smart watch

[lodore]

I am interested in what people think about smart watches in general.
I kinda feel that smart watches are a bit pointless especially considering the price.
If smart watches become cheaper in the future I may consider getting one.
I kinda hope that more design thought goes in to smart watches. most of the current smart watches are to square and plastic for my liking.

I do wonder how often do people see the notification on their smart watch and get their phone out anyway?

the battery life doesn't seem great on most of the smart watches.

[Rookie1986]

Strangely I really like the idea of them, the current generation doesn't seem to offer an abundance of features but they have the essence of something great for the future of technology.

I'm not sure what you mean by "I kinda feel that smart watches are a bit pointless especially considering the price." Are you saying they are under-priced or overpriced? I'm guessing overpriced, which to be fair, I would have to say the exact opposite, they are as cheap as the entry level "designer" watches by brands like Hugo Boss or Diesel and offer 10x the functionality and are of a much higher build quality. I doubt we'll see a huge price drop in the near future (personally I'm expecting a slight increase as the functionality expands) but maybe in a few years we'll start to see more budget models.

I think some of the designs are a bit bulky right now but since its only new technology and they are just getting use to designing them we're sure to see some big changes in the design area as time goes on - insert "iWatch" here.

I only know two people with Smart Watches right now and both say they are good during meetings at work as its a lot less inconspicuous to quickly check a notification on their watch rather then getting their phone out but as far as replying to a message they both say if your typing anything longer then a few word reply the phone comes out. Both have said they get between 3-5 days per charge with their Samsung Watches which imo isn't too bad, just stick it on charge every night with your mobile phone and you'll be fine

Rookie

[KeyboardDemon]

I haven't really looked at what Smart watches can do because as far as I know there are no Smart watches that have been designed for use with a Windows Phone 8/8.1 handset. Once I have seen some that I can use with my Lumia 930 then I will start to investigate what they can and start thinking about whether or not I would want one.

[Saracen]

Well, personally, I haven't yet seen one the design of which I like enough to remotely consider buying. But moreover, a lot of the reasons that prevent me buying a smart phone apply even more to a smart watch.

I'd want absolute certainty about my ability to control personal data leakage from a smartphone before I'd remotely consider buying one. Ditto smartwatch.

Really, about all I want from a phone is to make and receive calls, and all I expect of a watch is that, within the realms of what's useful to me, it tells the time. Anyone seeking to sell me either has really got their work cut out for them, because personally, I struggle to see the appeal.

[kalniel]

I certainly see the appeal of a digital display watch - just as cars are finally moving over to using digital dials, so LCD technology has become good enough that we could have a digital watch face that would look as nice as analogue from certain angles, while being endlessly customisable.

But a 'smart' watch in terms of mobile phone technology? Less sold on that personally.

[peterb]

e term "Smart Watch" seems to be marketing hype. All they seem to be are remote display/interfaces to an existing phone, so to call them a watch is a bit of a misnomer. If they were truly independent devices in their own right (ie smartphones in a watch form factor) they might have some utility, but the size of the display, limitations on battery capacity, and HMI considerations makes that a pretty far off concept.

Personally prefer my watch to have hands - I can tell the time by the angle of the hands without reading tiny digits.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The fact that smartwatches cannot even last a month without recharging puts me off TBH and I already have a smartphone anyway. Not really interested in using two similar devices to do the same thing. Plus the screens are tiny and modern solar and automatic watches don't even need batteries to replace(the rechargeable ones in them last years) too. With a smartwatch the batteries will probably start wearing out within a few years,and changing the battery could compromise the water resistance of the device,especially in humid climates. That is assuming you can even replace the battery.

I have also seen the Samsung smartphone,since I know someone who owns one - seems really gimmicky but I think they received it for free.

[kalniel]

Personally prefer my watch to have hands - I can tell the time by the angle of the hands without reading tiny digits.

There's no reason these watches wouldn't have hands though. Visibility in strong light might be an issue, but technology should be able to overcome that eventually. It wouldn't look quite the same as actual 3D hands, though maybe we'll get 3D displays before too long.

[Ttaskmaster]

I am interested in what people think about smart watches in general.

Pointless piece of expensive junk and an exhibition of getting idiots to part with money... mainly for the exact reason below:

I do wonder how often do people see the notification on their smart watch and get their phone out anyway?

Precisely. It's just one more thing that needs carrying, charging and guarding against theft.
If it took the place of the phone, then I might be interested. It doesn't and so I'm not.


IMO, a 'smart' watch should be made of black plastic and have 7-segment digits on it... or lit LEDs!!

[Saracen]

Oh, one more thing. For me, a watch is about as close to jewelry as I get (other than my wedding ring which, while jewelry I suppose, isn't about jewelry but about something a tad more important to me). Anyway, as a watch is about my one concession to 'jewelry', my choice of watch, subject to a couple of prerequisites, is about being something I like the appearance of. And a slab of black plastic doesn't float my boat.

