AppleInsider › Forums › Mac Hardware › Future Apple Hardware › iPhone nano wristwatch
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

iPhone nano wristwatch

post #1 of 7
11/2/11 at 9:01pm
Thread Starter 
So, the iPod nano is already our new wristwatch and its been out well over a year.

How far are we away from miniaturizing the iPhone so that it can be worn as a watch, allowing for cuts in certain features? What would make it worth buying and what would we cut? Well let's see, I imagine it would...

Include:
Wifi
3G
FaceTime
At least one FaceTime camera
Siri
Email
SMS
Clocks (obviously)

Exclude:
GPS
Navigation
Gaming
FM radio
Considerable disk space
VIdeo playback
Perhaps even music playback, if space is such a premium

Of course any exclusions would be for intro models, since as time goes on all could theoretically be included.

Like the Apple TV, it should have some undocumented internal flash storage to make FaceTime stream better and download text messages and such.

The crucial commercial roadblock about this device is that all message input would be through voice. Texting is by far our most popular way to communicate on mobile devices. We're at a stage where voice recognition is pretty good, perhaps even commercially viable for this sort of thing, But of course it would only be a transitional feature. This device would phase out the popularity of texting in favor of rapid FaceTime exchanges.

Texting has the advantage of privacy, but I don't see why we can't make advances in whisper voice recognition. Siri will not recognize my whisper at all. But there would always be the regular old iPhone.

Just as the iPod nano is a lighter fun device, just so the iPhone nano would be.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 7
11/2/11 at 9:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phong View Post

How far are we away from miniaturizing the iPhone so that it can be worn as a watch

I'm not stringing earbuds from my wrist to my head and I'm not going to be forced to use Bluetooth for a cell phone. Particularly since BOTH solutions require a microphone.

Quote:
allowing for cuts in certain features?

So you think this is Microsoft or something?

Quote:
What would make it worth buying

It continuing to be the iPhone as it is.

Quote:
FaceTime
At least one FaceTime camera

I don't want to be Dick Tracy.

Quote:
Email
SMS

Hooray, one word on the screen at a time!

Quote:
Just as the iPod nano is a lighter fun device, just so the iPhone nano would be.

lolno.
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
Reply
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
Reply
post #3 of 7
11/7/11 at 8:30am
iPhone nano wristwatch would be a huge seller. Apple absolutely would not be able to keep up with demand. They'd probably have to severely limit the features, but the Dick Tracy aspect of it alone will have it selling like crazy.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 7
11/7/11 at 8:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsenka View Post

limit the features selling like crazy.

Oxymoron.
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
Reply
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
Reply
post #5 of 7
11/8/11 at 7:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

Oxymoron.

It's standard procedure for Apple though, cut features and call that an innovation.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 7
11/8/11 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsenka View Post

It's standard procedure for Apple though, cut features and call that an innovation.

I see where you'd get that idea. iMovie '08, QuickTime X, Final Cut Pro X, iCloud…

Take note, though, that those are softwares, not hardware.

The last time Apple called 'feature-cutting' an innovation would have been… Hmm. MAYBE when the G4 Cube came out.

Oh, or in the portable sector when they removed the camcorder in the iPod nano 5th gen from the 6th gen, if that's your angle.

The thing is, Apple drops features based on use. Many people don't really use their optical drives anymore, so there's no built in ODD in the MacBook Air or Mac Mini. The MacBook Pro will probably be next in that list, followed by the iMac. I can even see the Mac Pro dropping both of its optical drives.

The problem with an iPhone nano is that it is forced to remove far, FAR too many features that people actually use. You might be able to squeeze a camera on there for FaceTime, but it would have to be worse quality than the current front-facing one. And who wants to look at a 1" screen? Never mind that navigation would be horrendous, typing (and therefore browsing, texting, and nearly everything else) impossible, and apps completely broken.

Sounds like someone who wants an iPhone nano really wants an iPod nano on their wrist and a dumbphone in their pocket.
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
Reply
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
Reply
post #7 of 7
11/13/11 at 2:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

I'm not stringing earbuds from my wrist to my head and I'm not going to be forced to use Bluetooth for a cell phone. Particularly since BOTH solutions require a microphone.



So you think this is Microsoft or something?



It continuing to be the iPhone as it is.



I don't want to be Dick Tracy.



Hooray, one word on the screen at a time!



lolno.

That all sounds awesome. If I had an iPhone I'd buy it. As is, I'll wait for MOTOACV to get a bit better and more interactive with Android phones, and do some of the things up there. Then I'll buy. And eventually I'll buy a Bluetooth headpiece to tie them all together. I'm waiting for them to get a bit cheaper, and also, I'm still a bit on the fence about walking around looking like a cyborg. Cool at times, at others, embarrassing or worse, looking like a prime mugging target. Then again, there are so many people on food stamps walking around with fancy Bluetooths these days, maybe I'll blend in by the time I get one.

But eventually...this is the future...wearable computing. The second I saw this in Minority Report I knew it would be here within a decade of that movie. We are well on track. Just a few years. Mark my words. Watch. Watches, earpieces, necklaces, clothing. Just watch.
"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
Reply
"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Future Apple Hardware
AppleInsider › Forums › Mac Hardware › Future Apple Hardware › iPhone nano wristwatch