“Some analysts say Apple will come out with a smartwatch in March to compete in the nascent market alongside Sony, Samsung, Qualcomm and startups like Pebble,” Patrick Seitz reports for Investor’s Business Daily. “Apple’s smartwatch is rumored to have a personal health and fitness component like Nike’s FuelBand.”
“Smartwatches, fitness bands and other wearable devices are expected to be a big theme at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas,” Seitz reports. “Ten companies are exhibiting in a special CES tech zone called WristRevolution, including Qualcomm, Burg, Dennco Brands, Kronoz, MetaWatch, Neptune Computer and Cookoo-watch maker ConnecteDevice.”
“Wearable technology will gain respect as a new product category this year, but Apple will make it ‘cool,’ Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White said in a research note Friday. He said he expects Apple to launch the iWatch this year,” Seitz reports. “‘It will take a company such as Apple to launch a smartwatch that is actually ‘cool’ to wear in order to drive mass consumer adoption,’ White wrote. ‘In our view, Apple’s expansive digital matrix that seamlessly connects devices, strong balance sheet with unwavering R&D commitment, loyal user base, proven ability to deliver aesthetically pleasing products, well respected brand and strong track record of serving up a unique user experience bodes well for the company’s ability to capitalize on this new market opportunity.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Like personal computers before Macintosh, portable music players before iPod, cellphones before iPhone, and tablets before iPad, it’s déjà vu all over again.
Related articles:
Analyst: ‘Cool’ Apple iWatch to arrive this year – January 3, 2014
Apple’s iWatch suffering weak yield rates due to metal injection molded chassis issues, sources say – January 2, 2014
Apple’s ‘iWatch’ to arrive in October 2014 with wireless charging, sources say – December 13, 2013
Apple to make two iWatch models: 1.7-inch display for men, 1.3-inch for women, sources say – November 13, 2013
Jim Cramer: ‘The curtain has closed’ on Samsung’s stupidwatch – October 3, 2013
The Verge reviews Samsung’s Galaxy Gear stupidwatch: Orwellian, unintuitive, oversized, and overpriced – October 2, 2013
Jean-Louis Gassée: I hope Tim Cook had fun goading Samsung to make their Galaxy stupidwatch – September 9, 2013
Stupidwatch: Why Samsung’s Galaxy Gear is a flop – September 5, 2013
Samsung Galaxy Gear watch looks rushed, misses the mark – September 4, 2013
The Galaxy Gear stupidwatch: Without Apple to copy, Samsung is clueless – September 4, 2013
Samsung announces ‘Galaxy Gear’ watch accessory for Galaxy Android devices – September 4, 2013
There will be no Apple watch.
orly?
Too true.
I agree. Well, truth to tell, I really do not want Apple to come out with any kind of watch. Seriously, as I can’t see the need for it, or the real desire. And, also, I can’t get that ridiculous Samesong commercial out of my mind….
That’s what people said about tablet computers before the iPad. That’s what Steve Balmer said about the iPhone.
When rumors of the iPod (an mp3 player) were around, I said, oh, ok, let’s see what Apple does with this, and at the time I had no idea what an mp3 was. When the iPhone rumors abounded, I said, hmm, let’s see what Apple does with this, while my V70 Motorola sat in my pocket. When the iPad was being bandied about I said, hmm, Apple took it out of the park with their music business, and changed the world with their phone, I bet they re-define ‘tablet’ too, all too aware that tablets _then_ were more than useless windoze abominations. I just can’t get the same sort of ‘let’s see’ attitude up about an iWatch. Sorry.
re “I can’t see the need for it, or the real desire.”
I’d love to have an iWatch.
– I’m on an hour’s drive to a meeting. Is this the client phoning me to cancel,or something that can wait.
– I’m on a long bike ride. Is it my family with something urgent, or something that can wait.
– I’m snowboarding. I take a call or a message with great convenience.
And all those times not needing to take the phone out of my pocket to check who is calling and – extra bonus on top of all the functionality – just to tell the time.
