For the past couple of months there have been plenty of
articles speculating on Apple’s ‘iWatch’. However I think it’s starting to get
slightly out of hand. For one, Apple has not announced, hinted, or mentioned
that they will be releasing a smart watch. They did hint at ‘new product
categories’ for 2014, and so far we haven’t seen anything. I’m pretty sure that
analysts have been saying an iWatch is coming soon, for about 2 years now. Some
now say the watch is coming in September, or October, or November, or maybe
people will have to wait until 2015 – how will they survive?
My favourite assessment was from Tech News World: “Apple
apparently is facing wide ranging production issues involving components,
system design, manufacturing, and integration between hardware and software.”
Or maybe they just haven’t finished designing it yet? Considering they have
never announced the product, let alone a release date, how can they possibly be
behind schedule? All this speculation leads to updates like this: “Apple iWatch
rumours remain strong despite few leaks. We could still see or at least hear
about an iPhone-compatible smartwatch at September’s iPhone 6 event (Tech
Radar).” So really, you know nothing.
The quote that really gets
me is this claim: “There’s a good chance that smartwatches won’t explode in
popularity until Apple brings both an excellent product and an eye-opening
marketing campaign that reveals why a smartwatch or health band is so cool and
necessary (Tech News World).” Because nothing matters until Apple does it.
Except for the fact that as of Q2, Android has an 84.7% global market share (http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp),
and a lot of that growth is attributed to the growth of the low end and ultra-low
end segments. None of those people will be able to use an iWatch because Apple
operates in a closed system.
Let’s take a look at the alternatives to the
rumoured iWatch – products that already exist and are compatible with devices
used by the majority of the world.
Samsung Gear Live. Considered the best smart watch in the market
(for now), this watch lets you send and view emails and texts, change your
music, track fitness stats, and answer or reject calls, among other things. It
also incorporates Google Now, which will push you updates on your favourite
sports teams, traffic, weather, etc. The watch isn’t meant to replace your
phone, it’s meant to reduce the number of times you need to pull your phone
out. It also allows you to use voice commands; by saying “OK Google”, you can
set appointments, ask questions, navigate somewhere, and so on. 
LG G Watch. This watch is very similar to the Gear Live. It has a
slightly larger screen, however its' resolution is lower.
The LG watch has a larger battery, which may help considering battery life is
an issue with the current smartwatches. Most smartwatches last about a day
(about the same as a smartphone), which means having to plug it in every night.
Because Google won’t allow custom firmware or user interfaces, you essentially
get the same experience on both watches.
Moto 360. This watch has
been announced, but isn’t yet released. It’s going to feature a custom screen,
one that is round instead of the square screens we’ve seen so far, and will
conserve battery life when not in use. No price or release date have been
announced, but it’s likely to be debuted early September at the Motorola event.
Of course, all of these products
are works in progress – the first in a series is never the best. It may take
them a while to figure out exactly what it is customers are looking for, but it
looks like this time Apple will be the one playing catch-up.
