Apple Watch carried codename 'Gizmo,' former Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch spearheaded software

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited March 2015
With the retail launch of the Apple Watch fast approaching, tidbits on the development of the highly anticipated device continue to come to light, including the fact that former Adobe executive Kevin Lynch was responsible for software development.




While the project was in the works at Apple's secret labs in Cupertino, it was internally known by the code name "Gizmo," according to The New York Times. The news that Lynch handled the software side of the project confirms earlier rumors about his mysterious role at the company.

It was revealed in early 2013 that Lynch had taken a position at Apple. At the time, the announcement drew the ire of a number of Apple's supporters because of Lynch's connections with Adobe Flash.

In particular, Lynch had made disparaging comments about Apple's refusal to support Flash on its iOS devices while he was CTO of Adobe. Flash, of course, eventually withered and died on mobile devices, and more recently has even seen itself starting to get pushed out by YouTube.

Unsurprisingly, Lynch was joined by Jony Ive, Apple's chief designer, and Jeff Williams, the head of operations, in working on the Apple Watch leading up to its unveiling last September. The Times revealed that Apple apparently wanted to release the device sooner, but technical hurdles led to the launch being pushed back to its current April window.




And while it was in development, Apple even went as far as to encase the hardware in dummy shells intended to make the Apple Watch look like competing devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy Gear, when used in the wild. Apple has used similar approaches in the past, such as in 2010 when an iPhone 4 prototype was found at a bar with a plastic housing to make it look like an iPhone 3GS.

The report also revealed that the device will feature an unannounced function known as "Power Reserve" intended to extend battery life. According to the report, Power Reserve will cut power to non-essential functions and display only the time as the battery winds down.

Apple is expected to give the final details on the Apple Watch when it holds a media event next Monday, March 9, in San Francisco. AppleInsider will have full, live coverage of the presentation.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 70
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Yeah. I still don't understand the hiring of Lynch.
  • Reply 2 of 70

     

    I'll get the low hanging fruit before anyone else. <img class=" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />

     

    Hopefully Lynch learned his lesson.

  • Reply 3 of 70
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post



    Yeah. I still don't understand the hiring of Lynch.



    Why? I'm pretty sure he is one of the smartest engineers out there to become CTO at perhaps the world's largest software company.

     

    Making remarks that are in support of the company you work for is not always an accurate portrayal of your personal views.

     

    Apparently Tim thought he would be an asset to Apple and apparently he was correct.

  • Reply 4 of 70
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    mstone wrote: »

    Why? I'm pretty sure he is one of the smartest engineers out there to become CTO at perhaps the world's largest software company.

    Making remarks that are in support of the company you work for is not always an accurate portrayal of your personal views.

    Apparently Tim thought he would be an asset to Apple and apparently he was correct.

    Oh you can climb the managerial ladder without much knowledge of software. And flash was always shite. It never was improved.

    We'll see. ( unlike you I am not going to say this watch is a success software wise until it proves it).
  • Reply 5 of 70
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    asdasd wrote: »
    ( unlike you I am not going to say this watch is a success software wise until it proves it).

    Everything I've seen shows the Watch UI is a success. That doesn't mean the product will be a success, but from the look and feel we've seen for over half a year now I don't see how that the SW in and of itself could be a failure.
  • Reply 6 of 70
    waterrocketswaterrockets Posts: 1,231member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismY View Post





    Everything I've seen shows the Watch UI is a success. That doesn't mean the product will be a success, but from the look and feel we've seen for over half a year now I don't see how that the SW in and of itself could be a failure.

     

    Yeah, so maybe Lynch wasn't that involved after all.

  • Reply 7 of 70
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member

    This watch gets more unattractive to me the more I see it. It looks like the original watch icon from the 1984 Mac OS. 

     

  • Reply 8 of 70
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post



     And flash was always shite. It never was improved.

    Only people who were not involved in Flash say that. You've been told your talking points by the Jobs' worshipers and that is all you know.

     

    In my opinion the one thing that was wrong with Flash is that it was too powerful and too easy to use which left it vulnerable to exploit because it had access to the filesystem and because it was so easy to use, a lot of amateur designers coded some horrible applications with it. I could even argue that Flash should never have been used integrated into a web page. I sometimes wonder if it shouldn't have always been in a stand alone container, but because Apple, Microsoft, and RealPlayer, etc. were trying to control digital video, Adobe came up with a simple ubiquitous solution. Without Flash there would never have been a YouTube.

     

    In the right hands Flash is a wonderful tool that still nothing else can completely replicate. HTML5/CSS3 is coming along but it is still a long ways off and nowhere as easy or as fast to develop with. That being said, Flash never belonged on a mobile device, so in that regard Lynch was wrong, however we don't really know if he truly believed that it was appropriate for mobile or just towing the company line.

  • Reply 9 of 70
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    mac_128 wrote: »
    This watch gets more unattractive to me the more I see it. It looks like the original watch icon from the 1984 Mac OS. 

