“In a lab shut off from communication with the outside world and where visitors can’t bring in a pad of paper, let alone a phone, Apple Inc. has given some companies special early access to Apple Watch,” Adam Satariano and Tim Higgins report for Bloomberg.
“Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Facebook Inc., United Continental Holdings Inc. and others have spent weeks at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, working hands-on with the smartwatch to test and fine-tune applications that will debut alongside the device next month, according to people familiar with the process, who asked not to be identified because of non-disclosure agreements,” Satariano and Higgins report.
“Apple, which will share more details about the gadget at a March 9 event, uses extreme measures to keep the work secret. Internet access is blocked inside the rooms, and no outside materials can be brought in to the labs with the test watches, a person who attended said. The companies, sometimes sharing a room, must bring in source code for their apps on a computer hard drive that can’t leave Apple’s headquarters,” Satariano and Higgins report. “To prevent information from leaking out, Apple is storing the code and sending it to the companies closer to the watch’s introduction date, the person said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The stronger the initial third-party apps, the quicker Apple Watch changes the world. We expect that these apps are getting early access to additional code beyond the current WatchKit – like Apple’s own apps.
What’s the wildest (but realistic and possible) app you can imagine for the WATCH?
My best is a Astrology/Prediction app that uses the stars & planets plus your heart rate, the time and your location on earth, to provide real-time fortune-telling.
“The next 45 minutes will be very lucky for you! Use them wisely!”
“CURRENT: Be careful, an enemy is prowling”
Lame probably, but I bet it would sell!
‘That man approaching you is going to kill you, quick better shoot him first, he may still be breathing shoot him again, no weapon on him? well I’m still convinced its hidden in his wheelchair, yes in that tank with oxygen on it… well its inflammable isn’t it’.
Yes I can see this taking off.
IOW, Stand Your Ground! Doesn’t bode well.
My prediction for the “wildest” app will be one which predicts how far down the track you are toward your DEATH.
It will be based on movement, heart rate, physical activity (or not), alcohol/drug use, length of sleep and data shipped in from other sensors and the iPhone.
I think you will die all the quicker with that one.
Perhaps a proactive, personal advice app that synthesizes a wide range of information to provide advice based on your location and your activities. For instance, if you were walking along a street in New York, you might receive a tap on the wrist alerting you to a warning that several muggings have occurred in recent weeks in the area a couple of blocks ahead of you. The context is important to the usefulness of this app, because the app would not issue that warning if you were driving, unless you pulled over and stopped, or turned off the car ignition.
Sounds like an up date to the one I outlined earlier. Seriously that could be really useful be it a warning (i.e. all Americans would not want to go to Birmingham Uk) or to provide all sorts of location related information be it as a tourist or shopping or for business. Indeed Apple has been collecting location based patents for years now and could really bring iBeacons into another level of usefulness…. or lack there of if one is bombarded with unwanted information but thats another story.
How about one that can tell you’ve fallen asleep. Then wake you with an alarm, and if that doesn’t work, ring your phone and say “Wake up !!! You have more work to do!”
Priorities first.
I like it!
And if you are moving around for too long it could say “Stop over exercising and get back to the desk!”