Smartwatch Shipments Fall For the First Time; Apple Only Company In Top 5 To Decline (venturebeat.com)

Emil Protalinski, reporting for VentureBeat: The smartwatch market has hit its first bump, and it's all Apple's fault. Vendors shipped a total of 3.5 million smartphones worldwide last quarter. This Q2 2016 figure is down 32 percent from the 5.1 million units shipped in Q2 2016, marking the first decline on record. It's important to note that smartwatches are just a subcategory of the larger wearable market. As such, these figures don't count basic bands sold by companies like Fitbit. Apple is thus the undisputed leader, even after the losses it saw in Q2 2016, and it could easily see a return to growth with the release of Watch OS 2.0. Apple's market share decreased 25 percentage points (from 72 percent to 47 percent) and it shipped less than half the smartwatches (1.6 million). But the company still holds almost half the market, with every other vendor shipping fewer than a million units.

Comments

What is the appeal of these things?

[FunkSoulBrother]

These always struck me as a fad waiting to die, but I'm not trying to be the usual Slashdot curmudgeon, so I'll ask: what are the killer features of a smart watch?

The best my buddy could come up with who bought an Android one was some mumbling about how its more socially acceptable to glance at texts on your wrist, than to take your phone out.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's just further proof of the old saying, "A fool and his money are soon parted".

some mumbling about how its more socially acceptable to glance at texts on your wrist, than to take your phone out.

Here's a radical idea. If you're in a situation where it might be rude to take out your phone to look at texts, DON'T FUCKING DO IT. Seriously. Just turn your phone off and stop being an asshole.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

Also more convenient than taking your phone out, especially when doing other things. If you've got home automation products, you can use them when you leave your phone in another room. It also fills the role of a fitness tracker. Just like the first good smartphones replaced the MP3 player most of us carried, the smartwatch combines functions of other devices and puts them in one spot.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[tripleevenfall]

The problem is that they designed the Apple Watch as a crippled device. They didn't want it to cannibalize iPhone sales, so it's basically a remote control for the phone in your pocket.

If they make a watch that can make calls, people will buy them. It could be the iPod Shuffle for the iPhone line. But they don't seem to understand this.

People don't want to carry an additional device to do things their existing device will already do. They want functions combined into a unity device, not more things to be strapped onto their bodies all day.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[grasshoppa]

I'd like to know the answer as well; short of the "neat" factor, what's the appeal of having a "smart" device on your wrist with a tiny screen that you have to worry about keeping charged?

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

The killer app I see is for simple voice control. Being able to hit a button on your wrist device, and have simple stuff done for you. Set an alarm tomorrow for 8 am. Remind me to pick up milk on the way home. What is 12 lbs in ounces? What is todays forecast?
Anything more than this and I feel the interface needed on a device like that is not very helpful. Smart watches are trying to evolve to be everything a phone is, instead of a simple device to get simple stuff done. But then you can't sell a simple device that does simple stuff for hundreds, and then sell it again to the same person next year.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[TheRaven64]

I think that they're a fad in the same way that 1990s smartphones were a fad: the technology to build good ones doesn't exist yet. A watch needs to have a battery that lasts long enough that I never accidentally forget to charge it and end up with it not working (my current one is on its second battery and the first one lasted about 5 years) and be light enough that I don't notice that I'm wearing it. I have both of those from a Skagen watch, but if I could keep those requirements then I'd find it very useful to have things like my day's calendar sync'd to the watch, to be able to use it with Bluetooth for two-factor authentication, to be able to use something like Apple Pay and leave my wallet at home, and so on. Make it a quarter the current thickness and make the battery last a week and I'll happily buy one, but that isn't possible yet.

The same thing was true of Smartphones. It was obvious before the iPhone that there were a lot of useful things that a Smartphone could do, but until LiIon batteries, low-power WiFi chipsets and screens improved to a certain point, the downsides outweight the benefits. The difference between the iPhone and the Apple Watch is that the iPhone was released at precisely the time when the technology made it possible to build the useful thing, whereas the Apple Watch appears to be 5-10 years too early.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

These always struck me as a fad waiting to die, but I'm not trying to be the usual Slashdot curmudgeon, so I'll ask: what are the killer features of a smart watch?

According to Apple's WWDC keynote, if you're in a wheelchair, a watch is far easier to access than a smart phone. That's apparently their biggest market: people in wheelchairs.

Now I'm not in a wheelchair so I don't know how true that is, but that sounds like a super-niche market to me.

Having foolishly bought a smart watch, I can guarantee that for almost everything (including checking on texts you just received) it's easier to do it on the phone. The problem is that the display area on the watch is so stupid-small that unless you're getting a one-word text it's going to be truncated. Well, OK, several words, but you get the idea - short sentences fit, which might work if you only text with the type of people who send emojis.

I get the feeling based on the price cut with no successor announced that Apple has realized that the writing is on the wall and is slowly going to kill the Apple Watch as a failed idea.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[quetwo]

I have a Moto360. For me, in addition to showing the time and date, it acts as a fitness tracker, a voice control for my phone, and a great way to look at the weather when my phone is in my pack when I'm biking (a realtime weather map is useful when biking home).

Indoors, it is a stylish timepiece, no different than any other watch. It does have the added advantage of allowing me to peek at incoming messages when I'm not in a situation where I can break out my phone.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[kheldan]

The best my buddy could come up with who bought an Android one was some mumbling about how its more socially acceptable to glance at texts on your wrist, than to take your phone out.

If somoene want to be more 'socially acceptable' then how about not reading texts at all in social situations, how about people, I dunno, pay attention to the people they're with, rather than retreating into their smartphones like some 12-year old who is bored with the adults' after-dinner conversation?

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

Moto 360 user here.
There are none.
For me I really like to have a precise time and sometimes authentication messages. But other than that I find there is really no compelling reason to buy a smartwatch.

PS: 1.6 million devices per quarter is really nothing: it doesn't justify the marketing investment. It the next version doesn't sell a lot better, there won't be a third one.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[T.E.D.]

1. I'm a watch person, so I'd be buying a watch either way.
2. If I get a phone call or text while driving, I don't have to pull over to check to see if its safely ignored (the typical scenario), or something I'll get in big trouble if I ignore until I'm at my destination (always possible with the spousal unit).
3. I never have to set the time
4. I can change the face look to suit the occasion, rather than having to purchase multiple watches for the purpose. So its like I have a whole drawer of watches to chose from, but without the clutter or expense.
5. The fitness/sleep tracking stuff is nice too. Particularly sleep. I often have a surprisingly wrong view of how much sleep I'm getting.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[kimvette]

> what are the killer features of a smart watch?

For me, fitness training. It tracks distance, heart rate, and calculates calories burned based on the workout, heartrate, age, and weight. I previously tried a vivofit but it sucked. It tracked only steps throughout the day, and was highly inaccurate.

I also use my smartwatch for sleep tracking, because I tend to be a night owl and am trying to correct that. The vivofit did track sleep very well but my primary goal is tracking fitness and for that the vivofit sucks.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Lumpy]

No they wont and in reality they dont. you have been able to buy GSM watch phones for over 5 years now all over ebay and other places from china makers. They just do not sell because they sound like shit and have battery times measured in minutes. I had one, the latest china iteration of one and it's battery life sucked, it's OS sucked, it's audio quality and call quality sucked. oh and you cant change the band as the antennas are in that.

smartwatch+phone+bt headset is my killer mix and it works fantastically. glance at watch, press answer, talk to person on my headset. Best of all worlds.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

as always - things that HAVE NOT EVER been a problem.

I've never thought "gee - that was too hard to google 12 lbs in ounces" or "man setting my alarm was too hard".

At least since internet / smart phones.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a Moto360. For me, in addition to showing the time and date, it acts as a fitness tracker, a voice control for my phone, and a great way to look at the weather when my phone is in my pack when I'm biking (a realtime weather map is useful when biking home).