Unless this watch has some killer capability that none of the other “smartwatches” have, I don’t want it. I don’t want an iWatch and an iPhone. Hopefully, Apple isn’t expecting you to have a clutter of devices (oh wait, that’s the way it is with the new Mac Pro).
Lots of folks seem to be sitting in the Apple CEOs chair here. They’ve spent millions already on the patent, trademarking and even hired the top lady to make it marketable and sexy . Naaaaah, they ain’t gonna make no stupid watch! Naaaah, hell no!
I’m still hoping that the iWatch is nothing but bait for the other companies to take and waste their resources on, while Apple reinvents the TV market with the a better Apple TV Box. Because I’llwatch that.
Right that’s decided then the great unwashed have decided that there won’t be an iWatch. Are you listening Apple? If so get that Quadra rebooted cos that’s what we would have had if you listened to them back then or before the iPod, iPhone and iPad for that matter
IWrist ?
Yep, I tend to lean towards that.
I was wondering… What would a smart watch do?? The same functions or a subset of what a smart phone do??
What could a smart watch do that would add real value/benefit to what we already have in an iPhone??
[More] Convenience or [ultra/extra] portability??
Ability to look at the weather forecast?? Which would require some sort of data connectivity?
I’d like to know what.
Other than the extra convenience and portability I fail to see the benefit of an Apple iWatch.
The “stupid watch” is so appropriate. A screen too small for practical use, minuscule battery life, lack useable storage, no hope of manual control and no indication that Siri has the capacity to operate the device solely by voice control. The owner of any wrist-worn digital futility would be more stupid than the idiots that market such a worthless device.
While I do agree with the MDN take….there is one thing that worries me though…NO *major* NEW product has been released after Steve Jobs.
Steve is basically the father of all the products MDN mentioned and Apple needs to show that they can produce similar state-of-the-art-hi-tech products WITHOUT SJ’s leadership and supervision.
For now, the jury is still out on new post-Steve products…
Steve was like…Apple Watch?!
Not on my watch.
Too
Soon. Poor taste. Good thing this is an environment where everyone likes me.
Major products take a long time. The iPhone and iPad were under development for years. And even when the iPhone debuted it was just *barely* capable of doing what it did. It’s just that everything else was so crappy (in retrospect) that it didn’t matter.
A major product needs a lot of things to be right – it needs to solve problems people didn’t know they had or at least in ways people didn’t anticipate (else it wouldn’t be “major”), and it needs the right external conditions. It ain’t easy.
Clear, logical, lucid understanding of the situation, very refreshing to read.
“And even when the iPhone debuted it was just *barely* capable of doing what it did.”
uh, no.
botvinnik – I never cease to be amazed by how you blow people off on this forum without offering even the least shred of evidence. In this case, Sharon is absolutely right: iPhone – actually the first couple generations of iPhone -used under-clocked Samsung ARM CPUs that were barely up to the task of running the OS. Apple carefully limited the range of things the iPhone could do until better processors and a more refined OS allowed those functions to operate with speed and elegance. And that is not an opinion – it’s a clear fact. But given your previous obtuse behavior, I’m sure that won’t keep you from disagreeing with it.
unlike yourself, I purchased the first iPhone. So consider yourself “blown-off” also.
…in related news, the new Mac Pro is faster than the ][.
Actually, on launch day in June 2007 I stood in line to buy my first iPhone, and then a couple weeks later bought a second one with more memory. About nine months later, a problem with the second iPhone caused its replacement with a third one. So, actually, I owned three first-gen iPhones. I also had a 3GS.
Let me add that your conduct on this site is juvenile and adds nothing to its substance.
actually, I don’t really care what you “add.” I still submit that the original iPhone did not “barely” do what it was advertised to do. In fact, it was a miraculous leap forward in mobile telephonics.
@ Botvinnik – Hahahahah…yes that great leap to 2G. How miraculous indeed.
No need to blow me off cos I don’t care either…unless you really want to blow me off…and are cute.
“It’s hard to overstate the gamble Jobs took when he decided to unveil the iPhone back in January 2007. Not only was he introducing a new kind of phone — something Apple had never made before — he was doing so with a prototype that barely worked. “
uh, yes.
