Showing posts with label watch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label watch. Show all posts
Friday, April 3, 2015
And One More Thing Did Apple Nail or Fail the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch Launch
On Tuesday, in a product launch that was heralded by as much hype as any major Hollywood movie release, Apple launched two updates to its iconic iPhone lineup andan all-new watch.
Are these new devices going to be successes? In the quarter that ended June 28, Applesold 35.2 million iPhones, an increase of nearly 13 percent over the same period a year earlier, and some analysts were still disappointed with this number. Its safe to assume that Apple will sell millions of the new devices as soon as they launch, but even the Transformers franchise keeps making money, and thats definitely not because each successive film has been better than the last one.
Theres a renewed sense of belief in Apple these days - after Tim Cook took over the company there years ago there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth as people declared that Apple could never survive without Steve Jobs. Whether its through the careful timing of leaks, or because of the way news cycles work, the public conversation this year has been built around the notion that were back in 2007, with Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone for the first time.
(Also see: Apple Is Back, Better Than Ever)
But when you look at the actual details of Apples new products, the announcements seem to lose a little sheen. The switch from the 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5s to the new 4.7-inch size is a big jump - even more so than the jump from 3.5 inches to 4 inches between the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. But the jump to the even bigger iPhone 6 Plus with a 5.5-inch screen is tremendous, and that device also has a correspondingly higher resolution: a full-HD 1080x1920-pixel screen.
The larger sized iPhones are a clear indication that the company is trying to play catch-up. After years of stubbornly insisting that its screens were the perfect size for human hands, Apple seems to have realised that humans have two hands and are willing to use them both to hand over money to companies selling phablets. Apples famously rigid product lines are becoming fragmented, and this shouldnt necessarily be seen as a win for the company. It does mean that Apple is willing to be more flexible than before, but it also means that its image and its trademark simplicity are being diluted.
The new sizes are the most visible changes for the phones, but internal components have also moved forward in expected ways. The camera still takes 8-megapixel photos, though theres an all-new, improved sensor at its heart. Even though Apple was able to get great results from the iPhone 5s, competitors cameras have been getting better and better too.
The much expected "iWatch", revealed finally to be the Apple Watch is also, as expected, a comprehensive health and fitness companion device. There is a lot to choose from in terms of straps and body materials, so buyers will be able to make their watch look fairly unique. So far, reactions have been mixed.
(Also see: Apple Watch Leaves Fashion World Divided)
The watch itself does not have the discreet style of the Moto 360, but instead stands out as a very obvious gadget. Couple that with possibly disappointing battery life, and the Apple Watch starts to lose a little sheen.
To give credit where it is due, though, Apple has come up with an interesting new way to interact with the device; a physical crown that can be used to scroll and zoom around the interface, which looks a lot like the crowns used to set the time on older mechanical watches. This is a fairly natural way of interacting with a wrist-worn device, and is easier than trying to perform gestures on a small screen.
Of course, the Apple Watch also comes with the famous Apple Tax - it will be priced starting at $349, making it substantially more expensive than alternatives such as the Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch, and even the Moto 360.
Unlike the iPhone in 2007, when Apple could dramatically reimagine the smartphone (and the entire computing experience), the Apple Watch will be making its debut in a market that has already had over a year to coalesce. Apple will find itself playing catch-up yet again, but this time its starting at a disadvantage in a crowded market defined by pre-existing platform loyalties, and with a variety of competitors who have already established themselves at lower price points.
We wouldnt call the launch a complete bust, and we can be certain that the new devices will sell in massive quantities. But the pundits who have stated that Tuesdays launch heralds a new Apple that is still as revolutionary as it was in 2007 might be overstating the case.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Apple is hiring fashion experts to sell the Apple Watch
The Apple Watch was introduced last September, but it was only that, a presentation, the team does not hit stores until early 2015. Everything points to a release in late February and Apple are preparing everything to make sale its new and awaited clock. The Cupertino has approached the idea of wearable or smart watch a different way to other brands. The Apple brand is clear that a watch, for more advanced or intelligent, does not cease to be a fashion. Under this idea have created a device that combines technology and design, maximum found in any Apple product, but it takes on new meaning with Apple Watch. We saw the approach to the fashion industry when Apple specialized media invited to the presentation and now 9to5mac says the company is planning to hire experts in luxury and fashion products to sell Apple Watch in Apple stores.