Indoors, it is a stylish timepiece, no different than any other watch. It does have the added advantage of allowing me to peek at incoming messages when I'm not in a situation where I can break out my phone.

Good points, but $299 or $399 or $499 for those as features? I'd rather either be rude and watch my phone or, better yet, untether myself from my phone and listen to someone's conversation without requiring instantaneous updates from social media rather than shell out that kind of cash for that.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

So tell me again about all the smartwatches that aren't coupled to a smartphone and just how functional they are?

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't own a watch, this is from observations of people I know who do, and other interactions.

Agree or not here is the list:
1. Watches have been a style and status symbol for quite some time now. People spend thousands on watches that *just tell the time*. The Apple watch acts as a "style and status symbol" and is inexpensive compared to many watches that do far less
2. Fitness tracking. Fitness trackers may cost less but as we know, one device to do this whole list is better than many separate devices.
3. Locating your phone - lose your phone? ping it with your watch (phone will play sound)
4. Glancing at texts or other notifications more easily - check to see if the notification is worth following up on based on the sender
5. Easier access to Siri and other phone features: text dictation, weather. Text dictation seems to work better from the watch for some reason.
6. Actual smart watch apps

In summary - the watch seems to NOT be as amazing as the iPad, or iPhone in its broad appeal and usefulness but it is useful in the sense that it provides value greater than zero and consolidates functions (style + fitness tracker + other). I also think the Apple approach takes decades of premium watch marketing from the likes of Rolex and uses it to justify pricing that might otherwise seem insane. I think the formula looks like this: Value of an Apple watch = sum of components (Style: $1,000+, Fitness tracker: $100, Other $100) = Value: $1,200+

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Moheeheeko]

People regularly spend much more on traditional watches.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

One feature for me, that's vibrate on my wrist when I get a call. I'm getting old enough that I feel my phone "phantom vibrate" on my leg, but if it's on my wrist it helps... Luckily a pebble is cheap enough for this I guess.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[coastwalker]

I seem to recall one Douglas Adams mocking digital watches in 1980, it seems that the improvements in functionality have not really changed their appeal.

Unlimited battery life and a full medical diagnostic suite are the only things that might make them worth wearing.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Imazalil]

Or, maybe it's not feasible yet. One is lucky to get a couple days of battery life out of the current batch of smart watches, the ones that are just remote controls. Enabling GPS cuts this down to hours. Adding a full fledged cell service that would be on all the time just isn't feasible yet*.

*I think one of the Samsung watches can make/receive calls, no idea about its battery life, or overall usefulness of it.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

The only smartwatch worth looking at are the GPS based fitness devices like Garmin. They can act standalone with all the fitness functions. You can also pair it with a phone for the smartwatch functions. The 'pure' smartwatches however is a fad I agree.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Aaden42]

Reasons I've *thought* about getting an Apple Watch but haven't yet:

* No camera. There are places where it's not acceptable to wave a camera around, but where the watch notification would be enough to tell you whether you need to step outside to follow up or not. Also convenient for ... wait for it... checking the time without having to pull out your camera. (Crazy talk, I know)
* "Buzz" differentiation: My phone vibrates in my pocket. Was that a "cliuck ehre for freez viagrass!!" email, or something I care about. Sub-second to glance at watch, maybe a second or two to pull out phone & look. I multi-task, and people need to learn to deal with that, but I accept that glancing at a watch is perceived as less attention diversion than pulling out a phone.
* Health data: I run, and having the various heart rate, etc. data easily relayed to my phone would be nifty. Not life changing, but easier than dealing with a fitbit or similar non-ecosystem device or having to strap on a chest-based Bluetooth heart monitor. (Downside: At least last I checked, the data was NOT available realtime to Nike+ app whereas chest strap is. So it's historical data for later, not your heart rate just hit redline, time to slow down NOW).

Reasons I haven't bought one:

* I haven't had a watch tanline since 1996. Not looking to get one now.
* COST. Really tough to justify the price for the limited utility.
* The opposite of a rich interface. iOS screen-based is reasonably good. Not as useful as a keyboard for a lot of things, but "good enough" that I can remote in & save the world from my phone when I really need to. Watch doesn't add any functionality (except health data, and that's limited by delay) that the phone doesn't already do in some fashion. Tough to justify cost + extra *thing* to deal with and not get any additional capabilities for it.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[by (1706743)]

as always - things that HAVE NOT EVER been a problem.

Sure, but much of what I use the internet for doesn't "solve a problem," it's just convenience. When I wanted to look up a word, I used to grab a dictionary, instead of googling. When I wanted to learn about some event in history or similar, I'd grab the encyclopedia, instead of wikipedia. Once laptops became commonplace, it was about the same speed to look it up on the net (assuming I had to wake up the laptop first); now that smartphones are ubiquitous, it's decidedly faster to just whip out your phone.

The only "problem" that was solved was some gains in efficiency. Now it seems we're at the point of diminishing returns to be sure, but that doesn't mean that setting an alarm/adding items to a shopping list/etc. can't be streamlined a tiny but more.

Personally, the killer app as I see it is having a more robust silent alert (I sometimes don't feel the vibration from my phone) along with the ability to quickly see if I should just ignore the alert or address it (it takes about 1s to glance at a watch and determine if something requires my attention, vs. several seconds to take my watch out of my pocket -- and the former can be done without significant hand movement).

My limited experience with this is based off of a $15 "smart" watch which was extremely flaky, but when it worked I was certainly happy with the workflow.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[luis_a_espinal]

These always struck me as a fad waiting to die, but I'm not trying to be the usual Slashdot curmudgeon, so I'll ask: what are the killer features of a smart watch?

The best my buddy could come up with who bought an Android one was some mumbling about how its more socially acceptable to glance at texts on your wrist, than to take your phone out.

Killer features would differ from people to people, but this is what I'd love to see assuming the technology were to exist at an affordable price (affordable price, subjective, I know):

e-mail/sms/jabber/slack/infrastructure-devops notifications (be them sound or vibration) - if I need to reply I pull my phone or go to a computer, but at least I'd like to be notified without me having to pull my phone to read (yes, affordable laziness is bliss.)

fitbit-like capabilities to monitor my physical activity and sleep patterns.

pre-programmed purchasing buttons (think Amazon Dash) for common/recurrent items.

pre-programmed ordering buttons in some type of logistics/supply chains

baby/toddler tracking within a given radius.

discrete weather monitor showing chances of rain or heat or whatever.

traffic alerts.

job search alerts (or any type of alert feed that you might be interested.)

product scanners at a warehouse or store.

Killer features, I think, will revolve around very specific, repetitive, utilitarian tasks. I do not see smart watches taking off as general media consumption devises (not even for music), but as devices that provide convenient and inconspicuous notification of events as well as means to trigger recurring processes.

And that is the key, I think. I don't see smartwatches taking off as media consumption devises, but as programmable notifiers/triggers.

Obviously we can do the later now with smartphones, but a smartwatch is more convenient. It would not work in isolation, but in tandem with a smartphone on a personal level (or as part of a much larger system.)

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Quirkz]

Voice control ... What is 12 lbs in ounces?

Yeah, I agree with you that would be handy. In about twenty years, when they get voice recognition to work well enough. I asked my phone the above question just now, and it turned that into "when is profound's announcements?" Currently I have to speak slower, louder, and with more effort than it takes to type.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[SScorpio]

My old MotoACTV was pretty functional.

It had on board GPS, WiFi, BlueTooth 4.0, and ANT+.

This allowed you to use it as a fitness device and leave your phone at home. It could track a run via GPS, while having a heart rate monitor connected via ANT+ (it also supports footpods, and bike modules). You could have a pair of Bluetooth or wired earbuds connected and listen to locally stored music or Podcasts/Audio Books. And when you get home it automatically uploaded the run to your online profile.

When connected to a phone it showed calls and SMS. It didn't support emails very well.

