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Ask Slashdot: What Smartwatch Apps Could You See Yourself Using?
An anonymous reader writes: It's official: the smartwatch wars have begun. Apple's announcement of the Apple Watch added a contender to the race already shaping up between the Pebble watch, the Moto 360, and others. Personally, my doubts about wanting one were put to rest when I learned of the health-related features. Smartwatches will be able to track your movements and pulse rate, calculate how many calories you burn, and coach you continuously to improve your fitness.
If you have one or plan on buying one, what apps or functions do you see yourself getting the most use from? If you're still skeptical, what would it take? (If an app developer sees your requirements here on Slashdot, your wish might come true.)
If you have one or plan on buying one, what apps or functions do you see yourself getting the most use from? If you're still skeptical, what would it take? (If an app developer sees your requirements here on Slashdot, your wish might come true.)
Is the submitter of the article a developer looking for ideas?
LOL, true. We were talking about this at work. I'm far from an Apple hater. I bought a first-gen iPod and loved it, along with some later generations. I've had two iPhones (though now am on my second Android). I'm on my 4th Mac. I have Kindle tablets but admit that the iPad is a very nice machine.
With that said, it is hard for me to imagine why I would want - price aside - another device on my wrist that does a subset of the thing in my pocket. If the watch were useful away from the phone, I could see some applications. But as is? The uses are contrived and niche.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
My feelings are summed up by Joseph Volpe's article at Engadget, http://www.engadget.com/2014/0...,
As a category, it needs to replace -- needs to completely replace our need for a cellphone. Otherwise, it's just one more thing to remember to charge throughout our busy days. To date, there's nothing any of these thinly veiled, proof-of-concept, wrist-worn devices can do that the smartphone already in your hand can't.
In my own case, I would be most likely to use one while working ... but work involves dust, steam, liquids, and 70kg kegs. It's not a good environment for something on my wrist.
or is there a hidden strategy of increasing the phone sizes of new iphones to deliberately make them unwieldy, and create a problem which can be "solved" with a smart-watch? ie, more crap to sell.
Most of the things on a watch that someone would want can also be handled on a phone. Add to this that most of those things are things that require cell/data signal, so you are required to carry your phone. The inconvenience of sticking your hand into your pocket to look at a larger screen generally doesn't top the inconvenience of having to have a device strapped to your body that you have to take off to charge all the time and have to pay several hundred dollars for.
This is the same thing people have seen with bluetooth ear pieces. They are really nice for a small percentage of the time, but not enough to capitalize for the majority of the market.
The another problem with watches is size. You have to competing design constraints. People want small and light and durable on their wrist. Versus large screen size for reading what was sent.
Lastly many people don't want to be that connected. They want to be able to ignore the notifications every 5 seconds that someone posted a new tweet or your grandma sent you a hilarious forward. You eventually want to see them, when you can have the time to stick your hand into your pocket. But it can generally wait 2 seconds for that to happen.
Personally, my doubts about wanting one were put to rest when I learned of the health-related features. Smartwatches will be able to track your movements and pulse rate, calculate how many calories you burn, and coach you continuously to improve your fitness.
You mean like fitbit, polaris, and other brands have been doing for years now? I guess it's news when Apple does it.
My wife has a polaris band she can combine with an accurate chest strap heart rate monitor, they sync together via bluetooth and her phone to track progress.... all without needing some big clunky, ugly "watch," or the premium cost for Apple products.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
LOL, true. We were talking about this at work. I'm far from an Apple hater. I bought a first-gen iPod and loved it, along with some later generations. I've had two iPhones (though now am on my second Android). I'm on my 4th Mac. I have Kindle tablets but admit that the iPad is a very nice machine.
With that said, it is hard for me to imagine why I would want - price aside - another device on my wrist that does a subset of the thing in my pocket. If the watch were useful away from the phone, I could see some applications. But as is? The uses are contrived and niche.
If you're like a lot of people, you carry a backpack/computer case with you on a regular basis. Keeping your phone safely inside that bag for most circumstances would be a benefit, freeing your pockets of the burden. You could still receive/triage incoming communications while the phone was tucked away. "Nearby" for a well designed bluetooth transceiver is 30-45 feet which is enough to keep you from having to unsheathe your phone in most circumstances. If you're worried about EIRP from carrying a phone on your body, this is a clear win for the smartwatch (assuming the watch is good about TX power management).