Yes but putting out products for the sake of it in panic would be so much worse.
if you had invented the basic working form factor to a whole new world of devices, would you change it ,start over and start again ? Apple will refine the form but not reinvent it . if they were making tires that would not go to square tires but you can’t say the radial” is not different enough” because the inventor of the round one died.
They wouldn’t make square tires, they would make triangular ones . . . one less bump as they turn.
Where the rubber meets the road, Apple would indeed place a high value on customer comfort. They are, however, best known for providing a satisfactory overall user experience, meaning they seek a sweet balance of all the operating factors.
In this case they might start with counting the bumps associated with each (presumably equilateral) polygon and measuring their severity, perhaps defining a comfort index that is a function of both and minimises what automotive engineers call ‘jerk’ (the rate of change of acceleration).
The range of normally encountered road conditions would need to be addressed through a consideration of the coefficients of sliding friction (0.5 – 0.8 for asphalt, 0.6 – 0.85 for concrete, dry). The torque delivered through the selected axis of rotation needs to exceed the static friction. The fewer sides to the polygon, the larger the contact area and thus the force to overcome, just to get moving. Stopping on a dime would be no problem on a dry road; on a wet one, you’d probably wish you had sprung for that marine gyro stabiliser the car salesman was pushing.
It is apparent that this research has already been performed, with the conclusion that the n-gon improves its balance of forces with increasing n. In fact, this example serves as the very opposite of planned obsolescence — the more this polygonal wheel is used, the more worn it gets, the better it rolls, and approaches a circle, the optimum. Just so: these old, worn, plaid slippers fit perfectly and keep my feet toasty warm and snuggly. (stretches, yawns, switches off lamp)
Hi Larry,
Us.
Very entertaining and informative. I had no idea you knew so much. You are not just a pretty pen.
Simply a lark, playing off your smart but absurd comment. I had two years in engineering school before moving to health care. Am a bit rusty, I suppose. See you in Las Vegas?
As Bill Clinton would say, “it depends on what the meaning of Major and New is.”
The new Mac Pro is quite radical, an extremely NEW design that no one else can even come close to duplicating for the same price. Major performance enhancements for the video processing troops. It is getting rave reviews from the heavy duty users that need the extra performance.
Granted, it is not for the average self proclaimed “power user” but it is one hell of a computer.
AND, I do believe it appeared during Tim’s watch!
No it doesn’t count. It is a PC and a very powerful one (today). A motherboard, CPU, RAM, storage, GPU etc. Just has ridiculous design for the sake of being small/cool/whatever (seriously what’s the point, why go out of your way to make a radical physical design when it has ZERO impact on product performance?)
And BTW that’s not true that another manufacturer could not make a similar spec PC for similar price. Stories about the amazing value of Mac Pro compare buying off-the-shelf retail priced parts to build one with equivalent specs. A manufacturer like HP, supermicro, whoever, could build their own system with identical specs for similar cost. If they can’t then there’s unfair pricing going on between AMD and Apple. Of course it wouldn’t have the cool small cylindrical design or run Mac OSX but I’m just talking about H/W specs.
It does not have ZERO impact on performance. The cylinder is cooled by a single fan at the bottom, with the heat rising and exiting at the top. This design allows a larger and much quieter fan with a lower spin rate.
Sure. And I am named after Lincoln. Way after!!!
Steve did not invent everything. He filtered out the cheap or lackluster items. He went for great. And many of the original team of inventers are still there.
1000 no’s for each yes.
If Apple does come out with a smart watch watch how fast the competition’s sales drop to nothing. Granted they’re almost nothing now and only the fools have rushed in.
AAPL was not a one-man company prior to the passing of SJ. The sentiment of some that AAPL can no longer innovate without Steve is becoming stale and tiresome.
The skepticism will not dissipate until Apple proves it can do truly revolutionary things without Steve Jobs’ guiding hand.
The skepticism is from idiots that think the world is flat.
Okay then how well were Apple doing before Steve Jobs came back to work for them? Where were all those fantastic products before he unveiled the iPod and then the iPhone etc.? None of these products would be what are without him guiding and micromanaging and basically being the product manager. I will give you that he brought all the talent on board as well, much of which is still there. But he’s not there to guide the way and do what he did to let Apple create their amazing products.