Prequisites?

First, keeps reasonably accurate time, over a long period. A few seconds out, per month? Don't care. Atomic clock accuracy? Doesn't make any difference to my usage, so don't care.

Maintenance? Not sending it off every year or two, at considerable expense, for service (like some expensive conventional watches).

"Charging", in the widest sense, including winding? The less, the better.

So .... for an everyday watch, I bought. Seiko Titanium Kinetic years ago. I like the shape, style and weight, so .... check. I correct the time about once a year, so .... check. There are no batteries to replace, and so far, no servicing/repair bills, so .... check. And "charging"? Well, movement on my wrist charges the capacitance-based 'energy store' so I never need to explicity charge/wind, never mind doing it every night. So .... check.

I'm not putting down smart watches in general. All the above are very personal judgements. But for me, I wouldn't even consider a smart watch unless it ticks all the above, AND offers me features I want, AND I'm reasured on the data privacy front.

I'm not holding my breath.

[jim]

For me, a watch isn't something I use much. I only wear it at work, and even then I often check the time on my PC / phone rather than my watch. It is effectively something that I think looks smart and present a good image.

So, would a smart watch benefit me? I doubt it. I'm quite happy pulling my phone out of my pocket to read messages or use apps.

Would it disadvantage me? I think so. My attitude is that they will never look as smart / professional as a traditional watch, and therefore the main reason for wearing a watch is gone.

I may be a minority, but that's my opinion.

[lodore]

the different opinions are quite interesting. I hardly ever wear a watch mostly because I am so used to checking the time on my phone I have often got my phone out to check the time when I have a watch on.
I do kinda miss wearing a watch and for me it is more of a fashion item than anything else. I am tempted to get a new standard watch that doesn't require a battery that needs changing.

I think that if the smart watch was actually smart and be used as the phone then maybe it would be different but atm they are more of a dumb terminal watch
Thing is how many people actually use their smart phones for phone calls? i mostly use mine for email, web browsing, a few games and maybe skype but mostly typing rather than calling someone.

[Saracen]

....
Thing is how many people actually use their smart phones for phone calls? i mostly use mine for email, web browsing, a few games and maybe skype but mostly typing rather than calling someone.

That's kinda my problem with smartphones. I've nearly bought one several times, but when push comes to shove, I ask myself when, and how often, I'd want to do that. The answer that keeps coming back, if I'm honest with myself, is "not very often". How often, when I'm out, will I need to send email, browse the web, etc.? And if I'm not out, I can do it, in FAR more comfort, on a PC, or tablet.

The one time it might be useful is when, regularly, I spend days or weeks away from home, without a net connection at all. But though it feels weird being without one, for a while, after a few days, it's actually quite relaxing. I've come to the conclusion that for most things I do online, I could actually cope without a net connection of my own, at all, and just pop into a net cafe once a week for a bit of browsing. But I'd bet there's not many forum users that would consider that. Their blood would probably run cold at the thought. But believe it or not, there is life out there for those with no internet, at all. So I'm sure I can manage without a phone-based net connection while I'm not at home.

And if I don't really even need, or particularly want, a smartphone, I'm sure it says something about my desire for a 'smart' watch. Even if a smart watch did function as a full smart phone, something screen size may well always preclude, I still wouldn't be interested, precisely because always being contactable by phone, email, Tweet, etc, is more like an anchor or a prison cell than a boon or a useful tool, as far as I'm concerned. So I'd still need a normal watch, for when I wanted to 'unplug' from being permanently contactable.

[KeyboardDemon]

@Saracen: I think you raise some interesting points with regards to Smart phones and Smart watches.

Phones first, I rely heavily on my Calender and notes, having a Smart phone means that I can enter events directly into my phone and they will be synchronised with my tablet and my PC so regardless of where I am I will know where and when my appointment is and then I can use my smart phone's satnav to help get me there. I have full access to all of my most important notes so I can track progress with each account, keep an eye on my personal finances, keep up with my friends on Hexus, keep track of family events with WhatsApp, or my professional circles with LinkedIn, and now that I can view it on my Smart phone I even post the occasional update on Facebook or at the very least get reminders when friends and family celebrate their birthdays. I can use Viber to call relatives abroad for free, check weather, train and flight information in advance on occasions when either I need to travel or have friends landing to visit plus I like to play games on it from time to time. My Smart phone has helped me become a lot more productive by simply reducing the need to duplicate work, particularly when it comes to managing my diary, I used to have a small A5 diary to carry with me and an A4 diary on my desk and that meant I had to make sure both diaries were up to date with each other, now I have access to my diary through my phone, tablet, desktop PC and any internet connected device but everything is synched so I never have to worry about missing something important as it was only entered into the 'other' diary.

