Tim Cook and company's one more thing this year already launched with a number of skin sensors to measure heart rate and keep the Apple Watch secure when using it for payments with Apple Pay, but health fanatics may want to sit out the first generation. Though the Apple Watch does plenty, Apple is said to be bundling even more sensors to expand the Apple Watch's health tracking capabilities in a future hardware revision.
"Two people familiar with Apple's plans told Reuters the company is planning to unveil richer health features and additional sensors in later versions, the first iteration not hitting the market until early 2015," Reuters reported.
Given that the Apple Watch won't be available for purchase until 2015, Apple may not have announced all of the device's features. So while we may know many of the capabilities of the Apple Watch and its design, Apple could still have a one more thing when it comes to the Apple Watch's list of features.
Similarly, Motorola did not announce the heart rate sensor nor the wireless charging feature when the Moto 360 was introduced alongside Google's Android Wear platform, with disclosures of the full capabilities of the Moto 360 coming days ahead of the watch being made available for pre-orders. Apple may likely have a few surprises still in store for the Apple Watch to keep pundits on their toes.
Right now, despite the advanced capabilities of the Apple Watch, it still doesn't offer standalone sleep tracking or GPS tracking information without being tethered to an iPhone.
And Reuters admits that Apple may purposefully be building a low-key fitness product to stay under the FDA's radar to avoid additional regulatory scrutiny. Once the Apple Watch is considered a "health" rather than a fitness accessory, it may be subjected to additional FDA review.
What do you think of the Apple Watch and Apple's strategy? Will you be buying one come 2015 or will you be holding out for a second generation model that likely will do more?
Source: Reuters
Reader comments
Next generation Apple Watch could appease health fanatics with even more sensors
We will all have wrist cancer in 20 years from this thing.
The others as well :)
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"Two people familiar with Apple's plans told Reuters the company is planning to unveil richer health features and additional sensors in later versions, the first iteration not hitting the market until early 2015,"
People familiar with Apple's plans tends to be people that are not in the know, tend to be people that are not connected and tend to not be people at all except in the fertile imagination of the Reuters reporter.
At least it is said that what Apple showed a few days ago may end up being more refined by the time it hits the market.
I would wait and then see what happens rather than take the wet dreams of a reporter desperate to get paid for his word count. This seems to be an issue with tech reporting these days. If some numpty in an office that works for a bank that wants the value of stock for a particular company to swing one way or another they just churn out some BS and pass it on to reporters who spread it and make the stock swing, not by much but enough to save substantially on a stock purchase or increase the price just before they sell said stock. It's a game for analysts who tend to report to investment divisions of banks.
Now I must wash my memory of the post and wait for an iPhone 6S and 6S+ rumor to hit the streets. LOL
Wow, that didn't take long! Barely a day after announcing the Apple Watch they're already rumoring about newer models. Really, lets wait and see how the first model pans out in the metal before we start salivating about subsequent models.
One interesting point this does raise however is that Apple face a very similar issue with selling watches as they would have faced with the legendary Apple television that never appeared - people don't spend oodles of money on watches and then replace them with newer models every 2-3 years. Beautifully designed gold and stainless steel timepieces sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars, but the customers expect them to last for years and years, not be obsolete inside of five. I've spent up to $1K ea. on two watches, but I've had them both for nearly 15 years now and have no intention of replacing them anytime soon.
Digital devices like the Apple Watch don't work like this, they'll be obsolete as soon as the newest version of the OS won't run on them anymore, when the latest and greatest apps can't fit into their relatively meager amount of RAM, or run properly on their slow CPU, etc. Even relatively wealthy people may baulk at spending north of $1,000 or $1,500 on a beautiful rose gold Apple Watch only to have to replace it, along with their iPhone, every 2-3 years. I don't know how Apple are going to deal with this problem. People just don't buy new watches costing hundreds, let alone thousands, of dollars that often, cheap Swatch-type watches are another matter of course, but the Apple Watch obviously isn't in that market.
Over time the price will drop and in any case many people already have their Macs for years (5+) before 'upgrade'. This category will be the same we're not talking Patek Phillipe not even Tag Heuer, think more Seiko… and people buy those much more frequently.
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And why, why, why does the FDA have diddly squat to say about any of this?
IF you want to know how useless that organization--which is possibly the government agency most beloved by the average citizen--is, check out the writings of Dr. Robert Higgs. Google is your friend.
A company wants to build a device to non-invasively measure stuff, which people are under precisely *zero* obligation to buy, which will be very high profile and subjected to far more discussion, observation, analysis, and examination than any bureaucracy could ever hope to provide, but men with guns will protect the guild of the medical establishment, inhibit commerce, progress, market discovery, and liberty. Yeah, that makes sense.
Calm down there skipper! Not every part of society is a conspiracy. The FDA performs a vital role in protecting consumers by FORCING companies to prove that their product 1. works and 2. does not harm. Remember thalidomide? If not, look it up.
Now go take your medications and go back to relaxing in front of Fox News.
One, not everyone who isn't a Democrat is automatically a Republican. The people on Fox News are generally just as clueless and love big government as much as those on CNN. It's not about left vs. right; it's about the government vs. you.
Two, give this a listen. Dr. Higgs specifically mentions the thalidomide case. http://mises.org/media/8649/FDA-and-Consumer-Welfare
Now, back to the Watch...
I don't trust this but it would be nice if there was like one more cool thing. Because right now I'm not sure if I'd buy it but there are several things that would make me buy it immediately.
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@Master Julian it's usually pleasant (or not-so-pleasant) surprises of unexpected capabilities as unlocked by 3rd party software developers that provide that one more thing that "sells the horse", as the Irish would say.
I'm thinking of features like "Find My iWatch" + "Send My Heartbeat" for instance, aiding efforts of Search and Rescue on the one hand, and hostage negotiation / Kidnap for Ransom (proof of life) on the other. The mind boggles at the possibilities latent in this new category of timepiece...
Marc Andreesen recently made the chilling observation that "Software is eating the world". Quite.
The watch models, desgns and capabilities that are currently being considered by Sir Ives and his new colleague and old buddy Marc Newsome, hidden from prying eyes and chock-full of more disruptive shocks and revolutionary functionality, will "push the puck (no pun intended) further out" from where its detractors are "skating" to...
Gotta go now, another task awaits CAPTAIN OBVIOUS, WHOOOOSH!! :-)
Is it even waterproof? Who comes out with a $350 watch and doesn't make it waterproof?
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This is obviously a rumor from an Apple competitor attempting to kneecap Apple sales. Good luck with that!
Something like sweat sensor, glucose meter will b welcomed addition!
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