Ask Slashdot: What Features Belong In a 'Smartwatch'? 322
Nerval's Lobster writes "If the rumors are true, and Apple is indeed hard at work on a newfangled timepiece (dubbed the 'iWatch'), what unique features could such a device offer a public already overloaded with all sorts of handheld devices? Answer that question, and you're perhaps one step closer to figuring out why Apple — again, if the rumors are true — decided to devote millions of dollars and the precious hours of some very smart people in the effort. This article suggests voice control (via Siri), biometrics, mobile payments, and other possible features, but there must be loads of others that someone could think up."
Time? (Score:5, Insightful)
Hopefully the ability to accurately tell time. But with the way phones these days work at making calls, I won't hold out much hope.
The whole idea of an iWatch just gives me a headache.
Re:Time? (Score:5, Funny)
You're wearing it wrong.
Re:Time? (Score:5, Insightful)
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my watch doesn't manage DST at all.
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And therefore you manage it yourself.
The problem is if you trust your watch to do the right thing, but then it turns around and messes up. That's worse than just doing it yourself.
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Re:Time? (Score:4, Informative)
It was supposed to support things like Facebook and show you email alerts, along with being a basic watch. It came with a watchband and a clip housing, one of which (I forget which) completely covered the USB charging port and you had to pop it out to plug it in. It was almost working as a watch, but the limited button UI was a mess and difficult to remember/use.
Interesting concept, poor implementation.
What is most important is that it show the time (synced to the local phone network so it is accurate). Second would be incoming SMS/email (so you don't have to pull a phone out of your pocket to get messages.) Music player control. It has to have an inductive charger plus a standard USB, so you can recharge it away from home or just drop it on the charging pad at night when you aren't.
Re:Time? (Score:4, Insightful)
Take a look at Nike fuelband and pebble smartwatch
It's a watch, biking computer, biometric device, you use it while working out, etc
It's for people who do more than sit in front of computer screens all day and night
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Me: Siri, what time is it?
Siri: Okay, I'm playing Morris Day and the Time, Jungle Love...
Me: No, what TIME IS IT?
Siri: The time in London is now 9:03 p.m.
Re:Time? (Score:4, Funny)
You must mumble, because I don't have a problem whenever I've asked Siri the time.
That's so odd. When I ask "Siri, do you have the time?" I always get "Not for a man like you."
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I have a phone for telling time. I'd want a watch that does something different.
Hudson Hawk Time (Score:2)
Even if it doesn't accurately tell time, you could have it constantly play MP3 files of songs with known times. If it's 5:00PM when Train's Hey Soul Sister (3:37) starts, at the end of the song you know it's 5:03:37PM. Then Ke$ha's c'mon (3:22 radio edit version) starts playing, and at the end you know it's 5:06:59PM. And so on.
Re:Time? (Score:4, Informative)
I can't speak to an iPhone, but I know my cell phone takes its time from the actual carrier.
So it's well within the bounds of reason that yours is doing the same -- and if your carrier is using a clock which is slightly different from your NTP-synced computer, that could account for the drift.
One of the things that's really nice about that, is when I travel it picks up local time and I don't need to set it.
And, slightly more on topic ... I'm clearly not the target market for this product. I can't figure out why I'd want a voice activated watch, or biometrics, or mobile payments on my watch. Then again, I wouldn't want those features on my cell phone either. This just feels like one of those technology for the sake of it products.
I'm sure there's features a lot of people will say are the coolest ever and be willing to plunk down money for it. Me, I prefer a device meant to do one thing well instead of 10 things half-assed -- which is why I own actual cameras, music players, and GPS nav units instead of something which kinda does most of those things.
It's cool in a Dick Tracy kind of way, but I prefer my watches to just be watches.
Of course, I'm sure "hey baby, want to see my iWatch" would be an awesome pickup line. So there is that. ;-)
But, as much as I absolutely hate the term, the iWatch and iPhone combo seems like it would be a flashing sign that says "hipster douchebag".
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I can't speak to an iPhone, but I know my cell phone takes its time from the actual carrier. So it's well within the bounds of reason that yours is doing the same -- and if your carrier is using a clock which is slightly different from your NTP-synced computer, that could account for the drift.
I can't imagine a cell phone not getting its time from the carrier. I also can't imagine that they'd be a minute off of real time. I do remember that T-Mobile in my area was about six seconds off, though, just enough to piss me off and make me turn off automatic time updates. Perhaps the iPhone in question has had automatic time updating turned off?