    [image]

    Someone finally proved they are clearly trolling. :drops ban hammer:
  • Reply 10 of 70
    mr omr o Posts: 1,046member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismY View Post





    Everything I've seen shows the Watch UI is a success. That doesn't mean the product will be a success, but from the look and feel we've seen for over half a year now I don't see how that the SW in and of itself could be a failure.



    I am not too keen on the bubbly home screen.

     

    Some of the interface graphics - like the beating heart or the animated emoticon - are horrible as well. I thought Apple had abandoned the skeuomorphic fad? I'd like to see it go in the next software update.

  • Reply 11 of 70
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,408member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post

     

    In my opinion the one thing that was wrong with Flash is that it was too powerful and too easy to use which left it vulnerable to exploit ....


    Yeah. That's why Adobe never were able to (or bothered to) fix it.

     

    /s

  • Reply 12 of 70
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post

     

    In my opinion the one thing that was wrong with Flash is that it was too powerful and too easy to use which left it vulnerable to exploit ....


    Yeah. That's why Adobe never were able to (or bothered to) fix it.

     

    /s




    As far as I know they fixed every security vulnerability as soon as it was exposed. Why do you think we get Apple security updates on a regular basis?

  • Reply 13 of 70
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mr O View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismY View Post





    Everything I've seen shows the Watch UI is a success. That doesn't mean the product will be a success, but from the look and feel we've seen for over half a year now I don't see how that the SW in and of itself could be a failure.



    I am not too keen on the bubbly home screen.

     

    Some of the interface graphics - like the beating heart or the animated emoticon - are horrible as well. I thought Apple had abandoned the skeuomorphic fad? I'd like to see it go in the next software update.




    The animations may be annoying, but I don't think skeuomorphic means what you think it does.

  • Reply 14 of 70
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,386member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mac_128 View Post

     

    This watch gets more unattractive to me the more I see it. It looks like the original watch icon from the 1984 Mac OS. 

     


     

    You mean it has a screen...and a band? OMG you're so right! How insightful. 

     

    Yes, it looks exactly like something that is composed to 20 pixels. Clearly, Apple's inspiration. 

  • Reply 15 of 70
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    mstone wrote: »
    Only people who were not involved in Flash say that. You've been told your talking points by the Jobs' worshipers and that is all you know.

    In my opinion the one thing that was wrong with Flash is that it was too powerful and too easy to use which left it vulnerable to exploit because it had access to the filesystem and because it was so easy to use, a lot of amateur designers coded some horrible applications with it. I could even argue that Flash should never have been used integrated into a web page. I sometimes wonder if it shouldn't have always been in a stand alone container, but because Apple, Microsoft, and RealPlayer, etc. were trying to control digital video, Adobe came up with a simple ubiquitous solution. Without Flash there would never have been a YouTube.

    In the right hands Flash is a wonderful tool that still nothing else can completely replicate. HTML5/CSS3 is coming along but it is still a long ways off and nowhere as easy or as fast to develop with. That being said, Flash never belonged on a mobile device, so in that regard Lynch was wrong, however we don't really know if he truly believed that it was appropriate for mobile or just towing the company line.

    "Jobs lover". What's this AndroidInsider 2010.

    If flash couldn't run in mobile devices - unlike that subset of OSX called iOS - it's clearly inefficient. As it is in my browser.
  • Reply 16 of 70
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Since Kevin Lynch demoed the software on stage last year I don't think it's any surprise that he's running software for the device. In fact I think it was rumored before the September event.

    I think it's really petty for people to knock Kevin Lynch because he worked for Adobe and once supported flash. From what Rene Ritche of iMore has said Lynch is well liked inside Apple and people are really impressed with him.
  • Reply 17 of 70
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post





    If flash couldn't run in mobile devices - unlike that subset of OSX called iOS - it's clearly inefficient. As it is in my browser.

    Sorry I can't comment any further because any technical topics beyond what I have already written would be way over your head.

  • Reply 18 of 70
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    mr o wrote: »
    I am not too keen on the bubbly home screen.

    1) I'm also not a fan of the look, but I think we're in the minority on that one. If there is a way to personalize the home screen UI with different button shapes I would likely change it

    2) The new Photos app icon in the 10.10.3 beta is also a circle.
    Some of the interface graphics - like the beating heart or the animated emoticon - are horrible as well.

    I don't see them as useful to me but I think they are don't well.
  • Reply 19 of 70
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Yeah, so maybe Lynch wasn't that involved after all.

    Lynch demoed the software back in September. I think it's pretty clear he's overseeing software for the device.
  • Reply 20 of 70
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    mstone wrote: »
    Sorry I can't comment any further because any technical topics beyond what I have already written would be way over your head.

    Dude I write in proper languages for a living.

    Flash is non-performant. It doesn't work even now on mobile devices because it stinks. It might be "easier to program" than CSS/HTML but it's a resource hog.
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