The Apple Watch is the most personal Apple product, the advice of your slogan. The US Company would be finalizing preparations for the arrival of your new watch stores worldwide. According to some internal documents procurement, Apple seek employees with knowledge of fashion and luxury products that advise customers to choose the model that best suits your style and needs. In addition, it is expected that much of the stores dedicated to expose the Apple Watch, with special windows to expose the product in different combinations. There is also talk that there would be some watches test subjects for a security cable, while the rest of combinations would be displayed in a special showcase. Lots of variety in the Apple Watch, but the choice of the windows would have more to do with wanting to prevent theft. There is talk that Apple Watch Edition will cost $ 5,000, a high price for a small product that we can hide in a pocket, hence place to be protected behind glass.
Within a few months we will see the changes brought the Apple Watch store network in the company on the block, but what is clear is that the product will be closely linked to the fashion industry. Watch Apple already cast on the cover of the Chinese edition of Vogue and released in the fashion week in Paris. Apple offers the device in two sizes and three different materials. In turn, each material has two finishes and there are a variety of belts. In total, you can create up to 64 combinations without straps Watch Apple Sport colors. The device features a special interface that can be operated via touch screen and digital lateral crown, a piece reminiscent of traditional clocks and allow us to move more freely through the menus.
Apple is hiring fashion experts to sell the Apple Watch
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Future Apple Watch models will reportedly pack more built in sensors
Despite the fact that the Apple Watch is yet to arrive, rumors about its successor already began circulating. According to a report by Reuters, future iterations of the wearable device will pack more sensors.
Citing people familiar with Apple’s plans, the report reveals that future iterations of the device will offer richer health features. Apple Watch is currently set to measure activity via the iPhone’s Wi-Fi and GPS.
The wearable has a built-in heart rate sensor, though its presence is hardly ground breaking. It was widely expected that Cupertino’s newest product will truly stand out with its health and fitness features, especially after Apple launched HealthKit earlier this year.
I reckon that Apple has a way to go in getting the first generation of its timepiece onto the hands of customers before thinking how to pack its successor with more sensors. We are yet to find out vital facts about the Apple Watch, headed by its battery life. The latter is currently rumored to be about a day.
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Apple Watch May Give a Boost to Wireless Charging
Apple Incs embrace of wireless charging for its new Watch may be a defining moment for a technology thats languished for years amid competing standards and consumer confusion.
Supporters of wireless charging see a future where people no longer worry about topping up their gadgets; are free from tangled power cords and low-battery warnings and where terms like "outlet" and "plugged in" will be as anachronistic as "dialling" a phone.
(Also see: Apple Watch Unveiled as Comprehensive Health and Fitness Companion)
Users seem to like the idea too: in a recent survey by technology consultancy IHS, 83 percent were interested in wireless charging; in China, the figure was 91 percent.
But, while the technology is largely there to do this, competition to set a global standard is getting in the way of delivery. Its reminiscent of the Betamax vs VHS videotape wars of three or four decades ago, or the more recent battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD for supremacy in high definition optical disc format.
For now, there are three alliances, but not much to show. Last year, fewer than 20 million phones were shipped with wireless charging built in, according to IHS - less than 2 percent of the billion smartphones shipped around the world.
"There are a lot of bees around the hive," said Omri Lachman, CEO of Humavox, an Israeli start-up with its own wireless charging technology. "Up to now weve not seen a mass aggregation of wireless charging in devices. Theres a good reason for that: three standards for the same form of technology."
While users clearly see wireless charging - where mobiles, tablets and other devices are charged by laying them on a mat or other surface - as a natural next step, some industry leaders have cautioned that having to still plug in the charging device may prove fiddly for some. "Having to create another device you have to plug into the wall is actually, for most situations, more complicated," Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller said just two years ago.