Re:Time? (Score:4, Informative)
I can't speak to an iPhone, but I know my cell phone takes its time from the actual carrier.
If you have CDMA your phone needs to be within something like 10 milliseconds of the carrier's time. I imagine GSM has similar requirements.
Re:Time? (Score:5, Informative)
The time stamp used in CDMA packets doesn't have anything to do with the OS-level system clock. You certainly could synchronize the system clock to a time value provided by the cellular chipset, but there's no inherent reason that you must do so. The time being shown on the phone's screen could say 3:00 last year and it still wouldn't affect telephony. :-)
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I can't figure out why I'd want a voice activated watch, or biometrics, or mobile payments on my watch. ... Me, I prefer a device meant to do one thing well instead of 10 things half-assed
I mostly agree with you – except the biometric data. For biometric data you would be wearing a device most of the time. Why wear a biometric device that looks like a watch and a watch? (On the other hand, the only good biometric data I could imagine it getting would be pulse. Maybe temp but I don’t think that would be valuable data.)
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iOS is excellent at keeping track of time, as far as I've seen. It's pretty horrible (by 21st century software standards) at correctly reacting to sudden changes in time that are expected and break pretty much no software.
As for GPS, a receiver only has to compare the times reported by the individual satellites, not keep atomic-accuracy time.
The issue is a bit trickier for TDMA, used by GSM, which does require decent time-keeping, but I'm guessing not much can go wrong with implementations of GSM, consideri
working GPS and maps.... (Score:4, Interesting)
Chemical sensors (Score:4, Interesting)
I would love sciency things like being able to determine ozone levels, pH of the air, nitrogen/oxygen mix, alcohol detection. But that's why I'm not in charge of choosing sensors for phones.
Testing blood though the skin viable? (Score:2)
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You just need to keep practicing, or stop partying with frat boys.
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I hope there's good privacy controls on the data as I'm sure your insurance company would like to have that data too. "We're sorry sir, but we we're canceling your policy because you are pre-diabetic and you drink too much"
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NOW we're talking. Do those exist?
It reminds me of this guys project...
http://www.tricorderproject.org/tricorder-mark2.html [tricorderproject.org]
Bluetooth! (Score:3, Funny)
Companion handset (Score:3)
A good smart watch needs a bluetooth handset that looks like an ordinary cell phone. You could use it for voice calls, so as not to look like "that dork talking into his Dick Tracy wrist phone".
But I suppose people talking to their wrists would at least be slightly less annoying than the bluetooth earpiece people who are indistinguishable from the mentally ill when encountered on a city sidewalk.
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Has something been done to reduce bluetooth device power consumption? Otherwise it's going to make for a large, geeky watch.
Any watch with a screen large enough and bright enough to be useful is going to be a large, geeky watch with short battery life.
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A good smart watch needs a bluetooth handset that looks like an ordinary cell phone. You could use it for voice calls, so as not to look like "that dork talking into his Dick Tracy wrist phone".
But I suppose people talking to their wrists would at least be slightly less annoying than the bluetooth earpiece people who are indistinguishable from the mentally ill when encountered on a city sidewalk.
If you have a Bluetooth handset that looks like an ordinary cell phone, what's the point of having the phone built-in to the watch? Just use an ordinary cell phone to make your calls instead of using Bluetooth handset that looks like an ordinary cell phone.
How about a SPY WATCH? (Score:4, Insightful)
How about some James Bond-esc features, like a: laser cutter, knife, garrote wire, etc. ??
^_^
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzRBtToSarE [youtube.com]
Features for watch (Score:2)
I want my Dick Tracy watch (Score:3, Insightful)
I want a souped up Dick Tracy [wikipedia.org] watch... with not just a speaker, but video... like this [pcmag.com]
The ability to run any app you want (Score:2)
What would the killer feature of a "smart watch" be? That depends on who's using it. So the ultimate killer feature would be the ability to use any app from any source, without restriction. That way each person would find their own killer app.
I think we all know the iWatch, if it ever exists, won't do that.
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Of course, no other device does this now, so you're kind putting a high bar for Apple.
Would a Microsoft phone/watch/OS run stuff from Android, Apple, mainframes and the old Amiga? All without restriction? Would an Android watch let you run Windows and iOS apps? You could wait for the Linux watch, but it would be hard to find drivers for i
erm... (Score:2)
I think he was referring to jailbreaking / walled garden / etc.
