For the former, I'm hoping the SIP being coated in resin to prevent moisture and dust from entering hopefully means the rest of the electronics not in the SIP (e.g.: display, charging unit, sensors, buttons) will also be made to resist moisture and dust so that it can achieve an IP67 rating (i.e.: dust tight and immersion up to 1 meter for 30 minutes).
For the latter, I'm hoping the S-series chip and its interconnects are being thought-out with many, many years in mind so that the physical design of the ?Watch can be used year-after-year with an updated S-series chip inside to work with it's current charging unit, sensors, display, and buttons. Perhaps even an update to some of the other components, like the sensors, if the round, ceramic changing unit (which I assume is the access point to the internals) is a standardized size. This could allow for Apple to radically change the design every year and allow those interested in the new design buying that design, or allowing those with older models have a faster system by heading to an Apple Certified Jeweler to have their S-series chip replaced.
For the former, I'm hoping the SIP being coated in resin to prevent moisture and dust from entering hopefully means the rest of the electronics not in the SIP (e.g.: display, charging unit, sensors, buttons) will also be made to resist moisture and dust so that it can achieve an IP67 rating (i.e.: dust tight and immersion up to 1 meter for 30 minutes).
For the latter, I'm hoping the S-series chip and its interconnects are being thought-out with many, many years in mind so that the physical design of the ?Watch can be used year-after-year with an updated S-series chip inside to work with it's current charging unit, sensors, display, and buttons. Perhaps even an update to some of the other components, like the sensors, if the round, ceramic changing unit (which I assume is the access point to the internals) is a standardized size. This could allow for Apple to radically change the design every year and allow those interested in the new design buying that design, or allowing those with older models have a faster system by heading to an Apple Certified Jeweler to have their S-series chip replaced.
That would change everything. And be a pleasant surprise.
Couldn't agree more. If Tesla and Qualcomm already had their breakthroughs with battery and radio miniaturization, it would be standalone next year. I see so much engineering naïvety on forums like these. It's not magic, regardless of the adjective choices during keynotes. Apple is bound by technology realities. The good news is they're pushing boundaries. Sometimes too fast, as with GTAT.
I think a key Apple Watch hurdle is Bluetooth. Latency and rate for proper music, and battery life for calls on wireless headphones. The just released Beats phones are full size and last 12 hours. Need at least that on an in-ear model.
It is about time that we review the Gear S. Although we here at Samsung Tomorrow have shared quite a bit of information on the Gear S since its official announcement, we didn’t have the chance to get up close and personal with it, until now.
At this point, it seems like I, TMAE (the most average editor), have become the official person to do the not-so-official reviews on my team. I have to say, from Galaxy K zoom and Samsung Level to Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4, I have built up quite a portfolio of unofficial reviews – and gotten to play with some really cool toys. But enough about me, let’s talk about Samsung’s 6th wearable device on the wrist.
Normally, it isn’t really my forte to talk about the specifications, but what Gear S houses definitely deserve a shout out. Now, many of you may already know this, but the Gear S features Super AMOLED display, 3G/2G network capabilities, 512MB RAM and 4GB ROM. Specification-wise, this is almost like a Galaxy S on the wrist.
Although the Gear S is a standalone device which allows you to make and receive calls (or get calls forwarded), I wanted to see how it worked for messaging. I tend to use messaging more than phone calls, so I wanted to know if the Gear S would work as a standalone device for me.
So there are two ways you can do messaging via Gear S: onscreen keyboard or S voice. As for the onscreen keyboard goes, there are 3 different types you can choose from: QWERTY, Gear QWERTY and 3 x 4.
As you can see, the typing on the 2 inch curved display is quite effective. Honestly, I cannot see myself writing a long desperate love letter with it, but it is convenient enough for quick messages such as, “let’s get food, meet me at that spot.”
The S Voice functionality recognizes your verbal expressions as well. Actually, with the S Voice, you can set various voice commands as well. At first, I felt a little awkward using voice commands, but it can be a very effective function once you get through that short awkward phase.
