Why Don't We Have a Good Smartwatch?

[Mr. Pedantic]

LOL I feel bad for those who can't appreciate mechanical watches. Yes, a watch is still proper attire in 2013. Its different glancing at your wrist than turning on and swipe to unlock your phone.

These days, having Apple product is more vanity than a piece of jewelry on your wrist. I am currently in Paris right now and Parisians love their cheap luxury. I phones, cheap sushi, Longchamp...etc.

I would much rather have a proper watch than a smartwatch though.

 

[StrangerGuy]

you cant possibly be serious

Why, of course only your opinion matters, Mr Internet Tough Guy.

 

[Eug]

Here we go. Get rid of the superfluous middle man. Just wear your smartphone on your wrist. Done.

Smartlet puts your iPhone on your wrist so it's always close, but never in the way.

 

[Agent11]

We need a smart gauntlet, integrated HUD retinal optics and UI, built in taser, 2TB storage and wifi + bluetooth.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The Pebble Steel looks nicer by a lot, but still doesn't do enough.

 

[WelshBloke]

I'd agree with that other person's statement. It just gets in the way, and it can get really irritating depending on what you're doing.

i think the two of you need to take an IQ test and pray it comes up over 100

Wrist watches are specifically banned at my job because they get in the way depending on what you're doing.
I'm not sure why you took issue with Eugs point, he is absolutely correct there.

 

[poofyhairguy]

OOOOO, here you go people that care about aesthetics in a watch:


http://www.cultofmac.com/261237/martian-notifier-looks-like-smartwatch-might-actually-wear-ces-2014/

Basic functionality but actually looks like a watch.

Personally I want something that is all color screen. The concept of custom watch faces seems cool, plus I want as much wrist screen real-estate as possible.

The idea that something like a Galaxy Gear seems nerdy doesn't phase me, actually it might help in my field (remind all those old guys who pay for my services how out of touch with technology they are but I am not).

The Zwatch looks perfect and it all over Ebay for fairly cheap:

I just want something with better long-term support than some random Chinese watch.

Intel's watch looks great:

But who knows when that will be a product I can buy.

If the Galaxy Gear 2 hits and nothing better still exists I guess I will resign myself to that.

 

[s44]

All the watches so far look terrible. Especially the Pebble Steel. They still look like clunky nerd devices from the '80s, not The Future.

It's the whole square/rectangular face thing. Need curved/flexible OLED or something to use different shapes or shape combinations instead of a big fat face. The iPhone-on-arm thing actually looks better than the oversized-square-watch aesthetic.

 

[destrekor]

All the watches so far look terrible. Especially the Pebble Steel. They still look like clunky nerd devices from the '80s, not The Future.

It's the whole square/rectangular face thing. Need curved/flexible OLED or something to use different shapes or shape combinations instead of a big fat face. The iPhone-on-arm thing actually looks better than the oversized-square-watch aesthetic.

What you miss though, is the Pebble Steel does look quite a lot like SOME watches.

I've seen plenty of watches with a squared/rectangular face that seemed like a big block dominating everything, and then a standard watchband.

I'm going to follow it some, I'm rather intrigued.

Although my first totally connected/quantified-self device/system, that I have planned to purchase thanks to CES, is the Withings Aura. I've routinely been plagued by terrible mornings, and I've had some success in planning sleep and alarm times to wake up feeling wonderful. I've just never bought into the idea that simpler devices can capture enough data to truly help get you to wake up at the perfect time.
What I love about the Aura is the mat system should capture far more data than, say, a phone sitting somewhere on the bed, and that light/sound system can both hugely help put you to sleep and easily help gently wake you up, provided it does so at the right time. $300 - but that's a low price for what it could potentially do for someone like me, who because of sleep quality issues, is not always the best person in the morning, or even during the day if I'm fighting fatigue. If I feel better in the day, it'll be that much easier to cut back on caffeine too.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The Pebble Steel looks fine. Heck the regular Pebble is fine.

I was so excited when I heard "there is a new Pebble" on NPR this morning, only to be crazy disappointed when its the same watch in metal.

Pebble is by far the closest when it comes to community and vision, but a non-touchscreen design is simply a no-go.

Honestly the best case would be if someone big just freaking bought Pebble and put some resources into the hardware design. Seems like they have the best ideas but lack resources to deliver.

 

[bearxor]

The Pebble Steel looks fine. Heck the regular Pebble is fine.

I was so excited when I heard "there is a new Pebble" on NPR this morning, only to be crazy disappointed when its the same watch in metal.

Pebble is by far the closest when it comes to community and vision, but a non-touchscreen design is simply a no-go.

Honestly the best case would be if someone big just freaking bought Pebble and put some resources into the hardware design. Seems like they have the best ideas but lack resources to deliver.

I just bought a Pebble this weekend and I think you've hit the nail on the head pretty well.