(Also see: Everything You Need to Know About the Apple Watch)
Beam me up
Maybe, but others say the wireless vision remains compelling. "Look at Star Trek," says Geoff Gordon of the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), one of the three competing alliances. "They never talk about their batteries dying on any of their devices. If you look far enough into the future were looking at a world where you dont even think about power."
But to catch on, wireless charging has to work seamlessly. That means a user can easily find a wireless charging zone and not have to worry whether their device is compatible, or properly connected or even secure from theft.
Intel Corp, a member of A4WP along with the likes of Samsung Electronics andQualcomm Inc, says wireless charging is a lot like wireless computing. Just as the world has largely ditched network cables for wireless hotspots, so we will leave chargers and cables at home as well never be far from a charging pad.
But getting there, the chipmaker argues, will require someone with its clout to set the global standard for wireless technology. "History will tell you its what it takes to get mainstream lift-off," said Intels Leighton Phillips.
Among the competing standards, A4WP uses something called magnetic resonance, while the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) - which includes tech names such as Nokia and Philips - champions its Qi standard using inductive charging, a method which is also used by the Power Matters Alliance (PMA).
They are all variations of the same technology: a coil inside the device picks up an electrical charge from a transmitter coil in the charging surface. Apple, which sits outside the alliances, appears to have used a version of induction charging in its Watch, further muddying the waters.
$8.5 billion market
Sparring in a battle for leadership in a market that IHS reckons will be worth $8.5 billion by 2018 - as the technology is incorporated into devices, furniture, cars, restaurants - the alliances fling accusations at one another.
The WPC accuses its rivals of trying "to benefit from intellectual property they think they own," in the words of WPC vice president for market development John Perzow, instead of "what benefits the consumer."
The WPCs Qi brand is the only one to have made any real headway on the market, doubling its annual shipments to 20 million devices last year. The PMA has a couple of products out, while the first devices carrying the A4WPs Rezence brand are expected to be shipped this year.
A4WP supporters say the WPC has had its chance and blown it. "Very quickly the momentum behind A4WP will dwarf anything that Qi has accomplished," says Alex Gruzen, CEO of U.S.-based WiTricity.
The PMA, meanwhile, has focused less on the hardware and more on the application programming interface that would allow others to connect to it. Its main backers are companies like Procter & Gamble and Starbucks Corp , which promises to roll out charging surfaces in its U.S. outlets by the end of next year.
The groups all agree on one thing: squabbling over standards has kept smartphone manufacturers, furniture designers and car makers from building wireless charging technology into their products as much as they might if the technologys future were clearer.
The Jeep Cherokee , for example, includes a wireless charging pad, and Cadillac has announced plans to add wireless charging in 2015 models - but drivers will only be able to use the feature if they have compatible phones.
There are signs of progress: the A4WP and the PMA in February agreed to ensure their two standards work well together.
But for wireless charging to take off, Intel says, it not only needs compatible devices and charging mats in homes and offices, but also a broader public infrastructure - coffee shops, hotels, malls.
"The vision we have and that Starbucks has is that it becomes part of the slipstream of your life," says Powermat president Daniel Schreiber. "How do we make power come to you rather than have you think about power?"
"Nothings happening"
There are other issues. One is that the technology still needs to be easier to use. In some cases, a device cant just be dropped anyhow onto a charging pad - it needs to be aligned or it either wont charge, or will charge more slowly.
Also, fitting charging coils into devices isnt as simple as it may sound. "Coils have a physical limitation that wont change with size," said Humavoxs Lachman. "A lot of people have been trying to fit that into the device."
"All the companies are working around the clock to figure out how to pull in that technology and make sure it works," says Pavan Pudipeddi, CEO of PowerSquare, which in July launched a charging pad using Qi which allows users to recharge multiple devices. Pudipeddi welcomed the launch of Apples Watch with wireless charging. "Others will feed off that and its good for the technology in general," he said.
Meanwhile, the dithering over an industry standard is opening up opportunities for others.
Some companies like uBeam, for example, use ultrasound, converting electricity to sound and sending that over the air as ultrasound. Others, like Humavox, use radio frequencies, where the coils are replaced by antennae.
"Our decision to build this technology from the ground up is proving the right choice," said Lachman. "Wireless charging has been out there for five years and nothings happening."
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