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A battery that doesn't suck. (Score:5, Insightful)
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I haven't taken my watch off in about 6 years with the exception of airport security checkpoints.
Anywhere else I'd assume it's waterproof so you shower with it, here on slashdot I'm not so sure...
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All GPS-tracking watches that I've seen today have a battery life of about one day. So daily charging won't be new for a watch.
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Ideally they'll integrate a kinetic charger [npowerpeg.com] in the device.
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Options... (Score:2)
Meh. Just have it run on blood. It could have the needles that would pierce your skin each time you put it on, and little micro pumps to suck up the blood.
Heck with all the Vampire mania going on with tweens these days it should be an instant hit. Put that sparkly faced vamphunk on it and the market will swoon.
You could of course just surgically implant it into your wrist, though upgrades might be expensive.
But for the really chronos fan, have a chip implanted directly into your brain, that using your neura
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Or gather the power from movement like an automatic quartz watch.
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Thinking too small. My body generates heat, the watch is attached to my body. Heat can be turned into energy. I want this to suck the heat from my body (much like my soul) and charge itself.
The problem is temperature differential -- you only have about 15 degrees C different between body temperature and room temperature, plus there's not much surface area to collect heat, nor much opportunity to build an effective heatsink to dissipate it. And if you go outside on a warm day or wear a jacket over your arm, then most or all of the temperature differential is gone.
You might be able to power an old-school LCD display watch with that little power, but not a smart-phone-in-a-watch.
If a smartwatch is like a smartphone... (Score:2)
It will stream videos, play music, have Angry Birds and have a great newsreader; but won't excel at it's primary task which, in this case, is keeping decent time.
Has to last longer than a smartphone (Score:3)
If I have to charge a watch every day, I'm not going to be using one.
I stopped wearing a watch when I started carrying a cellphone, so I'm not 100% sure I'd use one of these smart watches anyway - but I must admit some of the ideas I occasionally hear floating around this idea do intrigue me. However the existing smart watches don't impress me at all - not really enough bang for the buck.
Time travel (Score:2)
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I already travel through time. A way to stop, or at least pause for a bit, would be more impressive.
Maybe a kind of stopwatch [vimeo.com] like this? What could possibly go wrong?
eInk (Score:5, Interesting)
I think an e-Ink screen is an absolute must. You'll be looking at your watch often in broad sunlight, and with e-Ink, the screen could be on all the time and not take much power when it's idling.
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Focus on features instead of implementation. What you want is a watch that can be read in the sun and uses as little power as possible. eInk does that decently well, but it also has to refresh in a rather distracting way (which is what's kept me from supporting devices like the CST-01 on Kickstarter [kickstarter.com]). For a company as design-driven as Apple, I'd hope that they'd start with a feature and figure out how to make the technology work how they want (including inventing new technology when necessary), rather than
NTP (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean really, it is a time piece after all...
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Android... (Score:2)
..with live results of Apples shares prices dropping.
Killer app? (Score:2)
Somehow, I don't see why something that has the purpose of telling me the time would be killing anything. But I guess you could always put a tiny assault rifle in one. Or a laser beam (shark optional).
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A car? (Score:2)
A black 1982 Pontiac Trans Am.
Features that appear "Obvious" (Score:2)
Speaking as somebody who uses a lot of iDevices (work and home) including an iPod nano (6th generation) as a watch currently. Battery life is on the order of days of use as a media player, weeks to months if used just as a watch. Adding a few features like Bluetooth would be a further drain on the battery, but I'd hope a few years worth of refinements on an old design would mean that battery life would still be similar after enhancements.
An overly obvious way to make an iWatch would be to take that same i
Neurophone output? (Score:2)
A "Neurophone" [wordpress.com] is an ultrasonic transducer that uses bone conduction to present sounds to the inner ear.
How about a neurophone output?
The output could be spoken Siri-style messages, communication from the watch to the wearer would be inaudible to anyone else, there would be no need for a loudspeaker in the watch, or an earphone.
Voice interface (Score:2)
Smartwatch confirms it: keyboards are dying.
Short list (Score:2)
A functioning watch
Wifi to seamlessly resync with NTP servers
Advanced watch functions like alarm, stop watch and timer
MicroSD card reader
MP3 player
Desktop sync (through blue tooth?)
