Smartwatch, what problem are they trying to solve?

[Brian Stirling]

They can sell more things, and make more money.

We can stop right here -- this is the correct answer!

The smartphone market is now saturated and there's no more growth and Samsung has lost a bunch in market value because of this. So, why not try to create a new market.


Brian

 

[squarecut1]

Most new tech inventions are not about solving any problems.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

it's important that you have one for loser status

 

[sdifox]

Aimed squarely at money burning a hole in your pocket problem.

 

[Hugo Drax]

Because that's what TV and movies told us the future would be like.

I think the Moto 360 is sexy as all hell, but a 12 hour battery is a non starter.

I don't see that product doing well and providing a good return for shareholders.

 

[Hugo Drax]

I actually owned the Moto 360 for 3 days (sold it today for a nice profit, but I'll be buying it again when the metal bands come out).

It's great. I usually get a lot of notifications every day (4 email accounts, daily hangouts chats, etc.) and the watch greatly cut down on the number of times I had to take my phone out. So much so that my phone ended up lasting much longer on a single charge than before because I wasn't turning it on nearly as much. And I don't just mean a ~5% difference, my phone is usually down to 80-something% by mid day, with the M360 handling all my notifications my phone was at 97%, I never once had to take it out of my pocket the whole morning yet I still replied to various emails and texts.

The watch was especially great during driving. My phone rests in my pocket, when it usually rings I have to fish it out to see if I need to answer the call or not, with the watch I just glance at my wrist and can answer/deny with a quick swipe.

The Google Now integration was great as usual. A quick glance at my wrist and I can see the weather, commute times to work and home, a step counter and heart rate, etc. the responses to voice queries was very fast, from sending texts and email replies to looking up the weather or sports scores, I was impressed.

I completely understand some people not getting it or needing it, and that's great. Nobody is forcing you to go buy one, so continue to enjoy checking and responding to notifications as you have been. Those of us who can put these devices to use will enjoy that we have them as an option.

The question is there enough people willing to buy this product with its current limitations to make it a viable product that would satisfy investors.

 

[SAWYER]

I dont need a damn watch, my phone is always in my hand or pocket(within a seconds reach). If I did still wear a watch I wouldnt want to have to turn it on to see the time or else have it on all the time and the battery drain faster

 

[xaeniac]

It comes down to stealing more money from people that must have the latest/greatest.

 

[SAWYER]

Where does the stealing come in to play?

 

[CZroe]

Garmin tried that with a series of their gps running watches. I have one. It sucks.

My Sony Ericsson MBW-150 is awesome.

 

[Raduque]

As I've said (for about a decade now): They're doing it all wrong!

It should be a watch FIRST. It should look like a watch. It should function as a watch. The time should always be visible and you shouldn't need to perform a gesture to make it show the time.

It should have some kind of auxiliary display that can display BASIC information from your phone.

• Incoming caller's name or number
• Current song playing
• If there's no music and no call, perhaps a number of notifications waiting to be addressed.

No camera.
No smartphone-like storage.
No smartphone-like processor (only an extremely limited ASIC capable of retrieving information to display -- THAT'S ALL).
Battery life should be closer to that of a watch than that of a smartphone.

Seriously. Why don't manufacturers and CE companies get it? Now they're going all the way back to full cell phones on your wrist with a 3G data connection.
[/IMG]

Martian gets it

 

[smackababy]

The smart watch solves the problem of your money is in your pocket and it should be in <company making smart watch>'s pocket.

 

[dabuddha]

Solving the problem of people having money

 

[Phoenix86]

remember when tablets were stupid and slow to take off?

I think the smartwatch will do better than the google glass though... at least it doesn't look silly and right in your face.

Frankly I just want them to invent a better source of power because this recharging every day is a PITA.

Yes, yes I do.

Also, you want better power storage, not source. I think we're due for some battery tech in the next 5 years.

 

[dighn]

Solving the problem of people having money

Cash burning holes in your pocket is very dangerous.

 

[bradly1101]

I'm dying to see my smart watch through Google Glasses. It will let me into the fourth dimension where real nerds reside.

 

[sdifox]

Apple Watch coming! Go line up nau!

 

[Sonikku]

We need a Smartwatch so we can pretend we're James Bond.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Cmon, get with the pop culture

 

[evident]

i'll stick with my automatic watch, thanks very much

 

[smackababy]

As soon as Rolex decides to make a smart watch, I'd get one.

 

[sdifox]

knowing apple, you probably have to buy the "watch" app

 

[tesher]

I just don't get it.

 

[Hugo Drax]

The smart watch solves the problem of your money is in your pocket and it should be in <company making smart watch>'s pocket.

Looks like Apple will be very successful at it. with this new iWatch thing they announced.

 

[ultimatebob]

Wall Street doesn't seem to be impressed. Apple's stock didn't go up nearly as much as expected. I think that they were expecting $105. Instead, it's flat.