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Apple Watch

connor_ict

By connor_ict
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abillybob

abillybob

Posted
Posted

Here's what I think they need to sort out with Smartwatches;

- Make it at least 5ATM Waterproof, to be able to go on holiday keep my phone in the OH's bag on the beach but have my watch so I can still check notifications and know it's not going to get damaged would be great, or be swimming in the sea or pool and be able to keep up to date with my notifications without having to leave the water to check

- Use Wifi Direct technology rather than bluetooth, bluetooth is good if your going to be 2 meters away from your phone at all times. Using wifi would give you much longer range and thus would make the watches more relevant as you won't need to keep your phone in your pocket every time you walk away with your watch. It will also then enable you to use better features such as make your phone ring if you forget where you've placed it

- Battery life needs to be improved, more than a day I'd want it to last a week. When I wear a nice watch I don't tend to ever take it off only rarely so to have to take it off everyday and charge it would be something I'd forget to do quite regularly

 

Just a few of my gripes with smart watches. They really aren't 'there' yet with the technology.

  • Thanks 2
Garacesh

Garacesh

Posted
Posted

Waterproof, yes. Direct wifi, yes. Battery life? Not so easy.*

 

With a traditional watch, those tiny little gears moving take up next-to-no power. Tick. Tick. Tick. A watch battery will last for about 12 months. Much longer if it's got one of those little dynamos inside. Smart watches, though, have to compute stuff, power a wireless radio, light up a screen, and a bunch of other stuff that all drains way more power. You've got a size-vs-battery-life scenario going on and to make the battery bigger is going to make the watch much more cumbersome and less appealing.

 

* I'm aware you're not saying it's easy to do.. Just explaining my piece.

Arthur

Arthur

Posted
Posted
Using Wi-Fi would give you much longer range

Wouldn't Wi-Fi drain the battery faster than BT?

 

When I wear a nice watch I don't tend to ever take it off

Not even when you go to bed or have a bath/shower? :)

abillybob

abillybob

Posted
Posted
Waterproof, yes. Direct wifi, yes. Battery life? Not so easy.*

 

With a traditional watch, those tiny little gears moving take up next-to-no power. Tick. Tick. Tick. A watch battery will last for about 12 months. Much longer if it's got one of those little dynamos inside. Smart watches, though, have to compute stuff, power a wireless radio, light up a screen, and a bunch of other stuff that all drains way more power. You've got a size-vs-battery-life scenario going on and to make the battery bigger is going to make the watch much more cumbersome and less appealing.

 

* I'm aware you're not saying it's easy to do.. Just explaining my piece.

 

That's why I really don't think they're there yet with the technology. We need some way for a smart watch to do all the things they do now but also hold enough battery for it to be powered for a week! Dynamo's, Solar could all charge it on the move but obviously I'm not a battery expert so I won't pretend to be. What about on the move being able to plug your phone in and power the watch from your phone either via a wired or wireless connection?

 

Wouldn't Wi-Fi drain the battery faster than BT?

 

 

Not even when you go to bed or have a bath/shower? :)

 

Probably but having to have your phone on you 24/7 defeats the point in having a smaller version on your wrist surely! This to me is a must, range is everything. This again because of the battery points to the fact we're not there yet.

 

Nope on the rare occasion I take it off in the bath but I have a bath once a month. I don't need to it's waterproof. Why would I take it off when going to sleep?

Garacesh

Garacesh

Posted
Posted
Why would I take it off when going to sleep?

One time I cut my face open by wearing a watch in bed.. Must've had some bizarre dream and been flailing around or something.. Woke up the next day with 2 sizable cuts on my nose!

abillybob

abillybob

Posted
Posted
One time I cut my face open by wearing a watch in bed.. Must've had some bizarre dream and been flailing around or something.. Woke up the next day with 2 sizable cuts on my nose!