In terms of looks, if I’m going to wear it on my wrist, it definitely needs to be stylish, so the next thing I wanted to check out was the clock faces the Gear S offers. The Gear S offers several basic stylish clock faces. I don’t know about you guys, but the luxury looking ones are my favorite.
It is also quite easy to switch the clock faces. All you have to do is ‘tap and hold’ the clock faces, and then select a clock face that suits your style. Simple.
Talking about simple and easy, I figured I’d check out the overall UI of the Gear S… and I have to say, the UI of the Gear S is as intuitive as it gets. Overall, hit the home key to go back to your home screen, and swipe top-down to go back. You can also set what a double tap on the ‘Home Key’ will direct you to. Also when an app is running, you can swipe down from the top to go ‘back’ to the previous screen.
From the home screen, if you swipe left to right, you can check out your notifications. If you swipe right to left, you can access the widgets.
If you swipe from the bottom up, you will get access to apps. Swipe down from the top of the home screen and you can check the status of the device and access settings such as brightness – it’s just like swiping down your notification bar from a Galaxy smartphone. Note there’s also a ‘do not disturb’ feature here.
Now, if we are going to talk about apps for a wearable device, we cannot skip the health features of the Gear S. The Samsung Gear S has more useful sensors than you think. It has a pedometer, barometer, GPS, heart rate monitor and a UV sensor.
Using these sensors, the S Health app of the Gear S can come very handy for those health conscious users. You can set certain goals for your workout, then the Gear S will give you feedback and progress reports, such as Exercise weekly report. You can also set various exercise or activity types for better-customized feedback and results.
If you are looking to utilize more apps with the Gear S, various 3rd party apps such as Nike+ fitness, Facebook and The Financial Times ‘fastFT’ have been specifically designed for Gear S, and are also available either preloaded or for download on Gear Apps store via Gear Manager App.
Last but not least, the Gear S comes with Power Saving Mode, which reduces battery consumption by turning the display to black and white while still allowing for basic functionalities such as calls, messages, and notifications. Since we are talking about battery, I should kindly remind you that the battery cradle for the Gear S actually has its own 350mAh Li-ion, so you can charge the device without a power socket.
Well, I guess that is it for it the review of the Gear S. Oh wait! I forgot to mention about the design of the Gear S, but I think it is safe to assume that the look of the Gear S speaks for itself. It also feels comfortable on your wrist. Overall, as much as this may sound biased, Gear S is awesome. What do you think about the Gear S? Leave a kind comment so that you don’t hurt my feelings. Thanks!
We have no idea how upgrades will work. ?Watch is unlike anything Apple has done before. I'm highly skeptical that Apple will put a $5K price tag on the Edition watch and expect you to buy a new one every 2 years.
I'm not skeptical of that at all. Amongst the set of people that would pay $5K for a high-end watch, I would venture to say that a large fraction of them are so wealthy that they consider that amount to be "peanuts" and would continue to replace it as often as they felt the need to flaunt their top-end status.
With a design like the S1 package, this watch is beautiful inside and out.
This Apple Watch is the new iPhone folks.
Not for me. Oh, I will definitely get one, but I'll still be rockin' an iPhone of some kind indefinitely. That's because 90% of what I use the iPhone for is web surfing and email. I want a bigger screen for those things, so the watch just aint gonna cut it.
The best thing is how hard it would be to copy. None of the other companies have the brand cachet that Apple does to compete in the very high end, and they can't produce and integrated design with a great OS anytime soon. It'll likely end up like the MP3 player market, there will be the small group insisting their little Diamond Creative Zen Rio M6X3d Plus is better, while the rest of people just bought an iPod.
Good point.
I expected them to be conservative and have a target of 10 million (still a ton). That'd be over three billion in revenue at the bare minimum. Pushing that to 35 million units would be a minimum of over twelve billion...
The competition expands considerable time, energy and money to convince the public that their products are equivalent to Apple products. We know that there are significant communities of people who do believe competing products are equivalent.
