Will you strap on a Google KitKat 4.4 smartwatch this month? Android could be landing on wrists in its latest incarnation as a smartwatch in just two weeks. According to reports, Google is planning a 31 October release of its eagerly awaited wrist-computer at the same time as the release of version 4.4 of its Android operating system – KitKat. The watch is to be called Nexus, following …
That really is the point - we don't know which technology will be widely adopted. When tablets came out I just thought - meh, can't see a use for them - and how wrong was I? I didn't realise that most people don't need a "real" computer, just something to consume media on, play a few games and use as a comms tool.
Since I can't see the point of smart watches y'all might think of buying stock in any company making them ;-)
I didn't realise that most people don't need a "real" computer
Most people I know who have computing devices still have a "real" computer, either desktop or some flavour of laptop. It's just that many people now also have a tablet or smartphone for Internet or games on the go without the two hour battery life of a craptop, or the shitness of a netbook with an Atom processor running software designed around quad core i7s.
I must say, sandman, I'm pretty much with you 100%.
Be it from Apple, Samsung, Google or whoever - I just can't see the point of a smart watch.
When the first iPod was released, I saw its benefits over my little Walkman which required me to free off the cassette tapes it ate at frequent intervals, and carry umpteen cassettes with me.
When smart phones were first released - usable ones, that is, I saw the benefits and potential benefits over the limitations of my Motorola RAZR.
But I can't see the benefits of a big clunky watch which needs daily charging and appears to do not much more than act as a secondary interface to my phone.
No doubt in the future they will do all sorts of things I can't even imagine now, and prove to be the definitive solution to all the problems I currently don't even realise I've got.
Until then, I'll stick with the Seiko that best beloved bought me 16 years ago which keeps great time, looks good and only needs a new battery every three years or so (I think), and a new leather strap occasionally.
You forgot
"and perfect so people actually want to use them"
SameSung's lame attempt at a watch has been slammed as they have no-one to copy.
Just like android phones when they looked like Blackberries before the iPhone launch (prior to the launch everyone thought an iPhone would have a click wheel like an iPod).
I had an MS tablet computer given to me by work (I asked for one) after 2 weeks of trying I gave up and just used it as as a normal laptop.
iPad use it all the time :)
...is that the company that was singled out is the same one that a). created SPOT (Smart Personal Object Technology [1]), and launched watches with it 2003/4(?), and b). the Reg itself has stuff on Microsoft's (rumoured) Surface watch, posted as far back as July this year [2].
Sooo.... duh, wut?
[1] Microsoft Research came up with SPOT - it used FM radio signals to broadcast news, weather and stuff to wristwatches.
[2] http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/15/microsoft_surface_watch_spotted/
"It's something Microsoft should bear in mind as it leads up to next week's Surface launch and once again claims it is a consumer device-maker."
It IS a consumer device-maker - perhaps not a very successful one (yet) - but hey - why bother with facts when a pointless Microsoft bashing will suffice?
"The xbox was a consumer device failure..."
As of May 2013
Xbox 360 sales: 77.24 million
PS3 sales: 77.20
source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/268966/total-number-of-game-consoles-sold-worldwide-by-console-type/
far cry of PS2's 150 million of course. Stll not sure if I'd class that as a failure.
Sales of games seem strong as well trading blows with PS3 sales depending on a game.
So apart from the hardware failure on early consoles not exactly a failure.
...yes I know. Don't feed the AC troll...
Not at all:- the ubiquitous X-box was definitely a consumer device success. There's hardly a house with teenage lads (of any age) which doesn't have one.
Whether it's a commercial success is a different matter: I have no idea how much MS makes and has made from the X-box line, as 'expert' testament varies so much.
No, I'm not an avid gamer - I'm a 63 yr old Mac user who wouldn't be interested in a free X-box, but then it's not marketed at me or people like me.
It appears from what I've seen to be an excellent product of its type, and it really is rather silly to slate it just because it's got a Microsoft badge on it. Whatever you think of MS as a company is not the point, but you can't deny that the X-box is a) very successful and b) a damned good product. Sure there have been a few irritations along the way but surprise! these have usually been Marketing-led decisions which have often resulted in a little backtracking.
It's the responsibility of MS beancounters to sort out its commercial viability - and carry the can if they screwed up.
You say: One thing is for sure: the facts might be scant, but the frenetic pace of rumours demonstrates the consumers' insatiable appetite for new products.
I say Journalists and bloggers need to fill space gossip is an easy way to to it, it has no relationship to what people want.
You want a smartphone want you can get them today - but nobody is buying.
I want a smartphone that lasts for more than a day - i can get a stupidly thin one with no room for a battery.
Where's the "insatiable appetite for new products"?
Who cares whether Apple have one planned or not, the move in to wearable tech was coming again whether Apple was thinking about it or not.
Apple are good at re-inventing old tech ideas, other manufacturers think that's a good twist on an old idea but we could do better and to Apple's detriment they usually do.
So the next couple of weeks are going to go one of two ways...
1. Disappointment that the new Nexus (watch and/or phone) isn't as good as I'd hoped. (or just not released!) or ...
2. An expensive month with new toys to play with for Christmas.
I know which option I'll be rooting for :-)
I'm trucking excited about said new toys. However, I suspect like all these things its bound to be a US only affair - dare I mention chromecast and (lesser so) Google glass. And after watching the gadget show last night Rachael Riley likes g. glass and that's good enough for me ;-)
Still, me want
- Rachael Riley
- nexus watch
- Google glass
In that order ;-)
Soon the Galaxy Gear will be given away with packets of cornflakes as the realisation kicks in at Samsung that it isn't an item that people want (at least not yet) bit like when they were giving away their tablets for peanuts...
Then it is soon to be followed by the Nexus W, which will be discounted and part of a fire sale before you can say Nexus Q or Google TV....
Then in 12 months or so when the technology and the purpose is finally there someone like Apple will come along and hit that sweet spot. I'm not a fan of their phones or their tablets, but I'll admit they ensure their products have a purpose and a usability before releasing them
There, I said it....;-)
If it can monitor heart/temperature, location, movements (including tremor), and perhaps coupled with other sensors... I'd get one for the folks...
Just saying, tell the time would be nice too...
May I say I really liked the first few open minded posts! (mod up!)
P.
I was about to say the same. It's pretty obvious this is gonna be Apples "innovative" approach to their watch, a ton of sensors for the runners, cyclists, health freaks and other already Apple branded hipsters.
It's frustrating watching the rest of the corporations running around developing simple wrist extensions of there existing tech and wondering why no ones interested.
...and how it will work.
It'll be an entirely company-serving device used to measure a fanboi's heart-rate when a new iSomething is announced.
They'll use this data to figure out which products cause the most intense flutterings, and amplify marketing accordingly.
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