It even ran full Android and you could hack it and run whatever you wanted on it if you really wanted to deal with the small screen.

It was a great first gen product, and then Google bought Motorola's mobile division and killed it....

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[es330td]

Few things warm my heart like seeing fantasy meet reality. I know that necessity drives invention but we are seeing the limits to the physical properties of matter.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[internerdj]

Seems like they struggle a lot from a price point. A lot of consumers aren't going to spend as much on a smartphone accessory as they did on the smartphone, but when you start making the smartwatch do stand-alone things you are having to replicate a lot of phone functionality in a smaller form factor driving the price towards the phone price.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[AuMatar]

My phone combines other devices and puts them in one spot- with a screen big enough to use and small enough to put in my pocket. Putting it on my wrist adds 0 functionality, increases the likelihood it will break, is uncomfortable, and makes it much harder to write a decent UI for. The first thing I did when I realized my first cell phone told the time was throw out my watch.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[macs4all]

The problem is that they designed the Apple Watch as a crippled device. They didn't want it to cannibalize iPhone sales, so it's basically a remote control for the phone in your pocket. If they make a watch that can make calls, people will buy them. It could be the iPod Shuffle for the iPhone line. But they don't seem to understand this.

No, you don't understand physics.

How long do you think the battery-life of such a watch would be? Conversely, how THICK are you prepared for your watch to be, to fit in a cellphone-sized battery capacity? How large to be able to have a meaningful cell antenna system?

It has NOTHING to do with "cannibalizing" iPhone sales. They are just using the iPhone to do the "heavy lifting" of cell communications. Nothing else is practical in a watch, until some SERIOUS advances in battery technology happen. Yes, there have reportedly been "autonomous" smartwatches; but none of them seem to gain any traction, and most don't even seem to make it to being "real products", possibly because their relatively miniscule batteries give relatively miniscule running-times.

So, here is a review of one of the most "promising" of the "autonomous" (which is actually only semi-autonomous at best) Smartwatches. Not only is it over a half-inch thick ("like strapping on an ankle monitor") and HEAV-Y (THREE times as heavy as the Apple Watch!), and not only is it too dim to be seen in sunlight and too quiet to be used on the street as a phone, and not only is it buggy as all get-out, and not only is it only semi-autonomous at best; but for all this, the battery life is abysmal.

So, all-in-all, I would say that Apple is doing the best that can PRACTICALLY be done, given the laws of physics.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[macs4all]

Smart watches are trying to evolve to be everything a phone is, instead of a simple device to get simple stuff done.

Actually, I think Apple has a pretty good handle on what can, and can't be done PRACTICALLY on a smartwatch, and is attempting to live within, instead of trying to ignore, the laws of physics.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[macs4all]

According to Apple's WWDC keynote, if you're in a wheelchair, a watch is far easier to access than a smart phone. That's apparently their biggest market: people in wheelchairs.

Please tell me you really aren't THAT stupid.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[SuperKendall]

Good points, but $299 or $399 or $499 for those as features?

For less than $1 a day (considering using the watch for two years, for many it will be even longer), absolutely - not to mention less substantial but still useful benefit from other watch applications.

or, better yet, untether myself from my phone

That's a large benefit of having a smartwatch is I no longer car if my phone is on my person at home. I know you kind of meant the opposite but in essence the lack of physical presence is just as nice either way.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

We'll get there eventually but processor power and battery density really isn't quite there to make the watch an independent data connected device.

Tethering it to the phone makes the most sense at the moment but in the future I could see the watches supplanting or replacing phones.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[mardukvmbc]

I'll give one management schmuck's experience with my apple watch.

I got it about a year ago as a toy. Expecting nothing. However, somewhere around 4ish months ago when I went on a trip to south america without it, how much I missed it. And realized that dumb watches were just... dumb. For me.

Again, I'm a people leader in IT. My day is meetings, email, and texts. For that, having a glance and quick canned reply to texts and emails while I'm sitting in meetngs with VPs is a lot less disruptive than pulling out my phone. All fine and good. But that still just makes it a toy, right?

Well, not quite. It tells me where my next meeting is at a glance, right there on the face. It tells me how many to-dos I have for today, again right there. It tells me how I'm doing on my fitness goals.

It tracks my heart rate and exercise, which really came in handy when I discovered I have high blood pressure. I just handed my iphone to my doctor with the health app open. I've since got a blood pressure cuff that also syncs to health, and that really helps my cardiologist.

When I'm at home, I leave my iphone on my desk or wherever, and just go around the house or yard getting stuff done. When you're on wi-fi, it does a decent enough job pinging you with your texts and reminders... and even phone calls. Right there on your wrist, without your phone nearby, as long as you're in wi-fi range.

Something I've started doing is using it to wake me up it the morning instead of my alarm. A silent tap on the wrist that does't wake my wife up. I also use it to track my sleep habits, which I've found useful.

When I travel, I take it with me now. Switch the face to show the time at home, the local weather, and the local sunrise/sunset. If your airline has an app for it, it will alert you if your plane is delayed, or changes gates. I can even use it for some airlines as my boarding pass.

Apple pay works pretty good. I usually pull out my phone to do it, but when I'm in the self checkout line, it's easier just to put my wrist up to the device to pay.

At the end of the day, it's not an earth shattering device. But for me, it has become a pretty useful one, and I'd say I've gotten my $400 use out of it. It's tough now to go back to a watch that just tells the time.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a Lg G Watch Urbane and its more quality of life improvements than killer features. When using google maps for navigation it will display which direction I'm turning and how far until I turn. It also vibrates when it's nearing my time to turn. This has been incredibly useful when navigating a city I'm unfamiliar with. Also the "Okay Google" feature works a lot better using the watch than my phone. I'm also looking forward to getting the version 2 that has it's own SIM so I can keep messaging and the other features independent from my phone. I can keep it charging in my office or even in my gym bag while I'm out doing things and not miss calls or texts.

I also can't complain that it looks nice and passes for a standard analog watch half the time. $300 for a smart watch that makes my life a bit easier or $300 - $500+ for something that looks just as good and only tells me the time. Not a hard choice in my opinion.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

I need something to do when my Tesla is driving. A smartwatch might be the thing.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's basically the purpose of a smart watch. It'll vibrate on your wrist when you get a call, text, notification, e-mail. etc and you can answer or dismiss the call, view the text, view your notifications, etc without having to pull your phone out of your pocket. I've considered buying one myself, because I do see how it would be beneficial while you're driving. It's really temping to look at your phone when you hear a notification, and with a smart watch you can just glance over at your wrist. Some of them also actually are a watch, so you can literally have a digital watch on your wrist.

I wouldn't say smart watches are more "socially acceptable", but I will say that I can see how they can make it more convenient to stay on top of your notifications and texts or whatever.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[h4ck7h3p14n37]

I've got a Pebble Time Steel and the killer app for me is Music Boss. It lets me control my music player from my wrist instead of having to pull a phone from my pocket and key in the password every time I want to change tracks. Album art and track info is displayed on the watch face. Very handy when commuting on a crowded train.

I have also found the sleep and step tracking more useful than I would have imagined. The tracking may not be entirely accurate, but seeing the trends has motivated me to change my behavior.

Being able to receive and reply to SMS message from my wrist is nice. It's pretty handy for receiving codes for sites that use fake two-factor authentication. Reading email from the watch face is nice if I'm out walking when a message comes in; long messages do get cut off unfortunately.

Being able to switch watch faces is also handy. I use a face with dual timezones when I'm working and need to read log files with GMT timestamps and then switch to something artsy when I just need the local time.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[tlhIngan]

These always struck me as a fad waiting to die, but I'm not trying to be the usual Slashdot curmudgeon, so I'll ask: what are the killer features of a smart watch?

The best my buddy could come up with who bought an Android one was some mumbling about how its more socially acceptable to glance at texts on your wrist, than to take your phone out.