Steve jobs learned from his mistakes and came back to correct them with a vengeance that primed and implemented a solid company built in his image and DNA. The entire executive eam is seasoned and proven belying doubt of ‘most’ Apple’s core followers.
The entire executive team is seasoned and proven beyond any doubt to ‘most’ Apple’s core followers.
You conveniently use a metric that is impossible to measure (or attain) so that you can keep whining about this stuff. See you in 10 years with the same old whine and cheese.
Like I said before, I just can’t see the use of a smart watch. I would rather have an antique luxury “stupid” watch by Rolex or Omega. Especially a skeleton watch. Those have a small window that shows you the mechanisms that run the watch, all the fears and stuff. So cool. Knock your self out, because this smart watch fad will die out like the Power Glove and the Virtual Boy of the 90s…
I meant “gears” where it says fears. This joint needs an edit button.
Shamsung mistyped “f” , it should type the word “f” next to g.
YES, I should have thought of this !!
People said the same kind of things before Mac came out – and for the months after it went on sale. Then their comments were recorded for humor’s sake for posterity.
People said the same kind of things before iPod came out – and for the months after it went on sale. Then their comments were recorded for humor’s sake for posterity.
People said the same kind of things before iPhone came out – and for the months after it went on sale. Then their comments were recorded for humor’s sake for posterity.
People said the same kind of things before iPad came out – and for the months after it went on sale. Then their comments were recorded for humor’s sake for posterity.
No, that is not what I meant. We ALL knew that iPod, iPad, iPhone, etc. would all be revolutionary. This…does not give me the same feeling as the previous inventions. Fore example, a pre-iPod MP3 player was still enjoyable to use, and gave people an insight into what future MP3 players would be like. Pebble, Galaxy Gear, and others don’t inspire me in the same way. I feel they would go the way of Virtual Boy, CueCat, and Google Glass.
Certainly not “all” knew that. Each was dismissed by pundits. The iPod was famously called “lame.” The iPhone was laughed at. RIMM collapsed as a company for not taking it seriously until it was too late.
Only Steve Ballmer laughed at the iPhone — and you could tell it was a forced, nervous laugh. He knew the iPhone was big; he just had to attempt to show some confidence to his stockholders as that big headlight was coming at him in the tunnel.
I think Ballmer’s reaction was genuine (and asinine, of course).
As for some “pundits”, search for these silly headlines:
“Why the Apple phone will fail, and fail badly”
“Apple iPhone Will Fail in a Late, Defensive Move”
“Why the iPhone Will Fail”
“Apple iPhone Debut to Flop, Product to Crash in Flames”
“”Apple should pull the plug on the iPhone”
“The iPhone: Apple’s First Flop”
“We Predict the iPhone Will Bomb”
Some analysts say Apple will come out with a smartwatch in March to compete in the nascent market alongside Sony, Samsung, Qualcomm and startups like Pebble,”
COMPETE? I dont think we should use this word.
Should say “Apple will come out with a smartwatch in March to let Sony, Samsung, Qualcomm and startups like Pebble to COPY,”
Well, I just hope all this speculation turns out incorrect, just to make all of these companies look like fools for making something no one asked for. I will be throwing this in the trash bin, along with Sega 32X, Virtual Boy, and Apple’s own Pippin. (Which they rightly discontinued)
Born again, meet the troll.
So I’m a troll when I don’t agree with the concept of a smart watch? I thought the term “troll” was reserved for those who incessantly complains about how cartoony iOS 7 is, or about how Android is better than iPhone? I never said any of the above. I simply said that I just don’t care for the idea if smart watch.
Stop. Breathe in, try again , you’re just born again
Or clueless in Seattle
I’d still like to see an “iWear” product that could be attached to the wrist or lapel, worn on a chain or bracelet or wristband.
I hope it’s water proof. I had a great computer watch years ago, calculator, stopwatch. Wore it in the shower once and it was toast.
Good luck Apple, I’m sure it will be impressive.
