"Why do I need a laptop? If I really need to get some work done, I’ll just go back to my desk."
"Why do I need a cell phone? I already am paying for phones at home and work, and I can use a payphone in a pinch."
"Why do I need a smartphone? I have a cell phone, and I can grab my laptop if I want to get on the web."
"Why do I need a tablet? I have a laptop."
Typical responses by mainstream consumers whenever an innovative new technology is on the horizon.
The Apple Watch’s biggest advantage in China is deceptively simple: Few Chinese consumers laugh when Apple touts the device as a luxury item. Apple became China’s top luxury brand for 2015, outranking labels like Louis Vuitton and Gucci. More recently, Apple’s status has risen as Chinese consumers of luxury goods prioritize functionality over ostentatiousness—a taboo that China’s President Xi Jinping deplored as “unhealthy,” criticizing Chinese elites’ obsession with status symbols like Rolex watches. [...]
While Americans will compare the Apple Watch’s $349-$17,000 price tag to the cost of consumer electronics, Chinese consumers are more likely to stack it up against luxury timepieces. The worldwide median price of a luxury watch is about $10,700, according to DLG. That means the Apple Watch Sport (starting $349) and Apple Watch (starting $549) are inexpensive by comparison, while the gold and silver Apple Watch Edition models that start at $10,000 aren’t crazy purchases.
As an American, it's too easy to forget that there are other markets out there just as big as the United States. While the gold Apple Watch has been getting slammed here by the media, Tim Cook is keeping his eyes on the prize — China is a huge opportunity and a high priority for Apple.
Qualcomm is using ultrasonic waves to scan all of the ridges and wrinkles of your fingers. Why ultrasound? Qualcomm says it can do a far deeper analysis than the 2D image created by a fingerprint mashed up against a capacitive sensor. It can look beyond the grime and sweat on your fingers and even penetrate beneath the surface of your skin to identify unique 3D characteristics of your print. It’s the same biometric technology developed for government security applications, Qualcomm told me.
Qualcomm execs said the technology could also change the way fingerprint scanners are implemented on devices. Since ultrasonic waves go through glass, aluminum, steel and plastic housings of any phone, they don’t need a dedicated touch pad or button to work. In fact, depending on how it is implemented, you could conceivably touch any part of the smartphone with a finger to gain access to the phone itself. This could make it possible for smartphone makers around the world to be more creative in the way they implement two factor authentication in these devices and will go a long way towards making all smartphones more secure. In Qualcomm’s scanner, high-frequency acoustic waves penetrate the dermal layer of your skin to extract your unique print, down to the ridges on your skin and even your sweat pores. Since sound can travel through things like sweat and other elements, your daily maneuverings don’t get in the way of capturing that perfect print. In fact, condensation generated from your regular activities may actually improve the scan, making it a more reliable method than the current capacitive technology.
Assuming this works as reliably as it sounds, it looks like Qualcomm's fingerprint scanning solution is a leg up above Apple's Touch ID. Sweaty hands and dirty fingers happens a lot more often we'd like to admit, requiring you to make the extra effort to clean them before using Touch ID.
Also, because ultrasonic fingerprint scanners can be placed anywhere on the device, industrial designers will have a lot more freedom.
Here are the Apple Watch dimensions:
- 38 mm model: 38.6 x 33.3 x 10.5 mm
- 42 mm model: 42 x 35.9 x 10.5 mm
And here are some of the dimensions of popular Android Wear devices:
- Asus ZenWatch: 51 x 39.9 x 7.9 ~ 9.4 mm
- LG G Watch R: 53.6 x 46.4 x 9.7 mm
- Moto 360: 46 x 46 x 11.5 mm
- LG G Watch: 46.5 x 37.9 x 9.95 mm
- Sony SmartWatch 3: 51 x 36 x 10 mm
- Samsung Gear Live: 56.4 x 37.9 x 8.9 mm
- Huawei Watch: 42 x 42 x 11.3 mm
Since we're just beginning the Smartwatch 2.0 era and we're waiting to see if smartwatches will gain traction with the mainstream consumer, there are two important questions to ask:
If the answer to the first question isn't favorable (at least a few million), there's no point in even asking about the second one.
So when I look at the dimensions of these Android Wear 1.0 watches, the question comes up: how many women will wear a masculine-looking gadget on their wrist that is over 46 mm?
Apple, on the other hand, has designed a watch in a size suitable for women. Now, I'm not saying that all women will buy an Apple Watch, but I bet there will be a hell of a lot more women in the Apple Watch corner than the Android Wear corner.
That changes the game for messaging I think for really young people. And it's right on my wrist. It's so easy, I love it!
If I'm at a party and a guy is being super creepy, I could just double-tap it, that will be like, "Come save me, right now! Rescue me!"
Girl code taken to the next level.
As I've said before, I really do believe Digital Touch is an underrated feature that will become a fan favorite. Something like how front-facing cameras on phones were never considered revolutionary, yet people LOVE selfies and it's become a big part of our culture.
While I don't think people will buy an Apple Watch for Digital Touch, I do see people falling in love with it once they start using it.
And this won't be a feature that people will use with all their friends. Rather, it will be used with their closest friends, which is actually even more powerful.
(Note to the haters: this BuzzFeed video was NOT paid for by Apple)
When it comes to Apple announcements, there are two kinds of people:
People that have worn the Watch say that they take their phones out of their pockets far, far less than they used to. A simple tap to reply or glance on the wrist or dictation is a massively different interaction model than pulling out an iPhone, unlocking it and being pulled into its merciless vortex of attention suck.
One user told me that they nearly “stopped” using their phone during the day; they used to have it out and now they don’t, period. That’s insane when you think about how much the blue glow of smartphone screens has dominated our social interactions over the past decade.
This is exactly what I've experienced since getting my Pebble smartwatch last year. It's helped me greatly in getting me to stop fiddling with my phone when I'm out with friends while still allowing me to stay on top of urgent notifications, usually from my boss.
It really doesn't seem like much, but the time you save by not having to whip out your smartphone every time you get a notification really starts to add up. Being able to stay on top of your notifications with a half-second glance has done wonders for allowing me to live more in the moment instead of behind my iPhone.
This time and attention-saving solution is definitely not the most sexiest feature to market, but it's something that everyone will benefit from once they actually experience it.
Samsung was more focused on mentioning key words such as design, hardware, camera, and mobile payments, instead of discussing why certain things were being done or removed from the phone. This lack of clarity has been Samsung's problem for years as the company has mostly relied on offering consumers choices that other smartphone makers decided not to pursue. The problem is Apple is now selling larger screen iPhones, and Xiaomi and other local Chinese smartphone vendors are selling decent hardware at lower prices. Samsung's differentiation has disappeared. Samsung may not be at the point of utter desperation, but they certainly came off as remaining quite nervous. Samsung says they want to be first in mobile, but they show great discomfort in leading.
This. Exactly this. But built into the Apple Watch.
When Apple first announced communication as one of Apple Watch's three tent pole features, it sounded gimmicky to me. But the more I thought about it, the more I saw beauty in how well it humanizes technology.
This isn't a feature that will wow you when you read about it. This isn't something that will jump out at you when you read tech specs or feature lists. Rather, this is the kind of feature that you may very well fall in love with once you actually experience it. This is about making an emotional connection.