Easy, you don't need to use two hands to see your texts or make phone calls.

In certain markets, bigger is better, so people are buying gigantic phones that are impossible for them to use. It's too big for their hands. or more practically, they can't put it anywhere because it's also too big for their pockets, so they stuff them in purses and such. But putting your phone there makes it terribly inconvenient when you want to read your texts or send texts.

Hence a smart watch - they bought a phone they couldn't use so they now buy an accessory to make their phone usable.

And yes, for others, FOMO (fear of missing out) is also a big thing - every time their phone dings they get an anxiety attack wanting to know what they're missing out. Given many social gatherings are now of the "don't touch your phone" (where the person who reaches for their phone first has to pay), well...

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[jareth-0205]

These always struck me as a fad waiting to die, but I'm not trying to be the usual Slashdot curmudgeon, so I'll ask: what are the killer features of a smart watch?

I mean, there aren't any. And that's OK. There aren't any killer features to tablets either, but we have them too. They are marginally useful, and I have one. If I lost it I would probably replace it eventually, but it's not like I have a backup like I do my smartphone...

For what it's worth, it is marginally useful to me:
1. When the phone rings, it buzzes on my wrist, which is far more reliable to notice than a vibrate / ring happening in my pocket while walking. I'm more likely to notice / catch the call while it's still ringing, and I can see if it's anyone I care about, or just another recruiter before reaching for my pocket.
2. When I get a message, often it doesn't need a response, so I can see it on my wrist without again faffing with the phone, unlocking it, etc.
3. Citymapper has very good turn-by-turn navigation on the watch, that is again much easier to glance at to see where your next change is and how far, etc.
4. The face is always on, and therefore much better for things like countdown timers when doing something active like cooking.

It's more about many many very little conveniences, which make it worth putting on in the morning for me, and buying if I have some spare cash for a toy. There aren't any killer features, but that's alright, there's still a place for them, not everything has to be 'disruptive'.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[UnknownSoldier]

> Internet for doesn't "solve a problem," it's just convenience. When I wanted to look up a word, I used to grab a dictionary, instead of googling.

Uh, that's a bad example.

Your definition of "problem" is flawed.

The problem is that I want to look something up that I don't know -- I may not even have access to the book(s).
The solution is that the internet has become a repository of shared knowledge.

i.e.
Problem: Look up a definition for a (slang) word that may or may not exist in the dead tree version.
Solution: http://www.urbandictionary.com...

More examples:

Look up if a rumor is true or false
* http://www.snopes.com/

Check facts / trivia
* http://www.wikipedia.org/

Check who was in what movie
* http://www.imdb.com/

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Win0ver]

The only reason I have a Pebble Time Round is to be able to quickly glance at my wrist to know if it's worth it to take out my phone.

It may seem like a useless luxury but on busy 15+ hours work days where I have to use walkie-talkie and receive emails, sms, and calls practically every 4-5 minutes while trying to decrypt people's complaints in the walkie, it does make my job slightly easier.

I understand that few people have a need for it. It's basically just a 'phone notifications on your wrist' device.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[danbob999]

smartwatch+phone+bt headset is my killer mix and it works fantastically. glance at watch, press answer, talk to person on my headset. Best of all worlds.

Why do you need the watch? Sounds like you only need a headset with a button.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[JackieBrown]

I said the same thing of smart phones when they first came out. Why would anyone want a small phone screen when they can have a large monitor or laptop? I was wrong.

I love my smart watch. I am one generation behind because that makes it in my price range.

Reasons I like it:
* Being able to read and respond to texts discreetly
* People able to see who is calling by simply looking at my watch
* Fitness tracker (I know it's not exact but it still helps me set goals to beat)
* Helps me keep track of my phone (it vibrates if I lose Bluetooth connect so I never leave it behind.)
* GPS Maps on my wrist for walking even without my phone (with maps already downloaded)

The newer ones look even more feature rich. I'm looking forward to when the 3rd generation comes out so I can grab a second generation watch.)

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Just Some Guy]

I like my Apple Watch (the Sport - read "inexpensive" - model). I like having notifications on my wrist, because it's a lot less disruptive to make a quick glance at my arm than to pull out my phone. Don't underestimate the convenience of seeing your next scheduled appointment at a glance! I also really enjoy the activity tracking. I used to have a Jawbone UP but I had to send it back several times for repairs; it wasn't up to the rigors of my Desktop Warrior lifestyle. My watch (plus a couple of third-party apps) is far more useful for fitness stuff than the UP ever was.

watchOS 2 went a long way toward converting the watch from a fun gadget into something genuinely useful, and by all accounts watchOS 3 sounds like a huge step forward. If I lost my phone, I'd hightail it to the store to pick up another one ASAP. It's where I keep my schedule, to-do list, contacts, and other stuff that makes day-to-day life as easy as possible. If I lost my watch, I'd meander back to the store when I had some free time. I'd be bummed and would keep glancing at my naked wrist out of habit, but I'd survive. I would eventually replace it, though. While I could certainly live without it, I like having one and wouldn't voluntarily go without.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

It worked for me. Guess my watch s 20 years more advance than yours...

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

To be fair, they could drop or limit the use of voice calls on a watch and use it purely for texting. You'd still need a SIM card for it, but you could probably somehow set up receiving texts to both your watch and phone (possibly via something like Google Voice). God only knows how'd it work with CDMA Verizon and Sprint networks, though.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[JackieBrown]

Good points, but $299 or $399 or $499 for those as features? I'd rather either be rude and watch my phone or, better yet, untether myself from my phone and listen to someone's conversation without requiring instantaneous updates from social media rather than shell out that kind of cash for that.

That's why you get the previous generation
https://www.amazon.com/Motorol...
Moto 360 watches ranging from 79 - 179.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[ShanghaiBill]

Why do you need the watch? Sounds like you only need a headset with a button.

You need the watch to see who's calling.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[iotaborg]

For me: looking at the wrist is easier than taking out the phone. I can easily tell if a notification is important enough for me to take out the phone or not, saving me a step. Secondary function is to monitor heart rate/calorie consumption, which may not matter to the average /. user who sits in front of a computer all day. I'll easily pay $100 for a device that does this.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[hey!]

You missed the point. For most people's its not about adding functionality, it's about adding convenience. Doing the same things you could do with a phone, but with less bother. If you receive a lot of phone calls, most of which you ignore, or if (like me) you tend to put a lot of notifications in your calendar, a smartwatch adds a considerable level of convenience, although obviously you *could* haul your phone out of your pocket a dozen times a day, look at it then put it back. If you have to check the time frequently, or time things frequently, you obviously could use your phone, but a cheap digital watch is more convenient. If you don't need to do any of these things more than once or twice a day it's really difficult to add another device to the mix and increase convenience.

Since adding any device necessarily adds some inconvenience, we're in the complicated realm of user trade-offs. That's a tough problem, because to the mix of things like battery life, legibility, user interface you also have comfort and style. All the offerings on the market are marginal in at least one or two of these areas, so it's a tough sell outside the early adopter market. The trick for the long-term success of this product category is to keep offering early adopters enticing upgrades, long enough for someone to develop a really compelling device, the way that "converged devices" sputtered along for years until Apple introduced the iPhone. Can it be done? I don't know.

