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Apple (AAPL) is indeed thinking of selling an iWatch, both the NYT and WSJ report. Sources claim...
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Sunday, February 10, 3:27 PM ETApple (AAPL) is indeed thinking of selling an iWatch, both the NYT and WSJ report. Sources claim Apple is experimenting with iOS-based watches made of curved glass, and has discussed the matter with Foxconn. If an iWatch ever arrives, there's a good chance it will use Corning's (GLW) Willow Glass, which was created with bendable displays in mind. Former Apple UI designer Bruce Tognazzini recently predicted an iWatch will arrive, while providing a long list of apps/services it might support.
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Apple is going off the rails without Steve Jobs.
The new generations don't wear watches, they are "old school".
If they have an iPhone, why would they buy an iWatch?
Do your own research and look and see how many people under 35 wear a watch.
What next, an iCalculator?
This is an old sales parable that's worth telling in full:
Once upon a time, two shoe salesmen went to an underdeveloped country to sell shoes.
One reported back: "We can't sell anything here, no one wears shoes."
The other reported back: "We're gonna sell tons here! No one has any shoes!"
Sometimes it's all a matter of perspective. :-)
Apparently, nobody's stopped -- maybe, not even Apple, if this supposed idea is real -- to think about what has been a main source of Apple's recent woes and why Samsung is now the world's number-one phone seller. That reason is because mobile internet communication is fundamentally a visual experience, not an auditory or temporal one. That's why phones have migrated quickly to ever-larger screens and why the old phone use, to talk, is of little import. A watch is even less relevant or useful.
There's a better future, if any, for something like Google's virtual-display eyeglasses than any Dick-Tracy-like micro-miniature wrist display. Or, maybe, Apple envisions folks with 5" displays strapped to their wrists?
Apple has been consistently lost in space since Mr. Jobs' untimely passing, going on lawsuit wild goose chases, not producing timely updates of existing products or any meaningful new introductions of products. Now, even their trial-balloon ideas are going around the bend and seem like the blind gropings of corporate types, rather than the acts of any visionaries.
> lawsuits wild goose chases
In all fairness, Mr. Jobs started most of those wild goose chases, and was hell bent on seeing them through and adding lots more. Don't blame Apple's legal shenanigans on Jobs' passing -- if anything, I hope that they will reduce their patent trolling now that Steve is gone.
http://bit.ly/UVauS6
It seems Apple is losing that crown or that field is much more crowded.
As Google glasses has helped us see the future more clearly.
Where are those Minority Report computers??
The list of criticisms was endless. Of course, the iPad was a huge success.
I don't know if the iWatch will be a success. But, I know enough to think outside the box - there are functions we perform every day -payment, calendar, reminders, time check, music, even short phone calls or bluetooth capabilities - that can be incorporated into a phone.
It's not gonna replace an internet surfing iPad - but it could be an interesting auxiliary product. Why don't we wait and see what the specks and functions are...
And if Apple does produce such a watch, I fully intend to own own.
iWig with a color changer
iEarring with an ear phone
iTooth with an auto cleaner
All connected to your mind and thay are all mind control and retire siri
i want a wearable iToilet, just in case i am informed that the stock tanked on my iWatch, while driving in my iCar in my tax-free iCountry.
and where do all the Nokia people live ?
Well what else to say you know the rest.
Watches are considered un-cool and old-school.
I'm sure that you and the crowd you hang with wear watches; are you and your crowd the age 17-25 throng of consumptive automatons that Apple depends on or different?
Like I said, do your own research, make your own observations, and ask around.
I think the iWatch is the dumbest idea I have heard from any tech. company in a very long time.
Why don't you leave the truly revolutionary thinking to the actual Apple creators...true visionaries who have dreamt up the magical brand new iPad 4......with........128 Megs.............wowww... Jobs must be dancing in heaven with that spectacular new release!!!
The Pebble e-ink watch blew away Kickstarter records:
http://kck.st/12EpR3r
There are a variety of wristbands designed to make a watch out of the previous generation iPod Nano:
http://amzn.to/12ifVYU
I think there's a market here.
Pretty cool stuff they've got coming out.
And an iWatch would be pretty cool. Right now I use my iphone to monitor my email, etc. and pull out my laptop when I need to do something. Would be great to have a nano-sized ios device that can keep me up to date - phone and laptop can stay in the bag unless needed.
