And again, it's that time of the year! Where THE Apple event official invites are out - with a date, for the world to wait, with nothing better to do than speculate!
So let me join the fun!
On 9/9, it will be no surprise that we'll see a new iPhone, or iPhones. At this point of time, no thanks to all the kind leakers of China, Taiwan, France, Germany and Thailand, we can solidly conclude with no surprises that the next iPhone's going to have a bigger display (4.7" or 5" compared to the current 4"), slimmer and lighter design, better internals (processor etc.), better camera (better optics, better flash) and also possibly a new Near-Field-Communication tech, probably used for a yet unannounced mobile payment system. The new iPhones are going to be huge, people are going to buy them, and it's going to be a hit. Ta-da!
But the second part of the story goes that Apple will also, finally, introduce it's looooong-time rumored wearable product this September. What's so riveting about this product, is that nobody, nobody outside Tim Cook's inner circle really knows anything about it. NOTHING. No leaks, no substantial reports, only educated guesses from tech analysts and occasionally a few clues here and there from Apple's patent history. This leaves me a lot of space to speculate!
My hypothesis is this: It's going to be a wearable product. And it's going to serve as a functional interface between all-things-electronic and, the human user.
I've read about this from somewhere, but I'm sure a lot of us are already aware that almost all electronics are getting into the 'smart' race, simply naming a few we have: smart refrigerators, smart bulbs, smart air-conditioners etc. Even non-electronics are getting smart, ever heard of smart toothbrushes that tell you how you shouldn't clean your teeth? Smart water tumblers that remind you to stay hydrated? Smart weighing scales that show you a meal's nutrition content? Smart forks? Most of these smart products connect via the internet, to our smart mobile devices, where the communication takes place, in an 'app'. Through this app is where we obtain valuable 'smart' information from these smart products, or, conversely, to send commands to these electronics. So you can see how our smart phones hold a central role in the coming 'Internet of Things' age.
Now I think this is where we can improve. And maybe the coming Apple wearable may do it. In the picture I just depicted, while our surrounding gets 'smarter', our smartphone becomes the communication interface by which we talk to the smart things. The problem is, I think, that this 'interface' is a barrier that precipitates less intuitive interaction. Take the smart toothbrush for example. This electronic brush works by recording your brush pattern and sends the data over to your smartphone for storage and analysis. At any moment if we wish to access this information, we'll need to go through our phones, not directly with the brush. Which is unknowingly troublesome. It's like the "To do [A], you first need to do [B]" scenario. I think it's comparable exactly to how touch control feels better over traditional mouse control in computing (in general). By eliminating the need to control a mouse to control the desired on-screen effect, touch removes a barrier that allow users to directly control and produce the on-screen effect. If you want to do [A], just do it. [B] shouldn't be there.
That is what I'm saying the Apple wearable product could be - a wearable, interface, that allows the wearer to communicate with all things smart. Replacing the 'smartphone interface'. Since it's worn, it should also be an intimate device, in fact, it could be made so that this product is 'part' of the user, so as long as it worn, the user is 'smart-ified'.
Now imagine being 'smart-tified' by this Apple wearable product. And imagine you have a house-ful of Apple compatible (Ha. ha.) smart products. You just came driving home from a tired day at work, upon reaching the front of your iGate, the iGate notices that you're a recognized member of the house, and asks if you want to open the gates, a notification appears on your wrist, you make a custom gesture, and the gate opens. Drive in, another hand gesture, the gate closes. Walk away from the car towards the main entrance, car doors lock. Another prompt on your wrist to scan your finger with TouchID. Scan it with your authorized finger and click! Front doors open - you're home. Feeling hungry, you're off to the kitchen to get some food. The iRefrigerator senses you nearby and knows your favorite food, so it shows the top 3 available suggestions on the fridge display. Hmm. You thought for awhile and poured yourself a glass of cold milk. Thanked the amazing fridge, and walked towards the living room to catch up on the latest news. Being in proximity with the iTV, once again performing a special gesture switches the TV on. It knows it's you, so the news channel that you usually watch at this time is already ready even before iTV was switched on. A change of hearts! You miss Robin Williams all of the sudden. Just talk to your wrist. Ask Siri "What's the best Robin Williams movie?". And Robin Williams' top 20 highest rated movies of all time shows up on your 50" TV screen. Turns out none of them are free, shows start at USD $4.99. You cursed Siri. Cursed Apple. Then flicked a final hand gesture to shut iTV off. Then shut your eyes and went to sleep. Woke up the next morning and realized it's all a dream. Hohoho.
So this is what I hope Apple'll do for the iWatch / iBand / iWear / iTime / "iPod"? Maybe they have a better plan. Who knows. Mere speculation!