The one thing that smartwatches add these days that doesn't really work with smartphones alone is fitness tracking, but that's a niche market. Some people like me obsessively collect data and wear them 7x24 except for occasional recharges -- which I can do with a Fitbit surge because its battery lasts for multiple days. So for people like me you can't beat something like a Fitbit surge and going smartphone-only doesn't work at all, so where a solid reliable market for fitness trackers. The danger for the smart watch product category is that high-end activity trackers will evolve into smart watches, which is why recent smart watches all have multi-axis accelerometers and heart rate sensors. But they're also slightly more expensive, and certainly more complicated than the need to be for fitness tracking.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[immortalcrab]

Battery is not a concern in selfwinding watches, and a full medical diagnosis band can be worn more discreetly. the thing is that, related to watches, there are three kinds of people: first and more numerous is the crowd that don't like them, they are perfectly happy with their cellphones and won't be bothered with an expensive cell-remote; also abundant are those who like watches as a status symbols or fashion they will invariably gravitate towards mechanical watches cause they are much more classy than any strap-on toy computer, plus they actually can become a valuable heirloom; and finally there are the guys who love all the belts and whistles in a watch, this crowd wore casio databank and calculator watches, they were thrilled when timex got that outlook synchronization via a pulsating CRT monitor and were waiting for smartwatches to become a thing and were willing to pay the amount of money smartwatches cost without expecting a mechanical chronograph with power reserve dial, but they are not very numerous and got ultimately shafted by smartwatch makers that went and tried to fancy the second crowd with rose gold options but not better battery options or standalone features. They guys that attempted to use iwatches as status symbols got cruelly mocked by the Patek wielders and the guys that wanted an upgrade to their casio watch calculators got underwhelmed by current designs; maybe in 15 years smartwatches can become viable as standalone übergeeky toys (VR made a comeback). but this gen of smartwatches is doomed to be a fad.

Re: What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you watch the keynote? The bulk of the watchOS 3 enhancements are related to improving the wheelchair user's experience with the Watch.

You don't spend that much time advertising to such a niche target unless they're the only ones buying the Watch.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[immortalcrab]

The thing is that "the best that can be practically done" today is rather underwhelming to the über geek crowd and they will be the primary buyers of the first successful generation of smartwatches (if there's ever such a thing). The primary buyers of expensive watches today (that apple and others tried to lure with "classy" designs) will be first caught dead than using a quartz watch, so it is pretty useless to try to sell them smartwatches.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[aaarrrgggh]

Not just socially acceptable, but easier to actually multitask. Also more readily accessible, and often better single-armed use.

For me, killer app is airline boarding passes. Going through security, my phone can be packed away already, and the watch goes through the metal detector. Payments are great too, often being faster than chip-and-pin. Fitness apps are nice too, along with stock ticker and temperature on watch face.

It is an expense most people can easily do without, but I love mine and look forward to the next generation... Especially if I can swim/surf with it.

Re: What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yokai watch app when?

Re: What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's data collection. I need to track my mental health. Which is highly related to my sleep and exercise habits. However I find journalling and tracking these habits very time and energy consuming. It is so nice to just open up a thing with charts that tells me basically how my activity and sleep habits have been shifting over the week, month, or year. So easy to see at a glance that, yes, I need to focus on improving sleep this week. Or get out for a walk. Or no, I'm on track, and it's just hormones/ brain chemistry in funk today.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[dj245]

No they wont and in reality they dont. you have been able to buy GSM watch phones for over 5 years now all over ebay and other places from china makers. They just do not sell because they sound like shit and have battery times measured in minutes. I had one, the latest china iteration of one and it's battery life sucked, it's OS sucked, it's audio quality and call quality sucked. oh and you cant change the band as the antennas are in that.

smartwatch+phone+bt headset is my killer mix and it works fantastically. glance at watch, press answer, talk to person on my headset. Best of all worlds.

That's 3 separate things you need to charge. Two of them daily. Technology serves me, not the other way around.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not the "laws of physics" No gravity, thermodynamics, etc prevented Apple Watch from independently connecting to cell tower w/o iPhone's assistance. It's just engineering problem they need to work out and time takes time.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's just a fad for a small handful of schmucks. Since all of the schmucks who want this gimmicky piece of useless shit have already purchased one, of course their sales have fallen off.

It's a one off crappy idea of a product. It'll be dead in 2 years and the idea of a "smart" watch will disappear for infinity.

Just more evidence that Apple doesn't get ideas from customer needs or feedback, they are just thinking shit up and throwing it against the wall. They have a few ok ideas that stick for a few years, ipod (nearly extinct now), iphone (probably their best idea ever) then they end up with this money loosing crap.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[q4Fry]

There is always one of these posts for every story about wearables. I put money down for an original Pebble on Kickstarter (that I still wear) because I commuted by train from an outdoor stop. The trains are sometimes delayed, and I want to see their status (which I scraped at the time from a public API) in the winter without taking my gloves off to dig around in my pocket for my phone.

I have a hackable wrist computer I bought for a hundred bucks. It doesn't have a lot of screen, CPU, or memory, but I can do whatever I please with it, and the battery lasts a week.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[friedmud]

I'll at least chime in with the things I do on my Apple Watch. I've had it since launch (so about 1.5 years) and I've worn it every day. Here are the things I use it for in decreasing order with the number times I use it for that activity daily:

1. Time (might be obvious, but I didn't wear a watch before this... so I really didn't know if I cared to have the time on my wrist. Turns out it's crazy convenient!)

2. Weather. I have the current temperature, the forecast for the next 6 hours and a notification when it's going to start raining. Using "Time Travel" (you can spin the wheel on the Apple Watch to move forward or backward in time) it's easy to get a quick look at what weather is coming up later in the day or tomorrow.

3. Notifications. Takes some tailoring of what apps are allowed to notify you on your wrist, but once you get it right it's indispensable. I have Google Inbox setup to only ping my wrist with really important emails and the MLB app setup to only forward important notifications about the Red Sox to my wrist (like the game is starting and if the score changes). Too many notifications and you just ignore it... you have to get it just right.

4. Messaging. It really is convenient to get texts on my wrist. If the message warrants a quick reply then I do right from my wrist... if not, then I can decide if I need to pull my phone out to answer.

5. Phone calls. Not necessarily answering them (I don't usually like to talk on speakerphone) but it's pretty insanely useful to just glance at your wrist to see WHO is calling before deciding to either dig your phone out of your pocket or run across the house to get your phone.

6. Calendar. Instantly shows when my next appointment is. One touch shows me my calendar for the day.

7. Bus arrival time. I have a great App that shows me when my bus is due at my stop. I fire it up every morning and leave it on while I get ready... every time I raise my Watch it refreshes the time for the bus so I can keep an eye on it while I get ready.

8. Setting Reminders. You can add new reminders just by raising your wrist and saying "Hey Siri add Milk to my grocery list" or "Hey Siri remind me tomorrow morning to call the Vet". Super useful when you're walking through the city and you think of something you need a reminder for.

9. Using Reminders as a Grocery List. I use an app called "Reminders Nano" that shows my Reminders on my Watch. I open it up before I go in the grocery store and it shows me all of the things added by #8 in my grocery list... as I pick them up I mark them off on my Watch. Works great without having to fumble with a phone with the shopping basket.

10. Activity tracking. This one is straightforward. Even though I use it every day (and meet my goals everyday) I put it as #10 since it's really more of a background activity for me.

11. Apple Pay. I pay for things daily with my Watch. Not yet ubiquitous so it's not higher on the list... but it does get used daily for that purpose.

12. As a ticket. It's great to have Passbook Passes (airline tickets, concert tickets, stadium tickets, etc.) right on your wrist. I really love using it while flying... one less thing to have to fumble around with when you're trying to wrangle baggage...

11. Control my Nest. There is a great app called "Thermo Watch" which is extremely high quality and is used to control the temperature setting on your Nest.

I do a lot of other minor stuff with it... but those are the big ones. Is it "life changing"? Absolutely not... but it was definitely worth the money I paid for it. I use it far more than other things I've paid WAY more money for.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[T.E.D.]

Or Tercel. My Pebble doesn't cost significantly more than a cheap watch from Sears.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[goose-incarnated]

The primary buyers of expensive watches today (that apple and others tried to lure with "classy" designs) will be first caught dead than using a quartz watch, so it is pretty useless to try to sell them smartwatches.

So close :-) It's not just about quartz vs mechanical. There's a large difference between watches.

