This week, during Apple's keynote address, Tim Cook noted to the audience that he had “one more thing” to announce. This inspired a big reaction from the crowd, as it was how Steve Jobs frequently closed his keynotes – and is typically followed by a game changing-announcement.
That “one more thing” was the Apple Watch (or WATCH)
Smartwatches like Pebble have proved that there’s a market for these types of wearable devices, but, despite the attempts of many, no one has been able to commercialize the technology for consumers the way that Apple did with the smartphone years ago.
The Apple Watch is the world’s biggest tech company’s attempt to reclaim the crown of leading tech innovator, and with the features and applications it showcased this week, it opens up a bevy of uses for the device for your business. Whether it's adopted by the masses won't be determined until its release in 2015, but the possibilities are certainly there.
What it Does
Essentially, the Apple Watch can do (almost) everything your smartphone does, but in miniature form on your wrist. It alerts of text messages, emails, and Facebook updates, has a collection of simplified apps, and even minifies Siri all on your timepiece, allowing for a much less interrupted flow in your day’s activities. It even has a heartbeat monitor for fitness buffs.
As apps are what has arguably driven iPhone (and really
all smartphone) sales, the Apple Watch
app functionality will be crucial to the watch’s success.
What it Doesn't
One caveat of the watch is that, Apple being Apple, it only works with an iPhone. That is, its full notification and app cross-device functionality only works with other Apple devices. It uses Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to connect to your iPhone and transmits app functionality, real-time alerts, contact information, etc. from one device to another via network.
Simply put, most Apple Watch apps aren't standalone – they are going to be extensions of iPhone apps.
What it Means for Your Business
So, what kind of value does this new tech potentially bring to your business?
Well, the key functionality of wearables is in their ability to incorporate computing seamlessly into everyday life, without disruption. The apps that will be most useful then, are those that won’t require users to be immersed, staring for hours at their timepiece, but those that update the user with real-time, relevant, peripheral information –whether it be about their current health habits, how their stock investments are doing, or airline flight delays.
In fact, the initial snapshot of apps available for the new device, as shown off by Cook, showcased a lot of this predicted functionality – sports scoreboard notifications, digital airline boarding passes, and of course, tweets.
All of these are non-disruptive features that add to everyday experiences, and don’t supersede them.
Imagine push notifications of your business’s latest offers, products or headlines, engaging with your users without them ever having to be in front of a computer screen, or even without them having to pull out their smartphones. This can integrate you on a personal level into the ecosystem of your user’s average day, without them having to consciously check up on your business or platform.
A second way wearables like the Apple Watch can add functionality is to impact the user's real world experience. If we think of the previous example as adding an information layer on top of users’ every day experiences, this way seeks to directly change how you operate within the world itself.
An app showcased by Apple, for instance, links with BMW to let drivers know when their electric car charge levels are running low, along with real-time directions to where their cars are parked (game changing). Imagine an app for your hypothetical business that lists, say, restaurants categorized by cuisine type closest in your area, which displays the nearest ones directly on your users’ timepieces.
Last time we posted
an article covering ‘The Internet of Things’ and what an interconnected ecosystem of internet-ready devices could mean for functionality and usability in the future. The Apple Watch is another push in that direction, if businesses use its functionality in ways that:
a) add peripheral information to users’ lives that they find useful and deliver this in seamless nondisruptive fashions,
and/or
b) directly change the way users experience their day-to-day, by adding new functionality on top of real world experiences.
With Apple officially jumping onto the bandwagon with
WATCH, businesses should start thinking of ways to leverage this new tech in a timely manner, or be late to the party.