 

Haha :) Sorry shouldn't laugh but that did make me giggle!! Never had this problem maybe it's just you!? ;)

  • Thanks 1
Quackers

Quackers

Posted
Posted
Here's what I think they need to sort out with Smartwatches;

- Make it at least 5ATM Waterproof, to be able to go on holiday keep my phone in the OH's bag on the beach but have my watch so I can still check notifications and know it's not going to get damaged would be great, or be swimming in the sea or pool and be able to keep up to date with my notifications without having to leave the water to check

- Use Wifi Direct technology rather than bluetooth, bluetooth is good if your going to be 2 meters away from your phone at all times. Using wifi would give you much longer range and thus would make the watches more relevant as you won't need to keep your phone in your pocket every time you walk away with your watch. It will also then enable you to use better features such as make your phone ring if you forget where you've placed it

- Battery life needs to be improved, more than a day I'd want it to last a week. When I wear a nice watch I don't tend to ever take it off only rarely so to have to take it off everyday and charge it would be something I'd forget to do quite regularly

 

Just a few of my gripes with smart watches. They really aren't 'there' yet with the technology.

 

The Apple Watch in the pool/sea ? Works fine.. Reviewers try to destroy Apple Watch in the shower and swimming pool, ultimately fail

 

WiFi ? Apple Watch has WiFi so works whilst I'm all around the school keeping my phone in my office.

 

Battery Life? Nothing wrong with it, i had 38% left when i went to sleep last night, if you want to use it as a watch in the traditional sense the Apple Watch will last days.

 

Really would not want to be without the Apple Watch and I've only had it 2 full days, i find a text off the watch when not in public because its quicker, glancing at notifications is so much better than getting my phone out constantly to see why it bleeped.

IrritableTech

IrritableTech

Posted
Posted
The Apple Watch in the pool/sea ? Works fine.. Reviewers try to destroy Apple Watch in the shower and swimming pool, ultimately fail

 

WiFi ? Apple Watch has WiFi so works whilst I'm all around the school keeping my phone in my office.

 

Battery Life? Nothing wrong with it, i had 38% left when i went to sleep last night, if you want to use it as a watch in the traditional sense the Apple Watch will last days.

 

Really would not want to be without the Apple Watch and I've only had it 2 full days, i find a text off the watch when not in public because its quicker, glancing at notifications is so much better than getting my phone out constantly to see why it bleeped.

 

I'll echo this. I went to bed last night with around 45% battery left.

 

I think there is much more to come for the watch too. It's a great notification device (Ping!) but I think that is just the start. One gripe I do have is not being able to adjust the activity goals except for the calorie counter. I'd like to change my daily exercise goal from 30 minutes, and change the stand goal. It'll come I'd expect in an update down the line.

abillybob

abillybob

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

Wow. That was lucky, I wouldn't recommend anyone do this, the fact's are here and for a £300 watch you'd be crazy to try such a thing: Apple Watch is splash and water resistant, but not waterproof. The Apple Watch has a water resistance rating of IPX7 under IEC standard 60529.

 

WiFi ? Apple Watch has WiFi so works whilst I'm all around the school keeping my phone in my office.

 

The Apple watch from what I've read connects to your local wifi LAN to connect to your phone, which is fine when your home. If your phone is not connected to a LAN then it uses Bluetooth. So yes I suppose they have helped a little bit, but really a complete replacement to use Wifi 24/7 would be better imo.

 

Battery Life? Nothing wrong with it, i had 38% left when i went to sleep last night, if you want to use it as a watch in the traditional sense the Apple Watch will last days.

 

Same with my LG G Watch R. I also had around 40% battery at the end of the day after general use. Problem is if you do the math it's used 60% of the battery life in a day, you'd need to charge it again if you want it to last throughout the night and the whole of the next day. It's not practical, well not in my eyes.

 

Really would not want to be without the Apple Watch and I've only had it 2 full days, i find a text off the watch when not in public because its quicker, glancing at notifications is so much better than getting my phone out constantly to see why it bleeped.

 

Yeah, I told myself that for a while and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread but 2 months down the line you will most likely be questioning why you bought it. Taking my phone out of my pocket and adding another 3 seconds onto my 'checking notification' time is justifiable in my eyes more than spending an additional £300. I also tend to laugh at those that are talking to their watch like James Bond except you're not a spy and you look silly (I was one of these obviously), it's also really not that accurate especially in busy environments it'll be difficult to use.