Ultimately, I think this is where we'll end up. The smartphone will revert back to being for business people again. And I'm okay with that.
Jony's comment of “What was interesting is that it took centuries to find the wrist and then it didn’t go anywhere else,” Ive says. “I would argue the wrist is the right place for the technology.” is important, as I think it indicates Apple's intended direction for the future, and it's one where the iPhone becomes like the Mac, a profitable niche device. (or dies completely, like the iPod)
A cellular connected version of the Watch will probably arrive in a few years, it'll largely depend on battery life (this is probably why Apple now has teams working on in-house baseband chips).
Ben Thompson put it this way:
Alternative #3: Release a Watch that is fully functional but for cellular connectivity – This approach – the one that Apple chose – allows the hard work of UI iteration and app ecosystem development to begin in 2015. Moreover, that iteration and development will happen with the clear assumption that the Watch is a standalone device, not an accessory. Then, whenever the Watch truly is standalone, it will be a complete package: cellular connectivity, polished UI, and developed app ecosystem. It will be two years closer to Digital Hub 3.0 than Alternative #1 or #2.
The tradeoff is significant confusion in the short-term: the Watch that will be released next year is not a standalone device. It needs the iPhone for connectivity. To be clear, this is no small matter: the disconnect certainly tripped me up for a week, and if the feedback I’ve gotten is any indication, it continues to befuddle a lot of very smart people. How on earth are normal folks who don’t follow this sort of stuff for a living going to grok the idea of a standalone Watch that actually needs an iPhone?.
What I think Apple realized was that they could, in jujitsu-like fashion, use this reality to their advantage: it’s OK – not ideal, but OK – for the Watch to use the iPhone for connectivity because the iPhone is always present anyways. Apple is not asking anyone to change their behavior in order to get the full functionality of a Watch – it is entirely additive to your day-to-day experience. To put it another way, a standalone Watch that actually needs an iPhone is incongruent only from a technical perspective; from a real-life perspective it is a non-issue.
On the flip-side, in return for making technically-oriented thinkers uncomfortable, Apple gets to reap the UI and ecosystem benefits of launching today, so that when, in a few years, the cellular technology is ready, the Watch will be a fully developed product complete with a polished UI and developed app ecosystem that taken as a whole is far ahead of anything else on the market.
I'm still thinking about battery life. I already want one, but I'm not sure if I will pull the trigger on a watch I have to charge nightly...
Looking back to the iPad release, there was so much speculation about the price--could Apple keep the tablet under $1,500? Would they be able to get people to pay more than $1K for a tablet...? You know Jobs was just waiting to drop the price tag bomb on the world, but not a word got out ahead of time. I think they probably even encouraged rumors of the inflated price to throw off the competition who knew Apple was working in a tablet... SO anyone think there is a chance they have a better battery solution under their belt for the watch?
Based on it being a first gen device that brings little to the table that the iPhone, wick you have to have with the watch anyway, doesn't already do. Unless the chips are upgradable this will be obsolete within two years. What major functionality did it bring that would make one want to spend $350 and way up to buy one?
What major functionality did Chronographic Seiko Kinetic or Citizen EcoDrive bring that would make one want to spend $350 and way up to buy one?
Compared to those above which only are telling time, Apple Watch has 1000x more capabilities. Case closed.
What major functionality did Chronographic Seiko Kinetic or Citizen EcoDrive bring that would make one want to spend $350 and way up to buy one?
Compared to those above which only are telling time, Apple Watch has 1000x more capabilities. Case closed.
Dunno what you're talking about. People buy expensive watches as a status symbol. The functionality is no better than a $25 watch. Apple Watch will be bought for its functionality and that will change fairly quickly making the one you bought two or three years ago obsolete. It's the more capabilities that make it vulnerable to obsolescence. Case indeed closed
We have no idea how upgrades will work. ?Watch is unlike anything Apple has done before. I'm highly skeptical that Apple will put a $5K price tag on the Edition watch and expect you to buy a new one every 2 years.
