Well ?

[NeilHD]

I'm a huge believer in smartwatches, to the extent that I Kickstarter-backed Pebble and wear it daily.

I was really looking forward to the Apple Watch, but I'm going off the idea for a few reasons:

1 - Battery life. If it can be proven to last over 24 hours then maybe that's good enough.
2 - Not waterproof. Really worried that something as simple as washing my hands could kill it...
3 - No always-on time. Kind of defeats the purpose of a watch really.
4 - V1.0...

Some of the features seem pointless, like viewing photos. By definition I'll need my phone on me - surely it's just easier to view them on that at a decent size? Sending my heartbeat to someone else? Apple (Jony) go on about pointless features on Samsung phones... this is the ultimate pointless feature!

I'm going to wait for the reviews to come out and get some actual real-world feedback. If it's favourable I might grab a base edition whilst in the US next summer on holiday. If not, I'll upgrade my Pebble to a Steel.

 

[Julien]

I'm a huge believer in smartwatches, to the extent that I Kickstarter-backed Pebble and wear it daily.

I was really looking forward to the Apple Watch, but I'm going off the idea for a few reasons:

1 - Battery life. If it can be proven to last over 24 hours then maybe that's good enough.
2 - Not waterproof. Really worried that something as simple as washing my hands could kill it......

1 - "...We think people are going to use it so much you will end up charging it daily..." Tim Cook

2 - Already an urben legend.

 

[NeilHD]

1 - "...We think people are going to use it so much you will end up charging it daily..." Tim Cook

2 - Already an urben legend.

Daily charging is fine as long as it actually lasts the day. Up at 6am, in bed at midnight and I would expect some charge left with moderate use. If it dies at 8pm when I'm out then it is no use as a watch.

I'm not sure a publicity marketing photograph actually gives a guarantee of water-proofing. Until they come out and actually tell us specs I'm reserving judgement. IMHO if it was then they would have said already. As they haven't then it either isn't, or they are working hard to try and make it so before launch.

 

[Julien]

Daily charging is fine as long as it actually lasts the day. Up at 6am, in bed at midnight and I would expect some charge left with moderate use. If it dies at 8pm when I'm out then it is no use as a watch.

I'm not sure a publicity marketing photograph actually gives a guarantee of water-proofing. Until they come out and actually tell us specs I'm reserving judgement. IMHO if it was then they would have said already. As they haven't then it either isn't, or they are working hard to try and make it so before launch.

Cook would not imply the aWatch could give a full days of heavy use before needing a charge. Remember everything Apple says officially is held under a microscope and must be very accurate and VERY conservative to avoid future class action lawsuits.

The Picture is on Apple's Apple Watch web site right now here. The picture explicitly implies that you can safely get the aWatch wet and it will not fail. In this picture Apple is telling you it is OK to get it wet right before you decide to buy it.

Apple seems to be anticipating sells in the range 30-50 million a year. These are HUGE numbers. So if 10% failed in simple hand washing this could be 5 million aWatch fails and would be an enormous publicity problem. You can all but bet that the aWatch will be at least IPx6.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I would like one.

...If it was half as thick, had 30 days of battery, and cost 100$.

 

[fisha]

I like the smart watch genre concept, but at the moment, I think there needs to be less reliance on having the phone with me for a lot of the features.

I'd rather have independently capable watch that can on its own:

- tell the time
- remember a basic synced calendar for pre-planned alarms
- gps record/log (not necessarily display maps as such - just log where I have been)
- heart rate stuff data

Then when its connected to a phone add more features such as

- display maps based on gps position
- notifications of email/sms etc
- etc.

At the moment, its just too tied to the phone.