Tier-1, there's the functional ($20-$40 casio) which is accurate and will probably last longer than you will live. I wear a $40 casio daily and haven't changed the battery in the last ten years or more. It's fallen into the pool, it's fallen from a moving car, it fell from the second floor of my house. All that resulted were scratches which I can live with. I use it while metal-working, brick-laying, and rebuilding the engine on my car, and despite all the knocks it gets, it still works. The tier-1 watches can be sponges for punishment!

Tier-2, the slightly pricier ($50-$200) fashion watches, made by Guess, Police, Fossil, etc. They are fashion items, same as handbags, hats, etc. I've got a few of these as gifts (Hugo Boss, Armani, Guess), although I don't buy these for myself.

Tier-3, Pricier watches made by watch companies like Seiko, Tissot, Citizen, etc, and not made by fashion companies like Tier-2. I've got a pricier Tissot. These watches can be quiet rugged and should also last a lifetime, regardless of quartz vs mechanical movement. They can come with functional complications, like tachymetre, diving bezel, etc. They cost anywhere from $600 dollars up to around $2000.

Tier-4, Even pricier watches by watch companies, for example Longines (+$2000). These are meant to be heirlooms. They can get quite pricey, such as with Rolexes, Breitlings and similar. A Rolex submariner used to sell for +$10k. A Patek Philip sells for +$30k.

In all of these tiers there are certain requirements of the watch (other than keeping time). For example, regardless of whether the movement is quartz or not (I've got a very expensive Longines that has a quartz movement), at tier-3 and tier-4 the watch is intended to have value even 20 years later, closer to 50 or more for tier-4. For tier-1 the watch has to be durable and cheap.

Which only leaves tier-2 - the fashion accessory watches; these top out at around $200 and are treated as fashion accessories (i.e. they won't be passed down!). They have a useful life (as an accessory) of only a few years; some models are out of fashion even before the battery dies!

Apple was, whether they knew it or not, selling in tier-2, but attempting to get tier-3 prices. A smartwatch is a fashion item that will be superceded in about the same time as a smartphone (maybe three years?).

The type of person to drop $500 on a watch is going to get one that isn't mostly obsolete in three years, they'll buy a Seiko, Victorinox or similar. Watches are jewelry, not electronics, and people expect jewelry to have lasting value and not novelty value. The smartwatch is electronics, not jewelry, so traditional watch enthusiasts won't be all that interested in it simply because it has no lasting value.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[goose-incarnated]

People regularly spend much more on traditional watches.

Traditional watches in that price range (Victorinox, for example) will still be desirable to own and wear 25 years after purchase.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[quetwo]

If you would have read what I said -- I didn't mention checking on SM on it... I don't do that either.

When I bought it, on sale, about 18 months ago, I spent $160 for it. I think brand new, no discounts, the Moto360's went for $250 for the base model, and if you wanted the steel band, they were $300.

I would spend $500 for it? No. It really is mostly a toy. People spend a lot more on less useful things that get less use and are out of date just as quick (like video cards, high-end cell phones, dirt bikes, etc.)

Re: What is the appeal of these things?

[macs4all]

Did you watch the keynote? The bulk of the watchOS 3 enhancements are related to improving the wheelchair user's experience with the Watch.

You don't spend that much time advertising to such a niche target unless they're the only ones buying the Watch.

This much time?!? You sir are both a liar and an idiot.

Yes, I did watch the Keynote. I didn't think they spent that much time on the Handicapped application, so I went back and looked. In fact, the WatchOS "demo" started at 8:27 and ended at 27:37. The Handicapped part started at 21:47 and ended at 23:42. So, out of TWENTY minutes of WatchOS demo, the handicapped portion was a "whopping" TWO minutes.

So, you are obviously full of shit. And a liar. Period.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[macs4all]

The thing is that "the best that can be practically done" today is rather underwhelming to the über geek crowd

Tough shit.

Maybe some of THEM can stop playing Pokemon Go long enough to figure out how to stuff 3000 mAh of battery capacity into a quarter-inch thick by 46mm dia. battery. Because that's EXACTLY what it's gonna take.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[painandgreed]

If somoene want to be more 'socially acceptable' then how about not reading texts at all in social situations, how about people, I dunno, pay attention to the people they're with, rather than retreating into their smartphones like some 12-year old who is bored with the adults' after-dinner conversation?

I can tell you've never worked in a position that required being on call.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[grasshoppa]

The only thing that interests me is the fitness tracker, and I'm not willing to spend more than 50 bucks to get something like that.

I'm probably the outlier. I have been in the past, although notably, not with smart phones. I recall disappointment with RIM, then with Apple, at the offerings. It wasn't until android phones actually started providing cost effective phones that I bought into them.

But I remember everyone getting excited about itanium and thinking, "This is shit. Why is everyone worked up about it?".

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Anonymous Coward]

The fitness tracker on the Apple Watch is fucking worthless. Avoid it at all costs. Especially $400. Or is it $350 now? Whatever, don't know, don't care.

I was just running on an elliptical machine and my Apple Watch gave my heart rate as 56BPM.

While running on an elliptical machine.

Eventually it went as high as 68BPM.

Now I checked to see if I'm not dead and - I'm pretty sure I'm not dead. (Also, the elliptical machine had its own heart rate monitor which gave me between 140-160BPM throughout the run.)

If all you want to do is track number of steps taken per day, you phone can probably do that. If you want to do any sort of exercise monitoring, the Apple Watch is absolutely worthless for it. I knew the heart rate monitor wouldn't be 100% accurate, but I wasn't expecting it to be off by over half my actual heart rate.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[danbob999]

or you get your phone out of your pocket...

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[AuMatar]

Putting it on my wrist doesn't add convenience, it detracts from it- you're forcing me to use a tiny display with unusably small text. Taking my phone out of my pocket takes 0 effort. It provides literally a negative benefit and makes the experience worse. That's why sales are plummeting.

ANd no, I don't think a watch is more convenient even for telling time. I'd rather have a compact device in my pocket and not have to remember putting on a watch, or deal with the discomfort of wearing one. A phone beats it even for that.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Tough Love]

These always struck me as a fad waiting to die

They will be fine and I will have one when they are an order of magnitude more power efficient, are one quarter the volume, and have batteries with twice the power density.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Plumpaquatsch]

It's just further proof of the old saying, "A fool and his money are soon parted".

some mumbling about how its more socially acceptable to glance at texts on your wrist, than to take your phone out.

Here's a radical idea. If you're in a situation where it might be rude to take out your phone to look at texts, DON'T FUCKING DO IT. Seriously. Just turn your phone off and stop being an asshole.

Sorry doctor, your patient died because you didn't react to the message we sent you. But on the up side, at least one Anonymous Coward doesn't believe your an asshole. At least not for the reason of looking at your phone.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Plumpaquatsch]

My old MotoACTV was pretty functional.

It had on board GPS, WiFi, BlueTooth 4.0, and ANT+.

What it didn't do was replacing a phone - which is what the thread was about. But thanks for trying to change the topic.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[Plumpaquatsch]

These always struck me as a fad waiting to die, but I'm not trying to be the usual Slashdot curmudgeon, so I'll ask: what are the killer features of a smart watch?

According to Apple's WWDC keynote, if you're in a wheelchair, a watch is far easier to access than a smart phone. That's apparently their biggest market: people in wheelchairs.

Well, there are more people in wheelchairs than people on Slashdot. And there are more people not in a wheelchair who own an Apple Watch than Apple Watch owners in a wheelchair. IOW, who cares what you think your point is.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[SScorpio]

The thread is about how some smartwatches are nothing but a remote for a phone. It was asked about just how functional a smartwatch that wasn't connected to a phone was.

Other than not making calls which I don't want. It was extremely functional.

Re:What is the appeal of these things?

[hey!]

