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San Diego Founder of AbdoBuilt Joined over 10 years ago via an invitation from Florian P. Abdel has invited Brian H, Amjad Badwan , Ximena Vengoechea
Hey Guys,
While this app originally debuted several months ago, it was somewhat buggy and didn't work as well as I thought. This version however has most the issue worked out and I think it's a great way to keep up to date on the best tech reads from around the web. Each day, my co-founder Keith and I work to try and make the site and app better by scouring the web and looking for the best stuff so you don't have to.
Would love to get any thoughts you may have. We're going for simply incredibly simple and easy to use. Still more to come!
Here's a direct link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tech-block/id842961705?mt=8
Tell that to the industrial designers who are telling me otherwise :)
The problem with this approach is the size, really. The heights of the current Apple Watch are 38mm and 42mm respectively. Your drawing suggests that a watch diameter of roughly 42mm round would fit the entire UI. While this may be true, there is quite a bit of padding around the current Apple Watch. Look closely and there is easily 4-5mm that surrounds it.
So add 4mm to 42mm and you got 46mm diameter and that's before you account for the actual body which is probably another 2-3mm. Basically, by going round, you would probably end up with a 48-50mm watch instead of a 42mm just to show the exact same info.
The point of this picture is to highlight a few things.
First, it COULD be round, but that would mean that the diameter wold have to be larger and the crown and button would have to be repositioned. The crown would have to be centered and then the button would have to likely go above it since putting it below it would make for an awkward clicking experience (try this by putting on a regular round watch and imagining where the button placement would be).
Second, in talking to industrial designers, they tell me that by going with round, the device would get even thicker since batteries aren't really ever produced in in round shapes. They'd have to pack in more.
Take a look at the Moto 360 battery: http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Moto-360-300mAh-battery-iFixit.jpg
Third, once developers start making for a rectangular display, if Apple were to come out and say "here's a round one" it would require a total rethink of the UI. It's not like telling developers "we're making a larger display" like they did with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. This is totally different.
This is why I don't think square is ever going away for smart watches. The smart watch is NOT like a regular watch. Even though Apple uses the word Watch to describe it, I think we have to think of it very differently.
The resolution won't be 1704 x 960. I can assure you that :) It will retain 326ppi.
No
I've been trying to figure out how big the iPhone 6 will be according to rumors and the closest thing I can think of is last years HTC One (M7). It has a 4.7" display and a pretty substantial forehead and chin.
Given that the iPhone 6 will be thinner and rounder and probably slightly narrower, it should make for good one handed use for most people.
I hope this is what smart watches do. Looking forward to seeing what Google's full vision is.
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Linked on main page, but here's a better place to go. Full animated previews: http://watchaware.com/watch-apps