Exactly. The intended uses for Apple Watch are what functions available currently. If its functions can satisfy users now, who cares about future software compatibility really since user intended uses won't change anyway. Someone may disagree with me on this but if he/she thinks current Apple Watch fulfills all his/her needs, then there's no reason to upgrade to future new software. Again it's "Want" vs "Need"
I've been saying this for months. It's no coincidence Apple "just happened" to release a Watch to coincide with the release of the most cumbersome, unwieldy iPhone in history! From its inception the Watch was conceived as an interface for the iPhone 6 Plus.
As an AAPL shareholder I'll be giddy beyond delight if Apple sells 30 to 40 million units upon its release but these numbers seem incomprehensible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ECats
Not too long ago there was a fight for the watch that lives in your pocket and the watch that lives on your wrist.
Dunno what you're talking about. People buy expensive watches and status symbol. The functionality is no better than a $25 watch. Apple Watch will be bought for its functionality and that will change fairly quickly making the one you bought two or three years ago obsolete. It's the more capabilities that make it vulnerable to obsolescence. Case indeed closed
No, Apple Watch will be bought for its functionality , QUALITY AND status symbol, same concept as iPhone. Obsolescence happens to every item, longer or sooner depending on its life cycle determined by innovation and technology: laptop/desktop = 5-6 years, smartphone/tablet = 3-4 years, smartwatch = 2 years maybe...People choose to live with what they need, not want. If a smart watch meets all their needs NOW, why it matters 3 years from now? Just like I bought my Mac Mini 4 years ago, and it still meets all my needs NOW and I don't need to upgrade to the latest Yosemite.
Not reall- just maybe not interested in it at this point in time. Not impressed with its functionality, battery life, and definitely not its looks- as it stands now. It's also doesnt to seem as groundbreaking as the first iPhone was- it lacks innovation as far as I'm concerned.
Comments
iPad unit sales fiscal 2010 - 7,458 (in thousands)
30 - 40 million seems an inflated expectation in my opinion despite Apple arguably having a much stronger addressable market and brand.
Sure, but in what regard?
For the former, I'm hoping the SIP being coated in resin to prevent moisture and dust from entering hopefully means the rest of the electronics not in the SIP (e.g.: display, charging unit, sensors, buttons) will also be made to resist moisture and dust so that it can achieve an IP67 rating (i.e.: dust tight and immersion up to 1 meter for 30 minutes).
For the latter, I'm hoping the S-series chip and its interconnects are being thought-out with many, many years in mind so that the physical design of the ?Watch can be used year-after-year with an updated S-series chip inside to work with it's current charging unit, sensors, display, and buttons. Perhaps even an update to some of the other components, like the sensors, if the round, ceramic changing unit (which I assume is the access point to the internals) is a standardized size. This could allow for Apple to radically change the design every year and allow those interested in the new design buying that design, or allowing those with older models have a faster system by heading to an Apple Certified Jeweler to have their S-series chip replaced.
He runs a Fortune 100 tech company.
I'm just kidding. No, he doesn't.
Some of you can't wait for this product to fail.
I haven't seen any evidence of that in this thread.
That would change everything. And be a pleasant surprise.
Not until it can be used without one.
Well... It's not ONLY magic.
Meanwhile,
SAMSUNG HAS REVIEWED THEIR OWN PRODUCT
VERDICT: IT’S GREAT
At this point, it seems like I, TMAE (the most average editor), have become the official person to do the not-so-official reviews on my team. I have to say, from Galaxy K zoom and Samsung Level to Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4, I have built up quite a portfolio of unofficial reviews – and gotten to play with some really cool toys. But enough about me, let’s talk about Samsung’s 6th wearable device on the wrist.
Normally, it isn’t really my forte to talk about the specifications, but what Gear S houses definitely deserve a shout out. Now, many of you may already know this, but the Gear S features Super AMOLED display, 3G/2G network capabilities, 512MB RAM and 4GB ROM. Specification-wise, this is almost like a Galaxy S on the wrist.