I think you think the text is too small because you haven't actually used one. I have, and I'm almost 60 years old and need bifocals. I generally can't read ingredients on food or vitamin packages without glasses, but I have no difficulty whatsoever with reading calendar notifications or caller ID on a smartwatch without glasses. Would I want to read a book or webpage on one? Nope. But for notifications the text size is plenty big for me, and I have weaker-than-average eyesight.

Likewise it's not particularly uncomfortable to wear a watch, or hard to remember to put one on. Some folks with ADHD might have problems, because they're always misplacing things and many of them have comfort issues with things like t-shirt tags which most people don't notice but they find distracting. But most people don't find watches uncomfortable or hard to keep track of.

This is just the usual problem with managing the tech adoption curve; the point where you've saturated the early adopter segment. There aren't new features coming in to entice thosee early adopters to upgrade and there aren't enough people on the penumbra of the early adopter community that they become hip. And there isn't really a killer app yet, unless it's fitness tracking which can be done on cheaper devices. That's the only reason I don't wear one anymore; there aren't any that are as good at fitness tracking as a fitbit, so I'd be paying more and getting less for my main use.

Re: What is the appeal of these things?

[cthulhu11]

You're right, it is TOTALLY appropriate to not do my job.

manshits does it again

[Anonymous Coward]

"This Q2 2016 figure is down 32 percent from the 5.1 million units shipped in Q2 2016,"

Really? You can't even copy/paste without fucking it up?

Re:manshits does it again

[Anonymous Coward]

Apparently editing is too hard for some folks. The first damn sentence can't even agree on whether we are talking about watches or phones:

The smartwatch market has hit its first bump, and it's all Apple's fault. Vendors shipped a total of 3.5 million smartphones worldwide last quarter

.
bolded text mine to show it. Ridiculous.

Re:manshits does it again

[Infiniti2000]

It was a correct copy/paste. That sentence is as-is in TFA. So, he didn't fuck it up, he just didn't fix the typo from TFA.

Re:manshits does it again

[Plumpaquatsch]

It was a correct copy/paste. That sentence is as-is in TFA. So, he didn't fuck it up, he just didn't fix the typo from TFA.

Well, if the summary is to believed, the submitter linked to his own fuckingly bad report at venturetards.

smart

[Anonymous Coward]

Smart people don't buy smart watches, at least not yet.

Ah yes the old "shipped" vs "sold" play

[bazmail]

Nobody is buying these things. Nobody.

Re:Ah yes the old "shipped" vs "sold" play

[Mashiki]

Pretty much. The local walmart(Ontario, Cdn) here has an Apple Store section with all their junk. In the year that it's been available they've sold 1 apple watch. The store management and area management can't even see a reason to have more then 2 in stock and took a different approach. If the product isn't available in store, they'll have it next day with a 13% discount(basically knocking the tax off).

Re:Ah yes the old "shipped" vs "sold" play

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not only that, if you go into any Best Buy, you'll find that they have a stack of "open box" Apple Watches available for sale. Or you used to, I think they've mostly given up on selling even those and ditched them to "overstock" companies that try and sell items at a steep discount. I know meh.com had them as a daily deal at one point.

So the people who are buying them are just returning them. The Apple Watch has been an absolutely abysmal failure and I wouldn't be surprised at all if Apple just quietly drops the product line.

Pebble?

[doconnor]

I'm surprised Pebble is not on the list. Maybe its because they sell most of their watches direct from their website and through KickStarter which isn't covered by this report.

Re:Pebble?

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree... that's the only smartwatch out there I've seen where you could remotely justify the purchase of one as remotely "smart".
Although I surely didn't drop that kind of money on something that replaces a 20 dollar Timex with only marginal effectiveness.

Re:Pebble?

[Lumpy]

it's because pebble's numbers decimate all the others combined.

Re:Pebble?

[james_shoemaker]

Both my pebbles were purchased off the shelf at BestBuy (because BestBuy ran them on sale way cheaper than you could get them direct).

James

Re:Pebble?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Pebble is easily best-in-breed. It's dirt cheap, it actually tells time, and, gasp, you can read it in full daylight. It doesn't need the accelerometer bullshit to toggle the screen on to eek out every last second of battery life. They got right on the first try what all these billion-dollar OEM's have been flailing around trying to figure out. Kudos to them.

everything is Apples fault

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.macrumors.com/2016/07/21/apple-helped-identify-kickasstorrents-owner/

Don't buy a phone from a failing American company like Apple.

You mean watchOS 3.0

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean watchOS 3.0. First their capitalization and spacing is retarded and secondly version 2 is already out. 3.0 is the new version coming in the fall.

And I doubt it. The Watch is a piece of crap. The heart rate monitor is useless (I've had it read 36 in the middle of a workout), almost nothing is configurable about it (it is Apple, after all) including - hilariously enough - the TIME (yes, it's a watch that you can't set the time on), and it's incredibly slow to boot. The UI is a pain to navigate through. (And, no, being able to set it to be up to 30 minutes fast doesn't count. You can't synchronize it to some other time source, only your phone.)

"So use Siri!" people cried the last time I mentioned the watch is uselessly slow. Great, except Siri suffers the same UI slowdown, only activates half the time, and then only manages to pass the command through to the phone half the times it triggers.

The best is when Siri manages to successfully execute a command (such as creating a reminder) and then indicates it didn't.

Apple never cuts the price of an existing product line, ever. They did with the Apple Watch. That should tell you something. They know it's a dying product and they have no idea how to fix it.

Re:You mean watchOS 3.0

[rudy_wayne]

and they have no idea how to fix it.

How do you "fix" a stupid product that serves no purpose and has no reason to exist?

Well that was quick

[whoozwah]

How long has the smart watch market been a thing? I can't imagine it has been too terribly long and it's already declining. The phone as an everything device is pretty firmly embedded in the consciousness of the populace. These other devices like smart watches and to a lesser extent, the tablet will most likely die off if they cannot come up with a reason to have it more than it's just more convenient than the phone. The phone is pretty damn convenient.

Re:Well that was quick

[bluefoxlucid]

It's even more basic than that: these reports base on the idea that all products are constantly bought, and ignore durable goods. So a new product comes out, everyone in the freaking world buys one, and then everyone has one; because the product doesn't wear out in a year, 10% as many people buy them next year, and suddenly you have headlines about how it's a dead product nobody buys anymore.

This happens with things like smart phones as the market matures. Across 10 years we went from 516MHz 256MB RAM to quad-core 1.9GHz 2GB RAM; across ten more years, it's been heterogeneous quad-core 2.24GHz 4GB RAM. That slightly-faster smart phone might be a little slower than the shiny new thing, but it's not like the era where you had a 2-year-old phone that couldn't run ANYTHING anymore because Facebook needed 3 times as much RAM as your entire phone provides. Five-year upgrade periods are totally acceptable, and haggling over today's new-model phone and yesterday's old-model phone involves a lot of wondering if the impulse buy and social status is worth the $400. I have a OnePlus One and can't figure out why I would buy a OnePlus Three.

What? No pebble?

[bernywork]

One of the biggest sellers of smart watches is Pebble and they aren't there?

If they're in decline, it's only because the Pebble 2 is going to get released soon and everybody is waiting for it.....

Re:What? No pebble?

[Austerity Empowers]

If they're in decline, it's only because the Pebble 2 is going to get released soon and everybody is waiting for it.....

Which is also likely why the Apple Watch is in decline...september is coming.

Re:What? No pebble?

[macs4all]

If they're in decline, it's only because the Pebble 2 is going to get released soon and everybody is waiting for it.....

Which is also likely why the Apple Watch is in decline...september is coming.

Exactly.

Re:What? No pebble?

[doconnor]

From looking at people's wrists, the Apple Watch is the most common device I see in Toronto.

Not particularly fashionable

[DatbeDank]

I had an opportunity to try a smart watch for a few weeks. It was nifty, but compared to some of my more antique time pieces from the 40s and 50s it couldn't hold a candle in terms of style.

I agree with the other guy, this is the end of the mobile OS bonanza. Smart watches won't be the next "new thing" no matter how much Sillycon Valley wants it to be.

