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Swatch CEO outlines smartwatch plans, calls Apple Watch 'toy'
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MacNN Staff
Join Date: Jul 2012
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The Apple Watch has been dismissed as an "interesting toy" by the CEO of watch manufacturer Swatch, as it continues to fight against Apple. Outlining the future of the company's smartwatch plans, Nick Hayek Jr. spoke against the currently-available smartwatches on the market, claiming them to be power-hungry devices that erodes the user's privacy by uploading data to the cloud, and in the Apple Watch's case, calling it "not a revolution."
In an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger, The Guardian reports the CEO as saying "These devices, which all eat so much power that they last no longer than 24 hours without needing to be plugged in. In addition, the user immediately loses control of their data. I personally don't want my blood pressure and blood sugar values stored in the cloud, or on servers in Silicon Valley."
As for its own smartwatch plans, Swatch is apparently using a "watch-first" design strategy, one that provides some smart functionality, but not at a level of other smartwatches. Payments over NFC are touted for one device set for release this year, along with allowing the potential watch to offer "access control."
The recently-launched Touch Zero One was created as a device for volleyball players, providing distance tracking and measuring the amount of force used when hitting the ball, but the company is planning more. According to Reuters, the Touch Zero Two will be launched at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, with the possibility of a Zero Five or Zero Nine after that. Even so, fitness-tracking capabilities will be notably absent from the watches, with Hayek Jr. claiming he "cannot accept the responsibility of whether my device warns a customer in time before a heart attack."
Last week, it was discovered Swatch had been granted a trademark on the term "one more thing," a phrase commonly associated with Apple product launches presented by Steve Jobs. The trademark does not extend to the United States, limiting its usefulness, but Swatch has also previously declared it would fight any attempts to register " iWatch," denying Apple the hypothetical trademark.
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Dedicated MacNNer
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So, obviously he is a moron. Noted.
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It's sad that companies like Swatch feel the need to take pot shots at Apple. I think they are trying to garner support for their very unattractive, cheap looking new product. Swatch has always been synonymous with bottom of the barrel toy-watches in my eyes. I was surprised to see they were a Swiss Co. Sounds a little panic-ie to me.
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He should get in line with all the other out-of-touch CEO's that have uttered the same nonsense (ahem - Blackberry/RIM anyone?)
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While I agree with most of the comments made by Mr. Hayek (power-hungry, erodes the user's privacy & "not a revolution."); the idea of Swatch calling Apple's foray into the their territory of "toy" watches is beyond irony!
Swatch is the original toy watch!!! They stole an idea from Timex and Disney to crate a cheap (often functioning only twice a day) toy that would allow a parent to teach their kid how to tell time.
While I would never purchase an Apple watch (even as an Apple developer and former fanboy) neither would I pay more then $1 for a Swatch.
IMHO
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Yes, this sounds more like a "Nero plays while Rome burns" attitude towards the perception of today's watch market. It seems a bit exaggerated in this day to say device recharging is a major inconvenience...why exactly do I care at 3:00 AM in the morning! I think people DO want to know about their health but have never really had an easy way to achieve. That a watch, a very personal device like rings, wallets and such, can provide such info as well as a multitude of other is just not realizing the convenience.
I remember hearing the same thing about personal computers some 30 years ago! ("What could I possibly do with a computer at home?")
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LOL...he sounds like the previous CEO's that panicked and blew it.
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He's spot on about the loss of privacy and forcing us to use the cloud. Unfortunately, Apple seems hell bent on forcing us into cloud solutions for most things these days... which explains why I'm buying a fraction of the Apple gear that I used to...
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Mac Elite
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For the record, no medical information of any kind leaves local storage of the Watch or iPhone, except in the from of encrypted backups (if you've opted to do that, and you should) that even Apple cannot unlock. So that aspect, at least, of the Swatch CEOs comments are patent nonsense designed to spread FUD.
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Charles Martin
MacNN Editor
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Behold the next Steve Ballmer!!
"I like our strategy - I like it a lot!" of Microsoft's efforts in the smartphone market.
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Wow. Talk about setting yourself up to be the next Blackberry/Microsoft/Nokia CEO whose ill-considered quote is trotted out for decades to come as an example of the dangers of a head-in-the-sand business approach to a changing world.
The Apple Watch may not be successful. But if smartwatches at all end up being a "thing", it's extremely likely the Apple Watch will be one of the "big names" in the area. It's also extremely likely that a Swatch will not.
And calling it a "toy" is just silly, especially coming form Swatch, of all companies.
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We've heard this strategy before, then the in question CEO finds their company's lunch was already eaten by Apple.
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Mac Elite
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There are two different methods of comparing whether the Apple Watch is successful: its sales relative to the company's most successful product, and its sales compared to its competitors.
In the latter comparison, the Apple Watch is far and away the most popular smartwatch of all time; estimates say it has outsold all other smartwatches combined 2:1.
Compared to the iPhone's first quarter of sales, it is successful as well. Compared to the iPhone's current sales, of course, its a drop in the bucket -- it will take at least one year to start to determine what kind of long-term growth potential the product might have.
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Charles Martin
MacNN Editor
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Grizzled Veteran
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Oh boy. The history repeats itself again. It sounds like Swatch's doom's day is coming.
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Charles, why in the hell does any of my health info have to go to the cloud at all? I think you have more faith in the power of encryption than I do...
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