. If true, that is, which I bet it isn't.
If you do cooking, have to be on time for some appointment, and just generally need to keep track of time, a watch beats any other device. Specifically, an analog watch with a diver's style bezel, is key for cooking (lets you time various things along with a timer) and if you like to eat you better know how to cook.
My watch lets me keep track of time at night (I wear it to bed) with a luminous dial/hands; time meetings, keep me on time for numerous appointments, track my time on various tasks, and is to my mind essential for modern day living where keeping track of time is essential. A phone is just that, a phone, handy for making calls, inferior to a specialist device like a watch. No I don't pay a lot of money for my watches, but a good diving style watch, around $80 to $180; from Casio to Wenger to Seiko, will do you fine, and keep you on task far better than a phone.
If you are of the hairy persuasion, just wear a leather band or fabric band watch. Leather bands look cool, are nice and fashionable, wear easy on the wrist, and have lots of utility.
A good watch is a function in great design. The classic Roman Numeral watches hark back to the Victorian era, and the Arabic numeral watches are easy and functional. Seiko mostly just uses dots as positions, but an analog watch is a great tool.
It can be used as a compass, in a pinch. It allows you to visualize time, how many minutes before a certain time, how many minutes after an event; things like that. And the watch FACE is critical to the enjoyment and utility you get. No digital read out can match the craftsmanship of the designers at Victorinox, Wenger, Seiko, and even Casio. All of which make fine watches at many price points.
Put it this way, for centuries people have wanted to know, as accurately as possible, what time it was, as quickly as possible. It is now available to you for often, less than $20 or so, to know that, with a convenient wristwatch.
A leather band watch, try it, will make wearing a watch far more pleasurable (than a steel band watch).
Don't Google already have multiple patents on that already?
Posted anonymously for obvious tracking reasons
Useless unless it looks like Dick Tracy's watch.
Dick Tracy already has the patent on that, goddamnit!
Give me the iGauntlet or iPowerGlove, let's make a statement that I'm wearing some Apple tech.
dick tracy
I'm working as a programmer. I'm using technology all day long and my life is made of 0's and 1's. I own a smartphone. And very often I just "turn it to silent mode", no vibration and leave it in my car (hidden) or in the corridor.
There's one time at which I need to disconnect from this "always on" life of 0's and 1's. A smartphone still allows to do that. A watch it's not so convenient.
Additionally I like 100% mechanical watches that can sustain an EMP blast and that do look good (and it's not necessarily expensive: the japanese are making very fine mechanical watches with quality in-house movemement that do look gorgeous at very reasonable prices ; )
What about the battery on these new watches btw? Is this something that's going to be soldered to the watch, making the watch yet another throwaway consumerist item? What about the OS / iOS? Is this something, like my old iPhone 3, that at one point shall be just as good as garbage because I can't install the latest iOS on it and hence can't install most of the newer apps?
but my devices turn off the screen after a few minutes to save battery life
It lasted 7 years on the original battery.
Nowadays I don't wear a watch since I'm in front of a computer all day for work, and when I'm out I generally have my phone.
Just because it's a piece of curved glass on your wrist, it might not be a watch. I'm thinking of the ring-like projectors in Zardoz. Siri + projected virtual touch interface means lightweight ubiquitous cloud access.
Apple should skip "TV" monitors anyway and go straight to projection.
Also "Dick Tracy" referrers: Detective Tracy was just the end user, the inventor was Diet Smith. http://dicktracy.wikia.com/wiki/Diet_Smith
-- Real Stupidity is the Artificial Intelligence of the 21st century
Otherwise, I'm not insterested in this so called watch.
Siri and VoiceOver for input and output. Seems less than ideal, but presumable Apple has been working on improving both, so they might be nearly ready to go for a nano-ish device.
Lifts wrist to face and says, "Siri, what time is it?"
8 mm thick? Might as well wear a brick and say it's getting heavy every hour.