Re:Not particularly fashionable

[Anonymous Coward]

It was never supposed to be the "next new thing". All the companies care about is a return on investment. The basic math seems to indicate that Apple has made a solid return on investment directly + indirect return for anyone switching to apple because of the watch or not leaving because of the lack of a watch. These numbers may be tiny but still boosts the bottom line.

In the end Apple never said everyone would be wearing one. That was an assumption a lot of stock analysts and reporters made.

Too much luxury

[Ayanami_R]

There are no low end devices, no $150 ones don't count. Where is the model that simply mirrors notifications, tells time, lasts at least 24 continuous hours, and will pass voice and audio for a call over BT for 50 bucks?

Oh, no one has made that yet. It seems this is another market where you can't buy a basic version. Cars cost what they do now because there is almost no basic one, and is also why I don't have any desire to own one currently.

Stop trying to make it more and more "useful" while driving the price up, give us a basic version and I'll happily buy 4 of them for the fam.

Re:Too much luxury

[Lumpy]

"There are no low end devices, no $150 ones don't count."

The Pebble does count and is a fantastic smartwatch that is the most refined and the only one with a good battery life.

You should check out the oldest smartwatch maker and actually use their devices before you claim they dont count.

Re:Too much luxury

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly. That plus message reading and now you can leave your smartphone in the pocket or backpack. If they can do that and keep it small a slim, I'd buy as well.

Re:Too much luxury

[kimvette]

I want the opposite - I have a Samsung Gear S2 Classic and am thinking about either buying the 3G version of it, or the nextgen version of it (I wish they would include a speaker as well as mic on the non-3G version). I want the built-in speaker and cell connection and added functionality. Its primary use for me is fitness tracking (I've owned a Vivofit and it sucked, and the Fitbit I tried was almost as inaccurate and limited) and I find it is very accurate in its tracking my workouts and steps throughout the day. For the first few weeks I wore both during the day and counted my steps and compared - the Gear was very close to my count but the vivo was way off - over 1,000 more than my count and the Gear S2's count.

Another thing that is great is the GPS tracking - I keep that turned on and when I go out skating, walking, jogging, the distance tracking is usually dead-on and I can view a map of where I went after the workout, with my highest speeds indicated on the map, as well as nice graphs with heart rate and pace. Also, I easily get 24 hours on my watch, although since it has lithium cells I top it off as often as I can to avoid deep cycling the battery when it is not necessary.

However I do agree it would be nice to have low-end devices for folks who don't care about those capabilities. But, at the low end you're unlikely to get a large screen + good interface + sound + mic + bt + water resistance + good battery life; you're more likely to get just a couple of those features with the rest sucking or omitted entirely.

Re:Too much luxury

[james_shoemaker]

The original poster is asking for something low end, and doesn't consider $150 as low end. A pebble at $50 would be nice (and that's what I paid for one of mine on sale)

Re:Too much luxury

[Nemyst]

You can get the OG Pebble for $90 when it's on sale, sometimes a bit less. That's pretty close to what you're looking for, and it comes with 7 days of battery life, water resistance, always-on screen and a lot of control features on top of a pretty lively app ecosystem. No mic or speaker though (microphone is on the Time, speakers would be irrelevant since most people have headphones these days).

Re:Too much luxury

[doconnor]

"You should check out the oldest smartwatch maker"

You mean the Palm-OS based Fossil or the ones that appeared before?

no Duh!

[Anonymous Coward]

At US$17,000 a clip, how many people did iApple think would buy one...?

BTW, been using OSx Yosemite. What a throwback to the stone age...
KDE much nicer...

CAP === 'stubby'

Re:no Duh!

[macs4all]

At US$17,000 a clip, how many people did iApple think would buy one...?

BTW, been using OSx Yosemite. What a throwback to the stone age... KDE much nicer...

CAP === 'stubby'

WTF you smokin', Jackson? And can I have some?

From what I have seen, KDE is nothing more than a cheap Windows UI clone, down to the Start Menu and Taskbar. How in the HELL can that be better than OS X? Its tools to manage multiple windows and multiple "desktops" (Spaces) are second-to-none.

Every UI has its good points and its annoying points. But KDE is simply just derivative.

Did a quick search on the Apple watch...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not waterproof? That's basic for a watch.

orly?

[JawzX]

/youdon'tsay.jpg

Smartwatches: the most useless product yet to be bouyed into semi-relevance by the Apple Hype-train.

Euuuhhh

[Anonymous Coward]

I haven't even seen anyone I work with wear one and I work in IT for a company that pays good salaries. I'd venture to say most people who bought the watches are Apple fanbois who will buy pretty much anything Apple releases

Captcha: unproven

Innovate

[backslashdot]

They need to figure out how to make a smartwatch that is whole-room charging or automatic. That is, you never have to plug it in.

My biggest issue with smartwatches is having to charge them. They need to figure out how to make it charge while you are wearing it in the car or sitting in a cafe.

Headline draws the wrong conclusion

[green1]

iWatch sales are slowing, other smart watch sales are growing. So this means that people realized the Apple product sucks as badly as most Apple products. But that people like the other smart watches as their volumes are still growing. So instead of yet another "smartwatch market is doomed" article, it should be "apple watch sucks, smart watch sales from other manufacturers continue to grow" unfortunately as so many stupid reporters try to link the 2 together, the horrible apple watch experience is being used as an argument to try to convince people who want one not to try any of the other amazing products out there.

Fashion statement

[p51d007]

That pretty much explains it to me. A device, looking for a purpose. I have a cheap 80 dollar Casio Wave-Ceptor Keeps accurate time, that's it. For everything else, I just use my phone which is with me, 99% on the time, on my belt.

Killer Combo

[Anonymous Coward]

If Apple came out with an iPad that could make calls, I'd upgrade to watch+iPad+Bluetooth headset.

Right now, I have a separate iPad and iPhone and honestly I hate switching between them. Having an iPad in a backpack or messenger bag or whatever but controlled via phone would be ideal.

I'm sure I would eventually complain that I couldn't go anywhere fancy and keep the phone with me discreetly, though. Going to the theatre with a 9" square in your pocket is a little weird.

Maybe a separate battery with Bluetooth+GSM that could be popped into your pocket could do the trick as well. That's 3 devices, then. :( Gonna have to think more about it.

Smile

[maharvey]

Well, that didn't take long. The concept strikes me as gimmicky, like google glass. I like the idea of a programmable watch that you can customize the functions on, but one can't expect much from it, and it shouldn't cost much. I don't wear a watch, and if I did there is very little you could put into one that would interest me. Even a basic calculator was never particularly practical, as the form factor is just too small. Here's an idea: just build in a dumb flash drive, accessible via bluetooth. That would be useful. No wifi, no mobile, no messaging, no voice, no camera. Just a flash drive that is always with me. The tiny form factor wouldn't matter, because it works like a personal cloud device, and you don't interact with it physically.

Re:WOT is the appeal of these things?

[Hognoxious]

Was I supposed to read that or make the Mexicans pay for it?

it is not apples fault

[Anonymous Coward]

the smartwatch is just a fad. there is no actually use for them most people dont care or want one. it is that simple. the phone is fine for most people

Resistence is futile

[ChunderDownunder]

Anyone else worried this is how the Borg started?

People are tired of strapping on a watch, having pockets for a phone and requiring an audio receiver jammed in one's ear - all with abysmal battery life.

Wouldn't it be simpler if one had nano-implants powered by one's own metabolism, connected via 4G 24/7 to all your friends who could sense your thoughts, with a gigapixel video camera augmenting your eye socket?

Shove a cable into your belly button and you could directly charge all your USB devices via your own tummy fat.

Still waiting for a better smartwatch!

[antdude]

I don't want it to be tied to a smartphone and have short
battery lives. I will stick with my old school Casio Data Bank watches. :P