Although the Gear S is a standalone device which allows you to make and receive calls (or get calls forwarded), I wanted to see how it worked for messaging. I tend to use messaging more than phone calls, so I wanted to know if the Gear S would work as a standalone device for me.
So there are two ways you can do messaging via Gear S: onscreen keyboard or S voice. As for the onscreen keyboard goes, there are 3 different types you can choose from: QWERTY, Gear QWERTY and 3 x 4.
As you can see, the typing on the 2 inch curved display is quite effective. Honestly, I cannot see myself writing a long desperate love letter with it, but it is convenient enough for quick messages such as, “let’s get food, meet me at that spot.”
The S Voice functionality recognizes your verbal expressions as well. Actually, with the S Voice, you can set various voice commands as well. At first, I felt a little awkward using voice commands, but it can be a very effective function once you get through that short awkward phase.
In terms of looks, if I’m going to wear it on my wrist, it definitely needs to be stylish, so the next thing I wanted to check out was the clock faces the Gear S offers. The Gear S offers several basic stylish clock faces. I don’t know about you guys, but the luxury looking ones are my favorite.
It is also quite easy to switch the clock faces. All you have to do is ‘tap and hold’ the clock faces, and then select a clock face that suits your style. Simple.
Talking about simple and easy, I figured I’d check out the overall UI of the Gear S… and I have to say, the UI of the Gear S is as intuitive as it gets. Overall, hit the home key to go back to your home screen, and swipe top-down to go back. You can also set what a double tap on the ‘Home Key’ will direct you to. Also when an app is running, you can swipe down from the top to go ‘back’ to the previous screen.
From the home screen, if you swipe left to right, you can check out your notifications. If you swipe right to left, you can access the widgets.
If you swipe from the bottom up, you will get access to apps. Swipe down from the top of the home screen and you can check the status of the device and access settings such as brightness – it’s just like swiping down your notification bar from a Galaxy smartphone. Note there’s also a ‘do not disturb’ feature here.
Now, if we are going to talk about apps for a wearable device, we cannot skip the health features of the Gear S. The Samsung Gear S has more useful sensors than you think. It has a pedometer, barometer, GPS, heart rate monitor and a UV sensor.
Using these sensors, the S Health app of the Gear S can come very handy for those health conscious users. You can set certain goals for your workout, then the Gear S will give you feedback and progress reports, such as Exercise weekly report. You can also set various exercise or activity types for better-customized feedback and results.
If you are looking to utilize more apps with the Gear S, various 3rd party apps such as Nike+ fitness, Facebook and The Financial Times ‘fastFT’ have been specifically designed for Gear S, and are also available either preloaded or for download on Gear Apps store via Gear Manager App.
Last but not least, the Gear S comes with Power Saving Mode, which reduces battery consumption by turning the display to black and white while still allowing for basic functionalities such as calls, messages, and notifications. Since we are talking about battery, I should kindly remind you that the battery cradle for the Gear S actually has its own 350mAh Li-ion, so you can charge the device without a power socket.
Well, I guess that is it for it the review of the Gear S. Oh wait! I forgot to mention about the design of the Gear S, but I think it is safe to assume that the look of the Gear S speaks for itself. It also feels comfortable on your wrist. Overall, as much as this may sound biased, Gear S is awesome. What do you think about the Gear S? Leave a kind comment so that you don’t hurt my feelings. Thanks!I’m not making this up. They literally reviewed their own product.
We have no idea how upgrades will work. ?Watch is unlike anything Apple has done before. I'm highly skeptical that Apple will put a $5K price tag on the Edition watch and expect you to buy a new one every 2 years.
I'm not skeptical of that at all. Amongst the set of people that would pay $5K for a high-end watch, I would venture to say that a large fraction of them are so wealthy that they consider that amount to be "peanuts" and would continue to replace it as often as they felt the need to flaunt their top-end status.
