It is no secret that the Wearables Market hasn’t took off in the way we thought it would. Even with devices coming out just about every other month, sales have been slow since people haven’t really been able to understand the advantages a Smartwatch offers over a Smartphone.
For instance, all Android Wear devices sold a combined 720,000 units last year, which may seem all right till you consider the fact that this is the net sum of about 5-6 Devices, which makes individual numbers extremely, laughably low.
Apple was expected to change the game with its Apple Watch, and change the game it did. No, not through hardware or software, which is not particularly remarkable in case of the Apple Watch, but because of Apple’s ability to connect with its loyal fanbase, thus giving more exposure and credibility to the Wearables Market, thus leading to Apple Watch sales number reportedly hitting the million mark and consequently, also has lead to better sales for all wearables.
Now that the Marketing Part is taken care of, Apple is looking towards the Software, which still needs some spit and polish. According to 9to5Mac, Apple is working on an update to the Apple Watch that will bring in some features that we all have been clamoring for.
The first is Find my Watch, which is a direct answer to the accusations that the Apple Watch is thief-friendly and the user cannot do anything to track or erase the device in case of theft. While this may seem like a must-have feature, it isn’t so simple on the Apple Watch.
See, the Apple Watch doesn’t have GPS, and relies on connecting to your iPhone for just about anything. This update will improve this situation a bit, by checking the proximity of the Smartwatch to your iPhone. You can, also, optionally, let it notify you if you wander away from your Phone. This feature isn’t yet guaranteed, and may appear only in future Apple Watch models, since the current hardware doesn’t seem to be up to the task.
Now the second isn’t really a Software Feature, but sort of a framework for the future. Well, Apple originally planned to include oxygen saturation monitors, sleep tracking features, etc in the Apple Watch, but couldn’t due to technology constraints. However, these features may find their way in future hardware refreshes.
Apple is also testing a feature that notifies you of irregular heartbeats, but it probably won’t deploy it, since it could potentially bring along a whole set of lawsuits pertaining to the health industry.
Now finally, third-party Apps may get access to Complications, which are basically small widgets on your watchface offering up useful information. It would start with Twitter integration into the OS, and will progress to allowing limited access to the watchface for third-party Apps.
We may see this update being announced at WWDC, which is Apple’s Annual Developer Conference.
What do you think? Can Apple keep people interested in their Apple Watches?
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