Maybe a battery cell band for increased power
headphone jack (you'll need a technique to secure the wire for joggers, exercisers, etc)
Simple notification system to receive texts, email, tweets, FB updates, etc., seriously doubt sending capability will work
Lose all the extended functionality like web browsing unless you plan on pim
geiger counter (Score:2)
It's not standalone (Score:5, Insightful)
A smart watch only really makes sense as a convenient interface to a more powerful machine. The features important to it are therefore input and output, along with a connection to your phone. So a display, a microphone, and a button are the obvious ones. A smart watch will probably have fewer features than a non-smart watch.
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I wonder what you need to do on a plane.
Multiple devices (Score:4, Interesting)
A separate bluetooth headset should take care of the phone interaction. I would put sensors there (at very least, for pulse), as a small screeen for displaying fast information (time, weather, notifications, playlist controls, etc, and a "remote desktop" for your real phone, that could be big enough to not have it always in your hand.
Phones are getting big, maybe splitting the interaction with several separate devices could be the way (and yes, something similar to Google Glass could be in the kitchen too)
Medical uses (Score:5, Interesting)
How about a self-contained package which holds all of the wearer's medical records? (Yes, sort out the security issues first.)
How about continuous monitoring of heart rate, blood oxygenation, and temperature?
Rather than go to the doctor "with a fever", the doctor could tell if the fever was low-grade, "spiky", how long it has been going on, &c. Perhaps the specific fever character could be used to disambiguate between certain diseases. A patient could tell if the fever was only certain times of the day (allergic to something at work?) or in certain places.
Blood-oxygenation monitoring and heartrate could be used to diagnose sleep apnea, tell how much exercise the person is getting. Motion monitoring could diagnose sleep disorders.
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I was just about to post most of this... Kudos for your thoroughness...
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If the Basis band [mybasis.com] guys integrated an oximeter that would fulfil all the monitoring criteria. Mind you, they need to also provide raw data export, and clear documentation on sensitivity, error correction, and filtering used.
It seems like an almost brilliant device, ruined by failure rates, needing to be registered with an online system to get any data, a complete inability to get raw data, and no API. I'd be ordering one if I could be sure it would come in the next 6 months and I'd be able to read the data f
Nobody ever read comic books? (Score:2)
Dick Tracy had it all. [wikipedia.org]
Frankly, all I want from a watch is: the time.
sunrise alarm (Score:2)
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microUSB mass storage (Score:3)
The typical user wish list (Score:2)
It should at least play MP3s and Video. Not flash though because that would probably get too hot. It should also link up to my iTunes whenever I am near my computer and automatically sync whatever is in there to the watch. I also thing 2TB of storage isn't asking for the world, I mean c'mon this is 2013. HDMI out should be and option as well as USB3. I mean, it already does Video, we covered that, I should have a way to present that on the projector at work. USB should be available but optional so it doesn
None (Score:3)
I stopped wearing a watch over a decade ago (years before I had a mobile phone) and have never missed it. There are so many clocks around most of us there is no need for a watch.
I for one hope I won't be forced to wear one again in a world requiring them for payments.
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Phone, Music Player, Internet, Apps (Score:2)
Here is my list (Score:2)
In addition to the obvious things like GPS, Siri, blutetooth, apps, and phone call response/averting like the ability to answer a call in speaker phone mode with a tap or gesture:
1. Always-on voice control -- if the toy R2D2 robot running on double A batteries can have it, why cant a modern device (it wont consume much power, it's listening only for a specific keyword(s)).? One of the keywords can be a distress codeword that can call 911 or help and activates (GPS) tracking. Note, Always-on voice control is
Easy (Score:2)
Biometrics and business cards (Score:2)
1. Exchange business cards on contact. That would be nice.
2. Do a quick background check on people that I touch. Medical, business, personal, etc and send the result to google glasses or some other display so I can read it in real time. A disease check would be nice too.
3. Teleprompter. How convenient!
4. If I die, the watch should alarm and send the appropriate notifications.
5. Whatever a fitbit does too. Heck, it's there.
6. Complain if my phone goes out of range. Very handy.
7. Charge using my body's electr
Proximity color sensor (Score:2)
Some sort of proximity color sensor to detect the color scheme of your wardrobe and adjust the screen settings accordingly.
The new iTunes already does this with album art in album view now, it's subtle at first but pretty striking.
Who precisely is this aimed at? (Score:2)
Younger people, speaking generally, don't tend to wear watches. The logic being that you've already got other devices that can tell you the time, such as a phone.
