Three features of the Apple Watch that no one has mentioned yet

“If Apple wants to create a new, large product category from smartwatches, they need to create a lot of market demand for their new product. So what are the three most important features that will define the future of the Apple Watch? One is the ability for developers to innovate on top of it and create demand for smartwatches.”

"We believe this product will redefine what people expect from this category of product. It will be a new chapter for Apple." Tim Cook made it very clear that the Apple Watch will be more than just a great product. Just like the iPod, the Apple Watch is designed to shape the future of wearable products and create a whole new market reality.

The fact is, the Apple Watch v1 is a beautifully designed watch that wowed engineers, but competition will be fierce. Because fashion is an expression of self, there will not be a single winner.

If Apple wants to create something more than a fashion accessory, the Watch needs to be a functional tool. And if it is a tool, Apple must answer a fundamental question: What is a smartwatch?

For the first new product after Steve, the Apple Watch is pretty amazing, it's functional and completely unnecessary. — Brian S Hall (@brianshall)

Will notifications become the killer app for smartwatches? Not necessarily, not only because it’s unclear whether we really need more interruptions, but it’s also become a bit of an innovation dead end. There are only so many improvements that can be made to notifications, and only so many companies making them.

If Apple wants to create a whole new, large product category beyond the smartwatch, they need to be more than a timepiece with notifications and sensors. Something that allows people to do things that weren’t possible before. How does Apple do this? Along the same path that works so well with the iPhone and iPad: tap into the limitless creative power of co-creators to discover new use cases and possibilities that we can’t imagine today.

The most important features for the next evolution of the Apple Watch are the ones that enable developers to innovate on top of these devices and create demand for Apple's smartwatch. What are those features?

WatchKit

The most straightforward way to extend the functionality of the Apple Watch is the WatchKit software development kit, which allows developers to create "watch apps." Other smartwatch players like Android, Pebble, and Razer offer similar capabilities to developers. Developers have shown strong interest in smartwatches, for example, Pebble's developer program boasts more than 20,000 developers and thousands of apps.

Health backpack

The Apple Watch places special emphasis on embedded sensors for fitness and health. At the launch event, Apple had a section dedicated to this content. Tim Cook said: "This is a very important area for me and Apple."

But a few sensors and apps do not make a platform. The real visionary move was the Health Kit, which Apple announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year. While not a watch-specific feature itself, the SDK takes the device's functionality and extends it in a whole new way to monitor activity and other health data. Could it be that Apple is redefining not the watch, but health and healthcare (in the broadest sense)?

Of course, other companies seem to be chasing this opportunity as well, including Google (Google Fit), Validic, Samsung (SAMI), Human API and most recently Jawbone (Jawbone UP API).

identity

Just like the Nymi watch, the Apple Watch has all the technology to identify you. Apple has demonstrated how digital identity can be combined with the Apple Watch to make payments or even open hotel room doors. However, the possibilities are very wide-ranging. Biometrics could be the end of not only passwords, but other ID documents as well.

Digital identity is a key control point for many digital leaders, including the likes of Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Salesforce. They are all actively engaged in holding your identity information and establishing your online identity on their platforms. For Apple, the importance of identity is also very obvious with the deepening integration between their devices and the inclusion of fingerprint sensors in all new products.

User First

What do smartwatches help with? Aside from fashion and self-expression, a new kind of health monitoring and identity are prime candidates. Apple is using their tried-and-true approach to launching their digital ecosystem: user first. Apple starts by releasing a well-designed device that has a lot of value by default to hardcore fans. Once a certain user base is formed, Apple connects them with developers who create real mass-market demand for the product.

It will allow teams of developers to explore all possibilities and create a category killer, something Apple knows all too well.

Compiled by 199IT. Please indicate the source when reprinting.