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Samsung Also Making a Smartwatch
New submitter evansspann sends word that Samsung will be making a smartwatch. Rumors have been swirling for a few months that Apple is working on a 'watch-like' device, but Samsung's CEO was willing to confirm that his company is working on such a product. "We've been preparing the watch product for so long. We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them." The companies are now likely racing to be the first to market. Production of such a device will likely be easier for Samsung, since it can produce its own screens and chips. It's also likely to work well with the popular Galaxy Phone lines. However, it will have a tougher time with app distribution than Apple, since it doesn't control Google Play the way Apple controls the App Store. "Apple's critics like to say the company's ideas are obvious, but as some pundits have noted, those very ideas once seemed unimaginable. The smartwatch will be a great test for that theory. It'll be interesting to see if Samsung can strike first in a nascent category and still rival Apple's work."
I have a feeling this is going to be downvoted because it happens to be the first post and people will think I'm just posting for that reason, but I totally misread this title as "Samsung also making a sandwich". Maybe someone sexist jerk told them to get in the kitchen, and they took it to heart?
Can't wait to see all old ideas re-patented by adding the language "on a watch".
"Smart watches" have been around in one form or another for decades.
I'm sure both the Samsung and Apple versions will be impressive new steps in the technology, but let's not pretend there's anything fundamentally new about the idea.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
I'm pretty sure Casio introduced the smartwatch back in '70s.
This makes me suspect that Apple deliberately started rumors that they were working on a "smartwatch" simply to trick other companies into wasting effort into actually developing such a useless product.
Look, wrist watches were replaced by cellphones. There is no reason to introduce a watch again, unless it will replace the cellphone. Then, tell me - how the battery life problems were solved?
Oh, you might say that carrying both a watch AND a phone will be so great, because it will be a smart-watch. This is stupid reasoning, why carry more, if you can carry less?
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#\ @ ? Colonize Mars
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We've all wanted smart watches since Q gave the first one to 007. It has taken a while, but I'm glad my dreams will finally come true.
Is 1563649 a prime number?
If you thought the last round of pointless patent lawsuits was fun to watch... just wait, the best has yet to come surrounding the definition of a "time keeping device that is fastened to the wearer's wrist". ^_^
if you look carefully, you can see the Samsung founder Stefan Jobes wearing a smartwatch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YciM_54HzZk
Damn, read that as "sandwich" and thought I was at the onion... maybe I'm hungry.
Misread that as "Samsung also making a sandwich". Got real excited too.
Quick! Patent every existing technology but add the words - 'on a watch'
IIRC, didn't Dick Tracy have a two-way wrist radio back in the 60's? And the "Search" [nee "Probe"] TV series had a tricorder-like device [they called a "scanner"] that could fit on top of an agent's ring.
So, such things were imagined just not realized. Just getting the prior art out there before the youngster lawyers start claiming so-and-so company invented the concept.
Like a good neighbor, fsck is there
There are plenty of phone watches out there... that is nothing new. What I'd like is something like Pebbl or the Sony Ericsson LiveView that interfaces to my phone (Android or iPhone) with some sort of standard interface for developers.
It can be a two-way interface, relaying video and audio in both directions, as well as have a small touch screen.
$150 is a bit much... LiveViews are available for $30, as they seem to be closeouts... I would like something like this for less than $100, though.
Dick Tracy cites prior art!
If I am prepared to turn my head a few degrees in any direction I can see the time from pretty much anywhere. Apart from impressing your friends by wearing a Patek Philippe or some such, I don't really understand why people wear watches anymore.
Just keep releasing rumours about crazy products in the pipe line:
1. TV you talk at. Check, Samsung already made one. Anyone buy it?
2. Watch with battery life about 1/1000th of a normal one. In the pipeline...
3. ??????
If Samsung releases their watch first, Apple will release a "better" one. That of course may mean Apple won't release what they planned to however.
You can't release a competing product that doesn't compete without losing face.
You'll be able to jailbreak the Samsung smart watch, load a new kernel, hell, even compile your own kernel ON THE WATCH using a complete Gnu tool chain. And you won't have to go to some curated app store to get apps for the Samsung watch. You can get 'em from anywhere. For free! How can Apple's walled garden compete with that? Samsung FTW!
But as any designer will tell you, it takes a massive amount of talent and work to make a good design.
But why bother. Watches are so yesterday. Just about every gadget from the microwave to the stove to the phone to thermometers to DVD players to bombs to the tablet to the computer displays the time. This is annoyingly so since so many of these devices need setting and then resetting twice a year with Daylight Stupid Time.
I don't like to wear a watch on my wrist. Even a good waterproof one gets too dinged up. I especially don't want a good one on my wrist getting manure on it.
Many people I know don't bother with watches for these same reasons. Watches are passé. I certainly don't want to strap my phone, computer or MP3 on my wrist. The idea of putting an even more expensive gadget in the line of dirt is dumb. Add to that a tiny screen and undoubtedly short battery life that will be one more battery dying and needing replacing after a few years.