Edited by abillybob
LosOjos

LosOjos

Posted
Posted (edited)
Here's what I think they need to sort out with Smartwatches;

- Make it at least 5ATM Waterproof, to be able to go on holiday keep my phone in the OH's bag on the beach but have my watch so I can still check notifications and know it's not going to get damaged would be great, or be swimming in the sea or pool and be able to keep up to date with my notifications without having to leave the water to check

 

Pebble Steel is waterproof to 50m

 

https://getpebble.com/pebble_steel

 

I used it like that on holiday, left my phone pool side and could read my texts/emails without getting out of the pool :)

 

It also has a feature that will make your phone ring if you can't find it, though obviously you have to be in range - I've not once had it lose connection at home though.

 

- Use Wifi Direct technology rather than bluetooth, bluetooth is good if your going to be 2 meters away from your phone at all times. Using wifi would give you much longer range and thus would make the watches more relevant as you won't need to keep your phone in your pocket every time you walk away with your watch. It will also then enable you to use better features such as make your phone ring if you forget where you've placed it

 

While WiFi connectivity would be cool so you don't need to rely on your phone for data, it would drain the battery must faster. Bluetooth 4 has a special low power mode* which is perfect for "always on" devices like a smartwatch. The range is also pretty good at ~200ft (this varies by device but this is the defined as the spec minimum at full power)

 

Wi-Fi Direct vs. Bluetooth 4.0: A Battle for Supremacy | PCWorld

 

- Battery life needs to be improved, more than a day I'd want it to last a week. When I wear a nice watch I don't tend to ever take it off only rarely so to have to take it off everyday and charge it would be something I'd forget to do quite regularly

 

Again, Pebble for the win - I get at least a week with normal use. Granted, I'd love for it to last longer, but it's the longest lasting battery of any smart device I've ever owned. Of course the trade off is the black and white screen and lack of power for fancy UI effects, but I really don't need that on a watch. Pebble Time promises comparable battery life, has a colour screen and I've been peeking at the SDK which has a load of new features to enable devs to add pretty effects if they want to (that said I can't see myself buying one, I think they're ugly - much prefer the style of the Pebble Steel)

 

https://getpebble.com/pebble_time

 

Just a few of my gripes with smart watches. They really aren't 'there' yet with the technology.

 

I agree with you but there is a good reason: the battery problem. Until much more efficient, smaller batteries are available at a reasonable price, manufacturers are massively limited in what they can do. The tech is there to add all the features you want, but the battery life would be abysmal, so they have to compromise. Pebble's aren't as pretty or powerful as Android/Apple watches, but the trade off is vastly improved battery life, which is more important to me than cool effects - that said, there are some very cool looking faces out there; working within the limitations of the watch has made devs get creative :)

 

Anyway, not here to be an unofficial Pebble salesman, just to point out there is already a watch out there that does much of what you want and it's reasonably cheap too. :)

 

* this requires both devices to have BT4 to work on either device, so older phones won't be capable of using this feature

Edited by LosOjos
  • Thanks 1
abillybob

abillybob

Posted
Posted (edited)

Have to agree with @Garacesh in my eye's the pebble meets a lot of those expectations and functions as an actual watch. It is the only watch that I have considered keeping and does most of what Android Wear and (I'm assuming) the Apple Watch can do. +1 for Pebble.

 

Plus the Pebble Steel looks lush :)

@Garacesh, I prefer the look of the Pebble Steel regarding it's design but the Pebble time is newer and has a coloured screen. Have you seen both and if so why did you end up getting the Steel?

Edited by abillybob
CAM

CAM

Posted
Posted
Pebble Steel is waterproof to 50m

 

https://getpebble.com/pebble_steel

 

I used it like that on holiday, left my phone pool side and could read my texts/emails without getting out of the pool :)

 

It also has a feature that will make your phone ring if you can't find it, though obviously you have to be in range - I've not once had it lose connection at home though.