As for Smart watches the only benefit I can see is that I won't have to take my phone out of my pocket to see who is calling me when my phone rings, I already use a watch so I don't need it to tell the time after that I am starting to struggle to work out what exactly I would be able to do with a Smart watch that I can't do already without one.

[Saracen]

@KeyboardDemon ....

I hear what you say about diaries, syncing, etc, and can see the appeal. I'd bet a lot of people would agree with you. In fact, smartphone sales volumes kinda speak for themselves.

But .....

I have a considerable concern over personal privacy, which as you may know, I tend to guard pretty carefully. And it applies especially with anything Android-based (and I can't say I know much about ios, never having had an Apple mobile device).

Unless I go to a fair bit of effort, and at least risk invalidating a warranty, it's pretty hard (or actually, downright impossible) to be sure which application is doing what, with access to personal data. Android, in vanilla form, seems to go out of it's way to prevent users getting the level of granular control of your own data, and recent Google changes seem to be reducing even that. An astonishing number of apps seem to want a degree of access to all sorts of personal data, be it contact lists, calendar events, phone logs, text messages, or whatever. Oh, and location data, too.

Some stuff you can turn off, like GPS data, but then that makes using an Androud device as a SatNav problematic. And if you don't turn it off, you can't install any app that seeks access without giving them a huge level of data on yourself, almost certainly including both where you live, and work, from location patterns, and associated times.

Similarly, a lot can be inferred from call logs, text messages, etc.

It is possible to get a fine degree of granularity in control over what apps can access what, but not without taking some risks. So the question is, and this may well be where we differ .... fo the benefits you gain from syncing, etc, justify either the potential loss of privacy, or the risks you run and effort involved in getting the granular control needed to mitigate that, and the time and effort involved in then locking things down adequately?

For me, the answer is "no", the risks to privacy aren't justified and installing some form of firewall facility with app-l3vel permissions, AND then setting it up is a pain in the behind.

Then, consider that I work almost entirely from home. Until a few years back, I was doing a fair bit of out-and-about contract work, but since then, I work at home, with client contact almost exclusively by phone. I don't really need more than one diary, or for it to be computer-based, never mind sync'd. But as it happens, it is computer-based, because my diary relies on Windows software. It links in to contact lists, AND to custom-written databases that control my workflow. So, for journalism, ideas go into a database for selling to editors. I can preselect a subset of editors, by publication type, for a given idea, and order them in priority. The database then dials the call for me, logs the time and duration, and the sales "result". If the result is a commission, then that generates an entry ibva commission system, records date/time/commissioning editor, word count, rate, deadlines, etc, and prepares a confirmatory fax. My estimated start date and duration feed into my diary, automatically. When the work is done, a few keystrokes to enter date completed/sent, and the relevant info goes into a report for weekly transpisition into my accounts dystem, on another machine, from which invoices are emailed, faxed or printed.

These days, a lot of that is, well, overkill, but as I already have the databases running, and have had for about 20 years, it'd be silly to not use them. But it ALL relies on pretty antiquated Windows software. Trying to port that onto a platform that runs on Android would be an utter nightmare, and take a huge slug of my time, even assuming I could find the tools to do it, which would need to be a pretty versatile form of CRM, and they don't tend to be cheap either.

And for privacy reasons, amongst others, all that (well, almost all) runs on systems with no het connection at all.

So, while I hear what you say about diaries, etc, and understand why you find it useful, U've had this system running smoothly since before internet connections evolved from dialup, never mind smartphones, and getting the "syncing", etc, would imply sacrificing all the above.

Even if I weren't bothered about the risks of leakage of personal data implied by smartphones, and I am, it still wouldn't be worth using for that.

All of that gives me two good reasons for why a lot of what most people use smartphones for not being relevant to me. And in turn, that's why my answer to how often I'd need one when out and about would be "not often".

One reason (those databases) is pretty unique to me, and not applicable to anyone else. The other (privacy) is applicable to everyone, so unless people are ignorant of the implications, smartphone sales volumes suggest they know, but don't care enough about privacy to be willing to sacrifice the convenience. But I do. And unless I'm convinced I can effectively protect my personal data on a smartphone, the only way to be confident it's safe is to not put it on one in the first place.

[KeyboardDemon]

I think this thread isn't really the place to start a debate on privacy and data confidentiality, in your case the two areas are closely bound together but I think they are two separate issues, but I do understand your reasoning, maybe it's something that might get taken up in another thread.

What has helped me though is your post about how useful smartphones are to people, it made me go back and examine how I use my smart phone first before I considered how I might be able to extend that experience into a smart watch scenario and from that I could see that there is no real reason for me to have one.