Phone calls, Taptic reminders feature in latest Turlington Burns Apple Watch diary entry
Week five of Christy Turlington Burns' Apple Watch diary was posted to Apple's website on Tuesday, with the model and aspiring London Marathon finisher focusing on communications, notifications and, of course, workout tracking.
Turlington Burns says Apple Watch is not just helping as a training assistant for the upcoming London Marathon, but also plays a role in her business and social lives. Using haptic feedback, or what Apple has branded as the "Taptic Engine," Watch provides gentle taps and audible alerts to reminder her of upcoming appointments, for example.
In addition, Turlington Burns says she sometimes answers calls from her iPhone directly on her wrist. Speaking to a device strapped to your arm is hardly ideal, but she notes the feature grants freedom of mobility, letting her walk around the office while on quick calls. If a conversation goes longer than expected, she always has the option to hand it over to iPhone. Being in constant contact with an iPhone-tethered wearable also means it's more difficult to miss calls and messages.
The model calls Siri on Apple Watch "magic," explaining that she can send quick messages to her kids simply by saying, "Hey Siri." On Apple Watch, Siri can perform other operations as well, including creating events and querying Maps for turn-by-turn directions.
Apple Watch's activity tracking functions play a large role in Turlington Burns' diary entries and today's was no different. Keeping an eye on Watch's Activity Rings, especially the Move Ring, helps her complete daily fitness goals. Like a previous entry, she used the "Other" activity category to monitor cross-training sessions, a catchall mode that gives Move Ring credit for non-specific workouts like resistance training.
Finally, a tip of the cap is paid to Passbook, which let Turlington Burns go paperless on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York.
Turlington Burns says Apple Watch is not just helping as a training assistant for the upcoming London Marathon, but also plays a role in her business and social lives. Using haptic feedback, or what Apple has branded as the "Taptic Engine," Watch provides gentle taps and audible alerts to reminder her of upcoming appointments, for example.
In addition, Turlington Burns says she sometimes answers calls from her iPhone directly on her wrist. Speaking to a device strapped to your arm is hardly ideal, but she notes the feature grants freedom of mobility, letting her walk around the office while on quick calls. If a conversation goes longer than expected, she always has the option to hand it over to iPhone. Being in constant contact with an iPhone-tethered wearable also means it's more difficult to miss calls and messages.
The model calls Siri on Apple Watch "magic," explaining that she can send quick messages to her kids simply by saying, "Hey Siri." On Apple Watch, Siri can perform other operations as well, including creating events and querying Maps for turn-by-turn directions.
Apple Watch's activity tracking functions play a large role in Turlington Burns' diary entries and today's was no different. Keeping an eye on Watch's Activity Rings, especially the Move Ring, helps her complete daily fitness goals. Like a previous entry, she used the "Other" activity category to monitor cross-training sessions, a catchall mode that gives Move Ring credit for non-specific workouts like resistance training.
Finally, a tip of the cap is paid to Passbook, which let Turlington Burns go paperless on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York.
Comments
Well, I hope whatever they've done to make Siri "magic" on the watch will come to the iPhone as well.
I use Siri all the time to dictate messages hands free. But I have yet to dictate a message that I did not have to go back into an manually edit. How would you even do that on the ?Watch if Siri gets it wrong?
Since BF was banned, these threads have actually gotten tolerable. ie, there's actual insightful discussion about the topic at hand, instead of nasty attacks and responses to those attacks.
I use Siri to write messages all the time
Oh they'll come. Didn't you know Samsung is launching a round watch with 3G called 'Gear A"?
Weirdest thing I've messed around with in a while. Feels and worked a whole lot better than I thought it would. Now I got something to think about... #AppleWatch #FirstLook
Packaging for the #AppleWatch is top notch... Like every Apple product. #FirstLook
Although I don't know if it'll be as readily available for recipients without iMessage or with it turned off. I do know sending an audio message to iMessagers takes two taps in messages whereas to send to a non-iMessager requires opening voice memos, saving a recording, then sending the recording as a message. Maybe 8.3 makes it easier.
I have found that Siri gets better over time understanding what you 'meant' to say.
All of all just feels way too scripted for me, not unlike the Turlington Burns and Tim talk at the March event. Going scripted is fine for commercials, but I don't appreciate it for "diary" entries. Diary entries are spontaneous, not scripted (except in movies/TV shows, lol). Now, if they did a "Jony Ive's Thoughts on Apple Watch" (or Tim Cook's) where he would write, "Today, I want to talk about the Watch's phone functionality, Siri, the Move Ring, and Passbook", I'd be [B]totally[/B] fine with that. That would be up-front and honest about talking points, not some artificial "day in the life of..." story.