No thanks.
By the way, I just threw that bomb in to see if you were paying attention. Did you catch it?
There, Their, The're.
Did you gradgitate high skool?
An internet connected wearable spice rack for your arms. Welcome to the world of the future.
Appletrolls will complain that Samsung is stealing from Apple again
Probably an apple iWatch prototype :)
As in others will "copy" Apple's lead by following from the front?
Pebble
Sony MN2SW
Metawatch
From what I have seen, I would say Apple is more of a Johnny-come-lately than any sort of "market leader".
But you can keep on believing what you want...
The why is blindingly obvious to me.... Because with the trend of phones being 5"+, a watch is a HUGE lot handier to manage than having to pull out the phone unlock it, read some sms or email which likely doesn't require an immediate response anyway, or hang up a call from someone you don't have time to talk to at the moment. Add to that some other on-a-glance features, like... *the time*, a stopwatch, countdown timer etc, and hey presto, a whole package of quite useful stuff which may come in handy.
Apple built a platform for their ideas, Google built one for everyone's.
Another win for ADHD!
.. In fact Motorola has a nice one. runs android. it has been 'hacked' with new kernels and everything.. I'd post links but I'm supposed to be working :)
This feels a lot like history might be repeating itself here.
Anyone remember the ill-fated CrunchPad? Public announcement preceded that of the ipad, but for a bunch of reasons it never amounted to much while the Ipad took off and even Apple's competitors did better than how the crunchpad ended up.
Now we have the Pebble Watch which actually did make it to market (despite many unforseen delays) before the iwatch and other competitors (I think sony has a crappy smartwatch, but it is crappy). Even so it is immature with only modest software functionality at the moment.
Meanwhile all the chatter gives the impression Apple and others have got their own versions coming real soon now. Maybe its just FUD to scare people into wait-and-see on Pebble instead of going out and buying one right now. Or maybe there really is something good right around the corner that will clobber Pebble.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
The worst kind of pundit is one that safely predicts that past trends will continue into the future. This isn't a prediction, simply a cowardly use of a self-evident statistical fact. Company A has had success for the last ten years, so company A will be successful next year. You can say this without any facts or true analysis.
So, the fact that Apple has had recent success with some new products (mp3 players and phones) clearly means Apple can continue to find successful new gimmicks in the future. WAIT A MOMENT. This is absolutely untrue. Most of Apple's previous gimmicks have been bombs. Maybe one day a smart-watch will be a real money-earner, but the likelihood is this will never happen.
However, such a gizmo is too easy for Apple not to try. And for companies that ride alongside Apple, well they would be insane not to throw their hat into the same speculative ring. So, Samsung preps a smart-watch too.
Why now? Well watches have a limited volume, so to place a decent computer within one takes real advancement in tech- namely size of circuit, performance, and power consumption. Like tablets (PDAs), smart-watches have been tried many times in the past. Perhaps the origin of the movement was the idea of the wrist-watch radio, then TV. However, when technology advancements made the radio and TV possible in such a form factor, it soon became apparent that no-one wanted such a gimmick.
In the early days of LCD watches, companies rapidly tried all forms of computer backed ideas, but it turned out that people were unimpressed when better LCD displays could show all kids of fancy graphic display. People liked the accuracy, no-winding and alarms, but computer or not, a watch was just for telling the time.
And so, now, you can cram a full function Android or iOS computer into a watch, with excellent wireless connectivity to your phone or tablet. The battery life still stinks if you do real work on the watch, though, so it can't really function as a tablet. It'll probably need a daily charge, making it worse than the old clockwork watches in that respect.
Here's the question. Will the main selling point- endlessly configurable 'skins' for the watch face- appeal to a mass market. What I find about the concept of 'skinning' is that it is great fun browsing the artistic work of others- to look at the amazing themes they create- but in practice I usually pick a practical minimal clear theme and then never change. Apple (and Samsung) will tell you that you can have a different watch-face every day of the week, but I don't think themes are a big selling point.
The 'clever' apps that will suck the life from the battery - how do they compete with people using their phone instead? People love fiddling with their phone. Why would they fiddle with a tiny thing strapped to their wrist- which is usually worn as jewelry?
We are in one of those periodic ages of gimmicks. Kickstarter helps drive this. In fairness you can aim to make a lot of money from selling people gimmicks that will end up lost in some draw or cupboard after a couple of uses. Sony sold a lot of PSP handhelds on this basis, and so did Nintendo with the Wii. However, it is not a good strategy for Apple or Samsung to follow. Apple shares are falling like a stone. If Apple allows itself some 'Windows 8 Tablet' style flops, the market will assume the magic at Apple is over, and the age of Android is truly here.