I went swimming with my Pebble yesterday. No problem.
Yeah , I live in the Southern Hemisphere 🙂
On the money MDN.
A wearable Bluetooth interface may be compelling and have a market once Apple defines what it is. Why are people against something they haven’t seen?
Exactly.
I’M GETTING BORED WITH APPLE DOMINATING EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME FOR 10 YEARS.
Nah, just kidding. I like it. I like it a lot.
Analysts are not getting information they need from Apple fast enough, so they make it up. This is just another one of those. Just because something can be done, doesn’t mean it should be done. Analysts are setting their expectations too high, and when they don’t get what they want, down goes the stock price.
So what else is new?
Haven’t competitors learned anything yet? If you’re going to copy a competitor’s product, at least wait until the product comes out so you know what to copy and what features to add. I will not use a smartwatch (another name for an iPhone nano), it would be too small for my needs, regardless of whether the new watch will have bio-sensors on it tied to apps, etc. I guess Apple’s manufacturers leaking possible product information to the media don’t care about the Non-Disclosure Agreements they signed previously.
This might sound negative, but I am tired of invention for invention’s sake. So what if Apple may not have created anything new for the past 3 to 4 years. Would I love something new, sure…i like innovation. But to invent something, one needs to have the desire to invent it. If apple builds a watch because the public and pundits say they want it, then it’s going to probably bust. I’m not entirely against the idea of a watch, but on the surface right now it kind of sounds like a retarded piece of equipment. Apple made a watch once. it was called the nano (with added purchase of a wrist case). And they scrapped that design to go back to the old style nano. Not the best indication of whether people want an watch, but certainly a head start in finding out….this design isn’t selling.
Yet another anti-Apple troll. You just want the iWatch to fail so others can copy it and “make it better”. Aren’t you supposed to be upgrading your anti virus software so your iPhone/iPad wannabe won’t get viruses?
Read my previous comments and you will understand how i am not a troll. Jesus. I use FCPX, Logic Pro X, iPad, Garageband, iWork, Macbook Pro, Apple TV. I am a fanboy to the nth degree on most of my friends spectrum. If you read carefully what I said, I was not picking on Apple, I was picking on the people that have an idea of what apple needs to do/be.
If they come out with a watch that is itself just an adjunct
to the iPhone I’m gonna call shenanigans. If they put out
a watch that is also a phone et al by itself, that’s okay.
I don’t have room in my pocketses for an iPhone, y’see.
I’m intrigued that apple has hearing aid patents. An in-ear Siri/music/hearing aid if you need it could be a lot more interesting than a watch. And nobody will see it coming.
I wish Apple would invent a hearing aid that blocks tinnitus.
I’ve had tinnitus 24/7 since 1997, if apple could block that it be worth pretty much everything I have.
iWatch with passbook and maps integration.
Instead of taking out your wallet or your iPhone , rewards cards, airline tickets, movie tickets, ATM cards…will just pop up on the screen whenever you come close to a specific location.
Indoor GPS
It will guide you to specific areas.”Siri where’s the restroom?”
Workout assistant
Similar to fuelband, there will be an app specifically about your calories burned, etc..
Remote control for Apple TV
Its mic will be your best friend.if not, it’s going to be your magic wand.iRing?
It’s going to be a fashion statement for some reason but also people will end up using it more than the others just like how it is on the data usage.
Sounds good but if Apple doesn’t make a version with a bigger screen they will be losing 20% of their watch buyers.
That is seriously funny.
Most of you are arguing and nit-picking features of a product that doesn’t exist and yet 10 or more of these products will be unveiled at CES and I haven’t heard a single comment about those wearables.
Does Apple know anything about their competitors’ products? Or do they just ignore whatever they’re developing to focus on the only product the world ever needs?
There are other resources for Apple-related news besides this MacCentral wannabe.
Tell me Apple isn’t feeding off the energy of its competitors’ R & D. They spend, Apple makes notes. Apple spends, they copy. I wonder, did Apple begin thinking about watches after Microsoft produced SPOT?
These are all of the watches in production today.