In general, I love Apple marketing. The "Misunderstood" TV commercial from the Christmas holidays of 2013 honestly had me tearing up every single time I saw it. But this Turlington Burns so-called "diary" seems like spoon-fed talking points scripted by Apple P.R. I really hope I'm wrong, but it just seems like we are being led through specific Watch functions/features in each diary entry. The "magic" Siri doesn't even talk back like it does on iPhone or iPad, but this isn't mentioned. I can also picture some American Airlines I.T. executive meeting her at the boarding gate to ensure her Watch-based boarding pass scans correctly. I just can't envision it being handled as if she were any other passenger, mainly because the Watch isn't out in mass numbers yet and is still "pre-release".
All of all just feels way too scripted for me, not unlike the Turlington Burns and Tim talk at the March event. Going scripted is fine for commercials, but I don't appreciate it for "diary" entries. Diary entries are spontaneous, not scripted (except in movies/TV shows, lol). Now, if they did a "Jony Ive's Thoughts on Apple Watch" (or Tim Cook's) where he would write, "Today, I want to talk about the Watch's phone functionality, Siri, the Move Ring, and Passbook", I'd be totally fine with that. That would be up-front and honest about talking points, not some artificial "day in the life of..." story.
I don't mind. Obviously the entire purpose of the diary is to point out specific features of the Apple Watch and how it fits in your day. Otherwise, Apple doesn't give a shit about hosting and advertising a diary by this individual. For its purposes, its fine. I enjoy reading it to get some insights into the watch and what it can do, with the assumption that there's a level of scripting involved. The Apple Watch is not as easy to advertise as previous Apple products, in terms of making a short sexy commercial. Having a longer term medium like this with ties to an actual human being is necessary.
The value lies in long term usage and versatility. And unlike people who shill for Samsung products (and hate them, not using them in real life) I get the feeling she likes the watch and enjoys wearing and using it.
The "magic" Siri doesn't even talk back like it does on iPhone or iPad, but this isn't mentioned.
Do we know that for certain? The watch does have a speaker.
I keep hearing that the Apple Watch can receive calls, but can it place calls as well? Could I say "Call John Smith", initiating the call from the Apple Watch and talking through the watch without touching my iPhone?
I've used Siri hundreds of times for functionality, dictation, and reminders. 9/10 times it works flawlessly. Greatest voice recognition on earth. Kicks the shit out of Dragon even on day 1.
I keep hearing that the Apple Watch can receive calls, but can it place calls as well? Could I say "Call John Smith", initiating the call from the Apple Watch and talking through the watch without touching my iPhone?
Doesn't the demo video on the Apple site tell you that. Seems it does.
The Guided Video on phone calls says "coming soon"
From all the videos I've seen of someone using Siri on the Apple Watch, all responses have been in text with no Siri voice response. Several tech journalists used it in the demo area at the March event and recorded their use.
Can't say I agree with your sentiments. After all, would any of us care to simply read a diary from her as she prepares for a marathon? Of course not. And likewise, would Apple expect her to write something about the Apple Watch without coaching her or even writing the script for her. This is what we want and what Apple needs. And as far as yor complaints, I'm not sure you're right about Siri. She doesn't talk when you first prompt her like most iOS devices but what happens if you ask her a question? Why would Apple limit her response to a screen of tiny text when there is a built in speaker in the Apple watch? And as far as passport, why would it be any different than when we all use passport. It's a QR code on a screen and that's it. Why would any airline have an issue with me putting my watch under the scanner instead of my phone?
Sounds like you would be fine if they just used a word other than diary.
I think you're being needlessly critical and suspicious.
I don't know why resistance training is 'other' I can only assume that it's because my arms won't be flying around so intensity can't be measured, so what's the heart rate for? I'll be disappointed if the watch can't track resistance training in some way.
Most fitness bands can not auto record resistance exercise and make you manually enter the data in.
The only one that ive seen that can auto do this is amiigo and reviews have not been that hot (not to mention that allot of people who supported the kickstarter have not received theirs)
Would be interesting if apple tried to use the watch and its connection to the phone to be able to figure out what resistance exercise you where doing but I doubt it. at least right now.