"First!" isn't what counts here, this isn't an internet forum. Apple didn't build the first "smart" phone, or first MP3 player, or the first tablet. It built the most useful, and user friendly, tablet and smartphone and MP3 player to date. I'm not sure it matters if Samsung is "first". If Apple's product seems significantly "better" it's going to dominate anyway.
As a wise man once said ...
Charlie: Okay, the reason why men say hot girl at, like, 12 o'clock or 3 o'clock, is to specify a location using the clock face as a kind of a map.
Jake: What if you have a digital watch?
Charlie: First of all, you're not gonna meet any women if you wear a digital watch. Second of all, it doesn't matter; the clock face is imaginary.
Jake: Then how do you know what time you saw the girl?
Charlie: Oh, my God!
Apple said "Hey someone left fudge on the ground." Samsung looked over, grabbed a hunk and chowed down. Google couldn't find them because she had smeared something all over her eyes. Microsoft was alone on the swingset wishing he could blind himself and eat poo, looked fun. Yeah I'm not a fan of this idea. No one bought cellphone watches, why make them smart?
I suppose you've never met a shift-worker with a dual-time watch where the second display is set to 07:00 on waking so that one doesn't forget to each lunch when the real-world strikes 03:00.
I suppose you don't operate a stop-watch by feel and sound and habit when driving around town to determine the most efficient routes (is it even legal to fumble with your phone's stop-watch application?)
I suppose you've never forgotten to pack your phone's charge cable, or taken a vacation to some remote place where leaving behind your phone and phone's charger is considered a wise idea.
I suppose you've never got your hands covered with some kind of horrible construction adhesive while working on the construction of an out-building that isn't even wired for power yet.
I suppose, in general, you don't get out much. I've coined my own term for this condition: use-case blindness. But you do seem to read the advertisements for status bling in magazines left lying around in your local coffee shop, so you must get out at least a little bit.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_s9110-2885.php
but no lets make it out like they are copying apple....
Sony... you copied apple too...
Pebble Technology... you aswell
just what I wanted... a watch that will need to be recharged every night. I already have one of those...
Will it be standalone without having a phone? Or will it require it? It would be nice to have it in the phone.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
They are probably running Tizen and not Android in line with their dropping of Android.
Sony already makes and sells a SmartWatch. This seems to have gone completely unnoticed by the blogosphere, who keep using terms like "first to market" and "new category" and don't seem to be able to use a Google search to see whats already out there. Sony's Smartwatch also is the benchmark that Apple will copy pretty much everything from, including the way it syncs with your existing Android phone and bluetooth gadgets. (You can bet it will do less cost too much, just prettier, and sell millions more).
Apple seems to pick on poor Sony, they already stole Sony's idea with a one-brand retail outlet. (Sony Style stores opened in the 1980s - decades before Apple Stores). Apple's original iPhone was almost as similar to some of Sony's touch screen concept phone, that you you wonder. Now they'll copy the Smartwatch.
Samsung has some very cool display tech though, such as flexible screens - there's a damn good reason why they aren't in Sammy's new phones (S4 etc). I would put good money on Smartwatches being the first use of these screens and that's where production resources are being directed right now.
Unless Apple uses AMOLED for their watch, Samsungs going to be the winner.
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
Obligatory Douglas Adams quote:
Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea...
Although I wear a relatively smart digital watch, I often wonder whether an automatic piece of jewelry (say, a Breguet) would be nicer on my wrist. Can't afford, so the question is purely philosophical.
"You're wearing it wrong!"
I want Jarvis.
dealsextreme sells watch cellphones for more than 5 years.
http://dx.com/c/cell-phone-599/cell-phones-511/watch-phones-529
They should definitely stop for one second and ask people what they think. Then they'd hear "that's stupid and I don't want one" from all customers everywhere and not waste their money. They look ridiculous, the screen is unreadably small, and they'll likely be prone to damage. Also, a lot of people like me can't wear a watch because constant nerve pressure causes horrible headaches.
So, if the wearer doesn't respond to email or a facebook post in time, they can be "shocked" into compliance. Two shocks for forgetting to post a picture of breakfast, and three for forgetting to notify the world of your bowel movement.
I personally cannot wait for the new wave of smartwatches so that we can enjoy all of the exciting lawsuits over who started working on which one first.
Even the introduction quote sounds like an opening move in the gambit: "We've been preparing the watch product for so long." Not a specific time, just so long - long enough to make it legally questionable who had the idea first.
I personally can't wait for Casio to leap into the fray, patents blazing. I'm gonna need to license me some popcorn for this.
"Not all who wander are lost" -- JRR Tolkien
Apple's critics like to say the company's ideas are obvious, but as some pundits have noted, those very ideas once seemed unimaginable.
Apparently, rounded corners are unimaginable...
And Glasses, we've been working on augmented reality glasses . . . like forever. And a game console, we thought that shit up in like, the seventies, we're still prototyping.
Only thing worse than a dumb idea is a copied dumb idea.
Let's see if anyone knows what this Kronom KD-2 is...