I went ahead and bought because I did some research and it seems Pebble isn't very interested in incrementing the hardware platform very often. They may go 2-3 years before upgrading the internals. That was very appealing to me.

The old design is so so. It's not bad, but seems like it could be better. The Steel looks nice and, if it were only $50 more, I'd probably return the Pebble I have and wait for it. But it's not worth $100 more.

I was actually attracted to the Pebble because it WASN'T a touch screen. The buttons work well and the system is designed very intuitively around them.

And yes, the seem to need a lot more resources. Not just for software development, but for hardware production as well. They need someone to buy them and dump money in to them. I'm really anxious to see what their app store looks like when they launch 2.0 later this month.

 

[MrSquished]

You've either never worn a watch or need to look in the mirror.

i wear a watch every day and have done so for the last 20 years at least. one is a rather heavy divers watch, the other a nice light metal seiko. before that when i was younger other watches including a BabyG

they have never hindered arm movement LOLOLOL

my goodness the internet brings out the interesting ones let me tell you

 

[bearxor]

i wear a watch every day and have done so for the last 20 years at least. one is a rather heavy divers watch, the other a nice light metal seiko. before that when i was younger other watches including a BabyG

they have never hindered arm movement LOLOLOL

my goodness the internet brings out the interesting ones let me tell you

Going to the gym last night, first night wearing something, I definitely noticed that I had a watch on while lifting weights.

 

[Imp]

I'd agree with that other person's statement. It just gets in the way, and it can get really irritating depending on what you're doing.

i think the two of you need to take an IQ test and pray it comes up over 100

i wear a watch every day and have done so for the last 20 years at least. one is a rather heavy divers watch, the other a nice light metal seiko. before that when i was younger other watches including a BabyG

they have never hindered arm movement LOLOLOL

my goodness the internet brings out the interesting ones let me tell you

I agree. The internet is the place where you can insult someone for having a different opinion. And you can make all the blanket statements in the world and believe you are 100% correct...

So, aside from your attitude, you can seriously tell me that wearing a watch has "never hindered arm movement"?

What is that feeling I get then when I try to put my hand into a pocket and the wristwatch gets caught on a pocket?

What is that feeling I get when I try to reach through a narrow crevice with a device that enlarges the width of my wrist?

I'm not saying that a watch sucks outright and hurts my itty bitty arm. I'm just saying that a watch is a physical object with a length, width, and height greater than zero. When this device is affixed to my relatively smooth, and continuously sized and textured wrist, it can get in the way depending on the activity. How much it does depends on the activity and size of the watch. And I have lost a few watches as a kid because I kept taking them off when they got uncomfortable doing simple things like filing, moving boxes, reaching into my jean pockets, reaching into narrow spaces, etc.

 

[openwheel]

did I seriously just read that "wearing a watch gets in the way"? That's absurd.

There are watch heads that are ultra thin. You can put my Submarner on a military nato band and feel the lightness. There is a normal watch out there that is comfortable for any normal person. You either know your watches, or you don't.

Are you people walking around public wearing comfy pajamas? slippers? naked? Perhaps I should say these Levi 501 squeez my package too tight? I shouldn't wear jeans either? This forum cracks me up.

 

[openwheel]

also, if a watch "hinders arm movement", then you should start going to the gym daily, or stop wearing a douchey big watch that's too large for your scrawny arm.

 

[destrekor]

did I seriously just read that "wearing a watch gets in the way"? That's absurd.

There are watch heads that are ultra thin. You can put my Submarner on a military nato band and feel the lightness. There is a normal watch out there that is comfortable for any normal person. You either know your watches, or you don't.

Are you people walking around public wearing comfy pajamas? slippers? naked? Perhaps I should say these Levi 501 squeez my package too tight? I shouldn't wear jeans either? This forum cracks me up.

Believe it or not, there are plenty of things you can do with your hands and arms in which a watch WILL get in the way.

It's not about fitness or body shape/size, or even clumsiness. Some jobs just don't have that kind of tolerance - if you have to constantly stick your hands into something, it could get knocked around. Maybe it won't do anything to the work, but it could damage a nice watch. Some jobs ban watches for various business and safety reasons.

Technically, nobody in IT (at least, at the lower levels, where you're touching computer components during installation or break/fix) should be wearing a watch while working with components. I've seen numerous IT types wear watches - never paid any attention if they remove them when appropriate or if they always leave them on.

 

[openwheel]

funny, my IT guy wears a very nice Omega Seamaster Pro from early 2000s.

You know, I can't wear a hat/fedora/beanie to my morning briefings either, but that does not stop me from owning some.......and I have a full set of thick hair...

 

[poofyhairguy]

My problem with the Pebble is basically the same problem I have with the Galaxy Gear- it is so easy to imagine something better.

