Earlier this week, Apple was granted a patent (US-11571048-B1) for an Apple Watch strap release mechanism that could potentially be used with a built-in camera. This is at lest the the third camera-related Apple Watch patent seen in recent years.
First spotted by Patently Apple, the patent’s abstract and description section detail a strap with two segments and a “nest” portion. The concept was to create a quick and ergonomic way to pop the watch out of the strap.
That, in turn, could open up new ways to use the Apple Watch that aren’t limited to the wrist — like, as stated in the claims section, taking pictures with a built-in camera.
Apple was granted another patent last year simply titled “Watch having a camera.” It described a scenario where a camera was placed within the digital crown… In 2019, Apple won a patent for a rotatable camera built into the end of a strap. Notably, there’s already a third-party Apple Watch accessory called the Wristcam that functions similarly.
There are legitimate reasons why a customer might want a smartwatch camera. One of the big draws of the Apple Watch is that it enables iPhone users to spend less time on their phones — and potentially even leave it behind when running errands, going for a walk, or exercising. But who hasn’t been out and about and seen something they wanted to take a pic of to send to friends and family? Without your phone, you’d have no evidence. And, as they say, pics or it didn’t happen.
MacDailyNews Take: While in certain work situations camera are strictly verboten, we’ve often longed for an Apple Watch camera, especially while out on a run with just our Watches in scenic locales.
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Cameras are great but …
For years we have been promised a non-invasive glucose reading device from Apple somewhere in the Apple Watch environment.
Now the best we can do is get glucose readings on the watch from third-party glucose readers like Dexcom which are very expensive to purchase and maintain.
Think “planned obsolescence” …
Apple’s glucose reader could be the killer-app, if you will, for the Apple Watch given how many diabetics have passed up purchasing the watch so far (like me) but who would purchase it in droves more than what Apple has sold now.
But yeah, cameras…
Apple isn’t going to include an expensive new feature that will only appeal to a minority of new buyers. If you’ve been holding out for a glucose meter on Apple Watch you’ve wasted 8 years that could have been much enriched with Apple’s best invention since iPhone (yes, Watch is better than iPad). The killer-app is notifications and at-a-glance information, you’ve missed the boat on what this invention is even for.
I’m going with Lawrence. Blood glucose would be huge, unfortunately very difficult to implement. 10% of the US population has diabetes, 1/3 have prediabetes. They put in the EKG and O2 monitor which few people really use. Type 2 diabetes is reversible–knowing what foods push up your blood sugar would make a big difference.
I couldn’t care less
You read the headline and, I suspect, the article. Which suggests that in fact, you do very much care 🙂
Thanks…