I could see dropping 100 bucks, maybe, on something that tracks health telemetry, but honestly? It'd probably have to be a gift before I got it.
One thing I haven't read thus far about the smartwatch situation is that Motorola, Apple, Samsung, etc. are new entrants to an area where Polar, Suunto, Garmin and a few others have already been building this sort of equipment for a long time. These guys have build watches with heart rate and other sensors with varying degrees of ruggedness, specifically for the purpose of surviving sports use. Spending ã100-ã300 for a device that needs daily charging, in a shell that can't go into the sauna, sea and mud just for the sake of having 1000 apps (at ã0.99 each) instead of 10 functions built-in is not that compelling until SPECTACULAR apps turn up.
This article comes at a great time, because heart rate and GPS as apps aren't that convincing IMHO. Maybe a fart-rate app is what the world needs.
If it could monitor blood sugar without stabbing you for blood, it'd be a great tool for diabetics (not a category I need it for)
If it can somehow monitor whether I've fallen asleep and beep/vibrate (and stab you for blood?), it'd be great while driving, or other dull work
Black hatting: Read every RFID/NFC object I pass my wrist near.
Design for Use, not Construction!
I get 7+ days with mine. Try a watch face that doesn't update every second -- just every minute.
The Pebble is cheaper and lasts longer without needing to juice up than any of the other options available. And looks decent for casual wear (for those who care). Unless you have really really small wrists and hands (and I mean REALLY small).
While ~$150 was pricy for me and I'm unsure I'd buy it again given the opportunity, That said, I'm hooked on notifications. I find that JUST for notifications I'm keeping my phone in my pocket far more often now. I really thought I was done with watches. Haven't worn one in 15 years.
With regards of "two way" communication, I really don't see a need for "two way" (like SMS reply) if it's going to be a battery killer. Unless you can make using such a small device easier than taking your phone out and using that, it's pointless. It's the notifications that make the difference.
I had a Sony Smartwatch for a while before it broke. Here are the apps I would like to see/write, besides the obvious notification apps:
Nextbus predictions
Remote control for mythtv
Monthly calender
Google maps with walking route
Weather
Display brief text, like shopping lists
Looks like a lot of these where covered in the Apple Watch presentation.
There lots of things people use their smartphones for that only require a quick glance. They are the kinds of things a smartwatch is suited for.
If I had mod points, I'd mod you down just for your misogyny. Get some perspective please.
Where's the misogyny?
The dipshit talked about "triage", and the AC called his bullshit out. Swap "cunting" with "fucking", "damned", or "". "Cunting" (or "cunt") isn't misogynist, and if you think it is you're a moron (and a sexist one for assuming the hypothetical ER nurse was female, or that the word can only be used in reference to females). "Cunt" is just a slang term for vagina (or vulva). YOUR OWN predilections are what make you see the word as offensive. This goes for any word.
As for context (as opposed to definition), the AC did not disparage females, he disparaged the fucking idiot who said he had to triage calls.
So yes "cunt" is a slang term for Vagina, but as far as I know, only females have them. So, if you referred to a nurse with the term "cunt' then by definition you have defined the nurse as having a specific gender. Coupled with the vulgar and derisive term "cunt", I would classify that as misogyny. So... There IS the misogyny...
Their iPhone is stolen from Sony's blue-prints, for example.
I saw this a while back and the similarity is certainly striking. It raises the question as to why Sony hasn't seen the same success as Apple, if the iPhone is a mere copy of Sony's design.
Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (P)anic
The correct solution is to put all the "phone" functionality (antenna, transmitter, etc.) in the "watch", and use the "phone" as nothing more than a remote display and computing platform.
This is completely backwards. The cpu, antenna, and trasmitter are the bulky items as well as the power hungry items that need bulky batteries.
That's the part (along with the large display) that needs to be tucked away. The watch should basically just be a fancy remote display and remote
buttons for the phone. A small VNC type remote display protocol would probably work perfectly. The cpu hungry app can run on the phone and
export it's display to the watch (obviously taking into account the smaller screen size). The apps would still be android/iphone apps. It would
just be that now your android/iphone has a 2nd virtual screen and a few extra buttons that it can interact with.