The form factor is less important than the function IMO - doesn't HAVE to be a watch, just a small device that you can tuck away and get to quickly. Whether that's on your wrist, in your pocket or wherever - up to the user.
http://getpebble.com
I had ordered one just for fun back in their Kickstarter days (last summer?). There have been many delays, but the first units are finally starting to ship now, so I hope to have mine soon. The capabilities sound promising.
Besides the coolness factor, Pebble is a poster child for Kickstarter and crowdsourced tech startup funding.
Seeing an AAPL rebond back to $700 as if the last six months never happened, and it definitely shiouldn';t have happened. There was no major reason for AAPL to fall more than for consolidation, and the last 200 points had nothing at all to do with fundamental reality. Apple is now selling below book value and is still the best company on earth makming the most money on earth with the best profit margins of any tech company.
... or Sony (SNE)
Bit it worked out pretty well for AAPL< i would say.
AAPL needs to do something. Adding bells an whistles to existing products is only going to take them so far. To begin another period of acceleration AAPL needs to introduce new products. Watches? I don't know--nobody wear one. Televisions? Everybody has one. But i would be willing to bet that AAPL will introduce a category killer if they decide to get into either niche.
Already came out a few years ago from a major Asian brand.
> before it start
Yes. :-)
But before you bash back, let me tell you why.
As a consumer, Apple's release strategies are very frustrating.
Based on past experience, the first iWatch is likely to have the following issues:
1) It will be a closed system, developers will not have access to everything the hardware can do (this has advantages and disadvantages, depending on your perspective)
2) It will be missing a few key features that competitors already have on the market. Some of these features (but not all of them) will be introduced a year later on the iWatch 2.
3) It will have at least one feature that is ingeniously ahead of its time and might be perfect in a couple of years...but is simply a drawback at the time of release.
4) It will be intuitive and magical to use...but also slow and inefficient to use.
5) It will be horribly overpriced compared to the only slightly less shiny competition.
Now, before you start hating on me, know that I own a now-retired iPhone 4 (currently serving as a workout iPod for me), an iPhone 5, and an iPad 2, and I like them all, to an extent. But you have to be realistic, not everyone likes everything about Apple and their products, or certainly their product releases.
However, as an investor (though I do not own any Apple stock at this time), I'm sure this product would make Apple money. :-)
I hate reaching in my pocket for my phone so having a watch that executes its functions would be nice. The fact that so many people don't wear watches today points to a huge market opportunity.
> customers' needs.
I respectfully disagree, in that I don't think that's been their strategy at all.
Their strategy has been to create new categories, and create demand.
The iPod created a new category. The iPhone (or at least it's app store concept) created a new category. The iPad (or at least the degree to which it was well done) created a new category.
The iWatch may yet create a new category.
We will have to wait and see. :-)
....sure I'd love to see Tim Cook in a Naru jacket.....those sunny 60's SanFrancisco days have passed.... I do wish they would use SJ's voice for siri though.
..love all my aapl products as most owners probably do.....the stock will rebound........
if you want to watch paint dry buy some msft...and then watch Balmer steer the titanic into an iceburg.
Smart spaces like Metro trains, buses, stations, stores, airports, schools, cities. With an iWatch, you are always connected by Wifi. Of course, an iPhone or MacBook would also connect you, but you do not have them on your wrist. When is the next train? Which aisle is the milk? Has my colleague arrived yet?
Busy schedules. With an iWatch, you are always on schedule. You can use your iWatch as an excuse to leave a boring discussion (with a virtual bailout button).
Tweets! On your wrist! Alerts. RSS summaries. SMS via Wifi.
Who am I kidding? What does Apple know? Steve Ballmer says flat tiled screens and one window apps are more than anyone needs.
Still, I can dream...
An iWatch could connect to its owner's iPhone, iMac, iTV, refrigerator, car, home security system, baby monitor. Warn you when the big game starts, baby is awake, the food is cooked.
An iWatch could monitor your exercise and vitals.
An iWatch would be a chip integration tour de force. I don't see that on Intel's tic-toc schedule through 2020 because it's not on Intel's radar.
that at least has a slim chance.
how about an iPhone that send display to your eye directly or to an eyeglass?
If it could also get quick emails, texts, perhaps could even talk then it would sell better than the iPhone.
I know that I and everyone I know would buy one if this could happen.
Very exciting. Is this the end for many watch makers? Remember Sony and music. Remember Palm, iPaq, Nokia, Rimm, Motorola, Sony, NEC, Erriccson with phones?
Over 1,000,000,000 watches are sold every year and people pay up to $$$ several thousand dollars for a watch, especially if there are several models, material & designs. This could be ABSOLUTELY HUGE for Apple.