But while with the Gear I can imagine the hardware design being better (no camera, waterproof, use an A7 instead of a gimped A9, etc), with the Pebble I can imagine the features being better.

For example I was reading a Time article about the Pebble today and it said: "And it’ll release an update to the watches’ software which will allow you to review notifications that arrive while you weren’t looking — a feature which you’d sort of assume Pebble would have had all along, but is only now arriving."

http://techland.time.com/2014/01/06/with-its-new-steel-smartwatch-pebble-gets-classy/#ixzz2pkdZVcf9

That is the kind of stuff that kills me. I don't care if the calling people from my phone kinda sucks, it doesn't have activity tracking, or some other gee-wiz feature isn't nailed down. But if the watch doesn't get notifications from my phone and put them on my wrist without me having to do something, and better yet whitelist what notifications end up on my wrist, then it is simply not worth the entire hassle or cost to me.

Notification management is the core feature I want in the smartwatch, the killer app if you will. Everything is tied to that:

-I want a touchscreen so I can swipe away or do something else on the screen to say "ok I saw this notification go to the next one." Having to reach for the side or deal with some funky gesture to do that sucks when I can easily imagine swiping away.

-I want color so the notifications can have some sort of color scheme so I know what app they are from without wasting real estate. Black and white works, but I can easily imagine better

-I want something like vibration control or silent alarms because that again can help me determine which notification are what and is a feature I can easily imagine (heck the old Jawbone Up can do it)

etc with every obvious feature.

Hopefully someone will do it right this year, or do it wrong and cheap enough that I am willing to throw money at a stopgap (which would have happened the Pebble if the Steel version was only $50 more and used original versions fell off the map in resell price).

Are you people walking around public wearing comfy pajamas? slippers? naked? Perhaps I should say these Levi 501 squeez my package too tight? I shouldn't wear jeans either? This forum cracks me up.

You would flip if you saw what I wear out in public almost every day apparently.

 

[dawheat]

also, if a watch "hinders arm movement", then you should start going to the gym daily, or stop wearing a douchey big watch that's too large for your scrawny arm.

I don't know what others mean by 'hinders arm movement', but I've always taken my watch off when I'm at work. A good number of the other folks I work with - developers, designers, product - also either do the same or don't wear one at all b/c it's gets a bit irritating after an hour.

I have to say that after having the Gear for a couple weeks, I can't go back to my Pebble because of the screen. The e-ink display just isn't sharp, can't fit much on screen, and sometimes gets 'fuzzy' requiring you to cycle through some screens to clear it up.

On the negative side, charging the Gear every 2 days (at which point it about 35-40%) is annoying.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I still don't know why the Gear has the SoC that it does. I mean this sort of device is what an A7 was made for, and we know Samsung can make that part.

Its like Samsung is getting an Apple complex where they refuse to take lower margins on their products. They would rather charge more or ship an inferior product.

"Why actually put the correct SoC in a device that sells for less than half what our flagship phone costs?" To Samsung I guess the best they could do is leftover and already depreciated S2 parts, and every Gear owner pays for that frugalness with battery life.

I really have a feeling that if Samsung actually tries harder next time the Gear 2 will be the watch to beat.

 

[Imp]

Edit: Not worth it.

 

[Imp]

Edit: Waste of time.

 

[Imp]

also, if a watch "hinders arm movement", then you should start going to the gym daily, or stop wearing a douchey big watch that's too large for your scrawny arm.

did I seriously just read that "wearing a watch gets in the way"? That's absurd.

There are watch heads that are ultra thin. You can put my Submarner on a military nato band and feel the lightness. There is a normal watch out there that is comfortable for any normal person. You either know your watches, or you don't.

Are you people walking around public wearing comfy pajamas? slippers? naked? Perhaps I should say these Levi 501 squeez my package too tight? I shouldn't wear jeans either? This forum cracks me up.

i wear a watch every day and have done so for the last 20 years at least. one is a rather heavy divers watch, the other a nice light metal seiko. before that when i was younger other watches including a BabyG

they have never hindered arm movement LOLOLOL

my goodness the internet brings out the interesting ones let me tell you

Sorry, to beat a dead horse, but I just realized: PixelSquish and openwheel are the same person.

1. Lack of capitalization at beginning of sentences.
2. Similar descriptions and knowledge concerning watches.
3. Similar use of absolute statements.
4. Similar viewpoints, and aggressive and condescending attitude.

Whatever. Good luck with that.

 

[destrekor]

Going to the gym last night, first night wearing something, I definitely noticed that I had a watch on while lifting weights.

Oh yes - I absolutely HATE wearing a watch while doing strength training. I can run just fine with a bulky smart watch. That's the MotoACTV; would love to replace it with a better device but dammit, it's still like the only one designed for both sweat AND has internal memory and forces the entire idea of being an MP3 player.

Even a cheap digital watch, I would always take off when doing pushups, pullups, or any kind of arm lift.