Sony SmartWatch & SmartWatch 2
Qualcomm Toq
Pebble Watch
Wearing Digital WEDA (Slap Band)
Fossil Wrist PDA
Ruputer by Seiko
Timex Datalink
Garmin Forerunner
Sonostar Smartwatch
Martian G2G Watch
WIMM One
Motorola Motoactv
MetaWatch Strata
Agent Smartwatch
Samsung Galaxy Gear
Kreyos
GEAK Watch
i’m Watch
HOT Watch
Omate TrueSmart
Z1 Android Watch-Phone
Fashion S9110
LG GD910 (limited edition)
Hyundai MB 910
ANDROID SmartWatch™ (To be released in December 2013)
As if clueless ANALysts wasn’t bad enough, now we got clueless companies, and there will be a bunch of clueless people buying these non sense and supporting these clueless companies. Thank got for apple and the sensibility that goes with it
Clueless companies race to debut stupid watches before Apple defines the smart watch
This, of course, is an arrogant statement. No wonder there are leagues of Apple haters, if they take such statements seriously. I personally DON’T take such statements seriously. Every new product is a gamble. Samsung bet on their ‘Gear’ stupidwatch, without enough consideration for functionality and size, and lost. But it was an iteration in the market, worth at least a marker of what NOT to do. Whether Apple will even bother with this aspect of the ‘wearable’ market (seeing as Apple has already been in the ‘wearable’ market for MANY years with the iPod Shuffle) remains in the air. Whether Apple will come up with something more functional and user-friendly than that ‘Gear’ thing is, from my experience, inevitable. But I’m still not convinced they would even bother seeing as it is NOT at this time going to be any big profit niche. But I get stuff wrong and enjoy watching Apple have a lot more insight that I do.
IOW: We shall see.
Meanwhile: AnalCysts out the ears with inane rubbish to spew as-per-usual. Why they get paid for such baloney speculation is beyond my comprehension. Someone wants to read this crap, apparently. Therefore, they get paid for it. 😛
I should add that the iPod Nano was also, for one iteration, ‘wearable’.
And every Shuffle has been as well. (The first version came with a lanyard, the rest with clips.
See my comment above my previous.
Derek Currie, i clearly remember (apologies if i am incorrect by confusing you someone else) you vehemently denying apple making the iPad Mini, that proved to be big mistake on your part.
Thus my pointing out my errors. Merely human.
Derek is one of the rare ones who admits when he’s been wrong. Which is not that often IMHO.
At some point people are going to get tired of so many “gadgets.”
That point is right now, for some of us.
But if the iWatch is beautiful, transcending gadgetry and floating over into fashion territory, I would consider adding it to my wardrobe.
It’s bloody insulting to say something will only succeed when AAPL makes it cool. As if it’s simply a marketing trick. If AAPL makes a smart watch at all, it will succeed because it’s worthy of success.
Implying the former suggests that we are all shallow, no-nothing fools who wool buy anything because someone deems it to be cool. This truly is insulting.
Besides, not even Apple could make Google Glass cool.
Appealing perhaps but never cool, because the person wearing them makes everyone uncomfortable and suspicious of being recorded.
Apple has made plenty of things that never succeeded but those items that exploded in popularity all have one thing in common; a simple interface that allows anyone to get the most from the product.
MDN biased to a fault; they still carry THAT chip on their shoulder.
iWatch will enable you ‘watch’ TV in a different way. It will not be a watch.
Apple won’t make a Smartwatch. That’s low end hardware with little to no profit margin. And if they design a high end watch, would there be enough customers that would pay for a watch costing hundreds of dollars even if you could text and email with it. It’s easier to use the phone you’d already have with you. It makes no sense to me. Like the stupid SamScum commercial where the guy has a phone in the same hand that his watch is on. And instead of answering the phone, he answers the watch with the phone still in his hand. A ridiculous commercial that shows how ridiculous a product a smart watch is.
How many people believe the Moon Landing was fake? How many people believes that Lizard People (12 Million latest poll) exist? How many people thinks Elvis is alive? How many people thinks Apple Created the Mac by stealing all the ideas from XEROX?
These people are the customers Samsung has targeted for the StupidWatch market.