So if it's a "smart watch" then you're duplicating a load of stuff that would be easier to do on a phone already. If it's a fashionable normal watch but with patent troll rounded edges, then why would people need one anyway?
I'm assuming it'll be something else entirely. Apple, as much as I'm not fond of them, don't really release that many complete
A lanyard or a clip (Score:2)
A lanyard or a clip or a chain
For the last 30+ years I have worked in industries where wearing a wrist watch was innconvenient due to hygiene requirements of frequent hadwashing (Meat industry, food industry, child care and now elderly care)
So I want a timepiece that hangs arounfdmy neck, or is clipped to a pocket or belt.
Being visible in the dark is also a requirement (I work night shift you insensitive clods)
An independant-of-internet-connection GPS and compass would be useful, especially in bowing or dee
Time travel (Score:2)
So when I look down at my watch and realize I am late, I can set it back a few minutes. Or if I am stuck in a meeting, I can set it ahead a few minutes.
Instantly readable display (Score:3)
The smartwatch needs to be dumb. (Score:2)
I want it to be a dumb display that my phone pushes what I want to it. Make it a 320X320 display and nothing more.
It should replace other items (Score:3)
A smart watch should replace one or more devices I'm required to carry with me, not add to the geek loadout. For instance, if it can do the things my phone currently can do, including provide hotspot for tablet or laptop, and do it well enough that my phone can stay home, then it would be a sought after item. (For me at least.) Bonus points if it has well-integrated, easy to use 2 way TV capability, as I've wanted to own a Dick Tracy watch since I was a kid. But if it's just a bluetooth appliance that talks to other devices that I also must carry, then fail.
What I suspect we will actually see is a device that interacts with your ipod and iphone and ipad and ilaptop and doesn't provide any unique capabilities or information. It'll be an alpha-geek toy of limited usefulness but supreme bragging rights. Yawn. Just another reason for me to steer clear of the Apple store on launch day.
Capacity to Find Cell Phone (Score:5, Interesting)
One of the biggest advantage of a watch, is that it is practically ALWAYS on your body.
So it should have a virtual button somewhere, to ** ring your cell phone ** for you, so that you can find it.
iFisting (Score:4, Funny)
Apple fanboi 1: take your ring off, it's scratching my bunghole!
Apple fanboi 2: I'm not wearing a ring.
Apple fanboi 1: OK, take your watch off!
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My idea of a "Smart Watch" would be one that
A) Tells the time.
B) Just big enough to see the time easily.
C) Stopwatch function.
D) Able to see it in the dark.
E) WTF? Nothing else.
Fucking Apple.
Dogs protected the lawn, then upgrade to CCTV... (Score:2)
You know, you can still buy all those things (though, calculator watches are admittedly harder to find now than pocket watches). You don't have to buy any of it if you don't want. Though, I might recommend one with a camera. If you place it right, and it can record video, you could use it as a security camera to catch those darn kids, should they get on
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I was thinking the same thing. I'm not affiliated with Pebble, but I am waiting for my watch that's supposed to be shipping mid-March.
However, as I see it, even if Apple does rip Pebble off on some of its design or feature set, it won't be able to do a lot of things Pebble will be able to due to the sole fact that it's from Apple. The guys and gals from Pebble have a lot more potential in what they will be able to accomplish with the smartwatch due to their flexibility; those at Apple will be restricted
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Or look at the MetaWatch (the guys the pebble stole their idea from)
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Stop making high tech watches. They look, act and just appear ridiculous, you look like a complete fool wearing one and you simply have no need what so ever for computing ability in your watch.
Yea, this. Plus, for every "feature" crammed in, there's one more thing to go wrong.
I like my current, 'antiquated' watch, that does one thing and does it well - tells me what time it is.
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I'm biased (waiting for my watch to come mid-March), but I'd generally agree with you with the exception of the Pebble. It's the first smartwatch that I didn't immediately think "I honestly wouldn't want to be seen wearing that thing".
I don't buy into your reasoning that since Rolex or Citizen (or the many others) aren't making smartwatches, there isn't a market for it. Those companies make watches, not smartwatches. And yes, there's a big difference. Apple, Pebble, Sony, etc. wouldn't try to compete in
Re:Small display + Siri is the key (Score:4, Funny)
" But with Siri -- especially as Siri improves -- you don't need any buttons at all."
Talk to the hand.
Great.