 

 

 

While WiFi connectivity would be cool so you don't need to rely on your phone for data, it would drain the battery must faster. Bluetooth 4 has a special low power mode* which is perfect for "always on" devices like a smartwatch. The range is also pretty good at ~200ft (this varies by device but this is the defined as the spec minimum at full power)

 

Wi-Fi Direct vs. Bluetooth 4.0: A Battle for Supremacy | PCWorld

 

 

 

Again, Pebble for the win - I get at least a week with normal use. Granted, I'd love for it to last longer, but it's the longest lasting battery of any smart device I've ever owned. Of course the trade off is the black and white screen and lack of power for fancy UI effects, but I really don't need that on a watch. Pebble Time promises comparable battery life, has a colour screen and I've been peeking at the SDK which has a load of new features to enable devs to add pretty effects if they want to (that said I can't see myself buying one, I think they're ugly - much prefer the style of the Pebble Steel)

 

https://getpebble.com/pebble_time

 

 

 

I agree with you but there is a good reason: the battery problem. Until much more efficient, smaller batteries are available at a reasonable price, manufacturers are massively limited in what they can do. The tech is there to add all the features you want, but the battery life would be abysmal, so they have to compromise. Pebble's aren't as pretty or powerful as Android/Apple watches, but the trade off is vastly improved battery life, which is more important to me than cool effects - that said, there are some very cool looking faces out there; working within the limitations of the watch has made devs get creative :)

 

Anyway, not here to be an unofficial Pebble salesman, just to point out there is already a watch out there that does much of what you want and it's reasonably cheap too. :)

 

* this requires both devices to have BT4 to work on either device, so older phones won't be capable of using this feature

 

Pebble looks cool, it's e-Ink so lasts ages. No proper Windows Phone support by the looks of it though. :(

LosOjos

LosOjos

Posted
Posted
Pebble looks cool, it's e-Ink so lasts ages. No proper Windows Phone support by the looks of it though. :(

 

Yeah that is a let down, I'm hoping though that as Window Phone gets more popular (which I think it will with the unification W10), you'll see support added.

 

I dare say there are ways you can get it working with WP, but there's no official app like you say.

sted

sted

Posted
Posted
Yeah that is a let down, I'm hoping though that as Window Phone gets more popular (which I think it will with the unification W10), you'll see support added.

 

I dare say there are ways you can get it working with WP, but there's no official app like you say.

 

I suspect its got about as much market share as it ever will have. Its a vicious circle people wont buy until apps etc are there people wont develop for it till users are there. Even ms seem to be sort of saying that in the way their watch works on ios/android as well. Its a shame because I really like windows phone it just works

JRowley

JRowley

Posted
Posted
I suspect its got about as much market share as it ever will have. Its a vicious circle people wont buy until apps etc are there people wont develop for it till users are there. Even ms seem to be sort of saying that in the way their watch works on ios/android as well. Its a shame because I really like windows phone it just works

 

With the app store unification in Windows 10 though, if you want to make an app for Windows you can target every device at the same time, I see that as a massive plus from a software development point of view, you cut development time dramatically by only having to make one app. It should make the windows platform much more desirable.

LeMarchand

LeMarchand

Posted
Posted
I suspect its got about as much market share as it ever will have. Its a vicious circle people wont buy until apps etc are there people wont develop for it till users are there. Even ms seem to be sort of saying that in the way their watch works on ios/android as well. Its a shame because I really like windows phone it just works

 

This is why I hate the idea of App Stores. Back in the day people would write apps (or "programs" as we called them then) and there were a few repositories that made it easier to find them, or you could just search. You could generally find something that would add the functionality you wanted. Whilst the "Wild West" element has been removed so has the innovation. Too many hoops to jump through to publish an app.

sted

sted

Posted
Posted
With the app store unification in Windows 10 though, if you want to make an app for Windows you can target every device at the same time, I see that as a massive plus from a software development point of view, you cut development time dramatically by only having to make one app. It should make the windows platform much more desirable.

but they dont do them for desktop 8.1 either so i doubt much will change

JRowley

JRowley

Posted
Posted (edited)

But that's not a unified store/universal app, you target Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 RT or Windows Phone 8.1. You can't do cross platform app development without having to rebuild and redesign your app.

 

Where as with Windows 10 you can, in theory, build and design a single app which will work across every windows device. You will be able to target the largest user base and largest number of device platforms of any OS developer in the world, something that should definitely get developers on board.

Edited by JRowley

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