With the increasing amount of Android watches on the market, it was only a matter of time before Apple released its own iteration into the market to operate within its own ecosystem. For those that are not familiar with the new "smart watches", here is the new Apple Watch (with an upgraded steel band) front and center:
You can take a closer look at the official page for the Apple Watch here. Looking at Apple's page shows that Apple's intentions for the new hardware are not only in keeping time, but also in health, fitness, and keeping users up to date with stocks, weather, and any data that can be displayed in an elegant way on either a 38mm (~1.49 in.) or 42mm (1.65 in.) display.
What Are the Specs?
The release date for the Apple Watch is "Early 2015" (March release expected), and the final specs for the product have not yet been released. We do know a few things though:
- Choice of 38mm (272x340) or 42mm (312x390) retina display
- Lots of customization options
- 3-4 days standby time
- 2.5 hours "heavy" use
- 3.5 hours "standard" use
- Heart Rate Monitor
-
Apple (ARM) S1 Processor
- Connectivity with iPhone 6 or 6 Plus
That last bit sums up the connectivity options of the new Apple Watch. The device is intended to always be paired with an iPhone and not as a standalone device. We can expect the two devices to work in tandem with each other. GPS use will borrow GPS functionality from the iPhone as well as Wi-Fi.
The new processor is interesting because it boasts close to the same processing power as an iPhone 4s. The fact that the guts of this "watch" are so much better than those found in the first iPhone in 2007 is really quite impressive and signifies that technology is ready for this new genre of mobile technology.
Apple has a nice set of videos that demonstrate it's intended uses here.
There are other smart watches, and the Apple Watch isn't out yet. Why is this important?
While the Apple Watch has not yet been released, the development SDK and design guidelines have been released to developers, and apps are already being created for the device so they can be ready when the Apple Watch is released. Given the popularity of the iPhone and Apple's products, this is awesome!
From the perspective of mobile interaction design, why is this interesting?
I will quote Kjeldskov from his book Mobile Interactions in Context: A Designedly Way Toward Digital Ecology. On page 17 he states, "In my belief, the next wave of mobile computing and interaction design is going to be about the creation of digital ecosystems in which mobile computing plays a central role in concert with other ubiquitous computing resources. " I believe that smart watches are the next immediate step in the formation of the described ecosystems. These days most people not only carry a smart phone, but also a tablet, a laptop, or some other form of technology to fulfill a specific need. However, none of these devices depend on another the way the Apple Watch depends on the iPhone. We are moving toward a society where people can be expected to not only have a smart phone, but have another piece of the ecosystem strapped to their wrists as well.
With the advent of PDA's and smart phone came a significantly smaller form factor which interface designers had to adapt to. In the standard smart phone sizes of today a large amount of data can still be shown to the user. Standard web pages not meant for mobile devices can even be read in most cases. For a display not even 2 inches diagonally things get far more interesting as smart phone UI's can no longer be easily transformed into one made for a watch. Let's look at some of the new interaction mechanisms Apple has for the Watch:
- Digital Crown
- The crown on typical watches is used to set the time and date. The crown on the Apple Watch is used to things such as zoom photos and return to the home screen by pressing it.
- Force Touch
- Pressing down the screen firmly produces a different action than simply tapping the screen.
Apple has created a device that is only meant for glances -- quick summaries of data that you want to access most frequently: time, weather, stocks, messages, calendar, etc. The interaction is much different than that of a phone. In fact, if you use the Apple Watch like a phone, its battery will die in the matter of a couple of hours!
Conclusions.
I think the Apple Watch has the potential to change the way we interact with our iPhones and the way in which we use technology in general. I cannot recall another mobile device that was only meant to be interacted with in short glances, especially not one that will likely reach millions in a very short time.