With a design like the S1 package, this watch is beautiful inside and out.
This Apple Watch is the new iPhone folks.
Not for me. Oh, I will definitely get one, but I'll still be rockin' an iPhone of some kind indefinitely. That's because 90% of what I use the iPhone for is web surfing and email. I want a bigger screen for those things, so the watch just aint gonna cut it.
Thompson
The competition expands considerable time, energy and money to convince the public that their products are equivalent to Apple products. We know that there are significant communities of people who do believe competing products are equivalent.
I enjoyed the jujutsu reference.
Looking back to the iPad release, there was so much speculation about the price--could Apple keep the tablet under $1,500? Would they be able to get people to pay more than $1K for a tablet...?
You know Jobs was just waiting to drop the price tag bomb on the world, but not a word got out ahead of time. I think they probably even encouraged rumors of the inflated price to throw off the competition who knew Apple was working in a tablet...
SO anyone think there is a chance they have a better battery solution under their belt for the watch?
(Hey, I can dream, can't I?)
Based on it being a first gen device that brings little to the table that the iPhone, wick you have to have with the watch anyway, doesn't already do. Unless the chips are upgradable this will be obsolete within two years. What major functionality did it bring that would make one want to spend $350 and way up to buy one?
What major functionality did Chronographic Seiko Kinetic or Citizen EcoDrive bring that would make one want to spend $350 and way up to buy one?
Compared to those above which only are telling time, Apple Watch has 1000x more capabilities. Case closed.
Dunno what you're talking about. People buy expensive watches as a status symbol. The functionality is no better than a $25 watch. Apple Watch will be bought for its functionality and that will change fairly quickly making the one you bought two or three years ago obsolete. It's the more capabilities that make it vulnerable to obsolescence. Case indeed closed
We have no idea how upgrades will work. ?Watch is unlike anything Apple has done before. I'm highly skeptical that Apple will put a $5K price tag on the Edition watch and expect you to buy a new one every 2 years.
Exactly. The intended uses for Apple Watch are what functions available currently. If its functions can satisfy users now, who cares about future software compatibility really since user intended uses won't change anyway. Someone may disagree with me on this but if he/she thinks current Apple Watch fulfills all his/her needs, then there's no reason to upgrade to future new software. Again it's "Want" vs "Need"
This Apple Watch is the new iPhone folks.
I've been saying this for months. It's no coincidence Apple "just happened" to release a Watch to coincide with the release of the most cumbersome, unwieldy iPhone in history! From its inception the Watch was conceived as an interface for the iPhone 6 Plus.
As an AAPL shareholder I'll be giddy beyond delight if Apple sells 30 to 40 million units upon its release but these numbers seem incomprehensible.
Not too long ago there was a fight for the watch that lives in your pocket and the watch that lives on your wrist.
The wrist won.
Dunno what you're talking about. People buy expensive watches and status symbol. The functionality is no better than a $25 watch. Apple Watch will be bought for its functionality and that will change fairly quickly making the one you bought two or three years ago obsolete. It's the more capabilities that make it vulnerable to obsolescence. Case indeed closed
No, Apple Watch will be bought for its functionality , QUALITY AND status symbol, same concept as iPhone. Obsolescence happens to every item, longer or sooner depending on its life cycle determined by innovation and technology: laptop/desktop = 5-6 years, smartphone/tablet = 3-4 years, smartwatch = 2 years maybe...People choose to live with what they need, not want. If a smart watch meets all their needs NOW, why it matters 3 years from now? Just like I bought my Mac Mini 4 years ago, and it still meets all my needs NOW and I don't need to upgrade to the latest Yosemite.
I question the objectivity of this product review. The Gear didn't help me get the digits of that blond skier girl like the Samsung ad promised.
Not reall- just maybe not interested in it at this point in time. Not impressed with its functionality, battery life, and definitely not its looks- as it stands now. It's also doesnt to seem as groundbreaking as the first iPhone was- it lacks innovation as far as I'm concerned.