Apple's stock is clearly on sale at present. With new lower priced iPhones, large screen iPhones, new iPads, Apple iTV the future is very bright indeed.
it shall be functionally connected to an iPhone, iPad or iMac, etc.
Maybe it should be called "iDC"...individual Data Center, as it would begin with a revolutionary milestone, as it does oppose to the "post PC" era.
Otherwise, I'm agnostic....
Stick with AAPL...
http://bit.ly/UVauS6
Then buy as many cheap Apple share second!
Why make a potential iWatch a bluetooth accessory for an iPhone?
Personally I would rather see Apple take on the Google Glass idea and come up with something more integrated and better. Getting the content capability of a larger screen onto a very small portable device is an idea I think many people would find of interest, much more so than another wristwatch concept.
How is apple going to leverage anything into an iWatch?
There is no market for a digital watch and all other digital devices already has a clock.
Apple is going up against Rolex?
i'll trade aapl short term and will be careful before next earning
if you want to get into something big try iCar or iPlane
if you want to try something not in the hardware area try iCook
Most commentators thought it would be a flop. They used words just like you "This is stupid" mmmm!
The rest is history.
When considering devices that enhance security, it is typically better to have such devices out of sight---like in your pocket.
Biometric data collection may be a different story. But again, the patent space appears a bit crowded.
Regarding accessing Siri thru a watch---personally, I would feel more than a little dorky talking to my watch. That's just me. I'm dorky enough as it is and need no further enhancement in that area.
"The least important function of a Rolex is telling time."
actually it does not keep times well at all compare with my atomic watch. it is pure jewel and i wear them at weddings or events that my host may want people to "appear" to be "upper class" to enhance the host's status in the community.
In my days when I travel to Asia for business I always wear a Carter eyeglass and a dimond bell buckle. That allow me to enter any top entertaining places with a welcome smile. A rolex watch is useless because it is covered by my shirt or suit.
is it real or is it Memorex ...
Clearly AAPL is looking into not only the iWatch, but iGlasses, iTV and a whole bunch of products that will all talk to each other.
Quick! When does the market open so I can buy more Apple Stock!?!?
"Siri, I'm lost and injured; tell me the route to the nearest hospital"
"Siri, Call 911!
Try imagining a small hands free mobile device strapped to your wrist that allows directions, phone calls, images taken and given, weather, traffic warnings while on a bicycle etc. etc. VOICE ACTIVATED...Dick Tracy!!
Sure, they could advertise it on television and market it towards old people. Perhaps get that helpful "Genius" they used in those commercials that aired during the Olympics. Seniors should love it.
How about telling Siri on your watch to schedule a meeting on your calendar...send a text via voice dictation.....start your car on a cold winter morning.....play a song....makes notes via voice dictation (available in the cloud later on any of your IOS devices)......the possibilities are endless.
Hands free and voice dictation. Has monstrous potential!
I am a big AAPL supporter, but I can admit when I see a bad idea.
Then I can go back and buy all the stocks that jumped 30% in a day.
The reason to buy an Apple iWatch, is not only to show you are cool, but to show you are smart - to keep you connected.
Like the iPhone, it will sell in many millions. Of this it is very clear. If there is some clever links and interfaces to the iPhone then immediately 300m customers will buy one.
The reason to buy an Apple iWatch, is not only to show you are cool, but to show you are smart - to keep you connected. It is everything - but a watch!
Like the iPhone, it will sell in many millions. Of this it is very clear. If there is some clever links and interfaces to the iPhone then immediately 300m customers will buy one.
Many who never had a smartphone got their first with the iPhone. Early on it was a way to be more conspicuous, but now (in the US) with so many already having an iPhone, it is no longer a big deal at all. To be hip, alternative, or outside the mainstream, one needs to choose something other than an iPhone. Those Samsung ads poking fun at people waiting in line at an Apple Store have made it into everyday conversation and pop culture, because they struck a nerve with some viewers. Obviously diehard Apple fans will rarely ever consider other products, but the sales volume success of Samsung shows there is definitely a market demand for alternatives.
There is a funny concept I hear at times in southern California called the "3 Ferrari Rule". Usually this applies to clothing. If you have a Ferrari cap and (Puma) Ferrari shoes, then you are okay. Once you go to three items with Ferrari on them, then it is tacky and you look like a tool. This little known comedic "rule" can apply to nearly anything; carry or wear three conspicuous Apple items, and most people would look more tacky than impressive.