The Apple Watch is the first new product line for the company since the iPad in 2010. Sam Clark, CEO of Conjure, a company that specialises in developing apps for emerging technology platforms—including wearables—looks at why brands need to consider making their existing apps for friendly towards smart watch users.
Apple has put consumer brands on notice. They have four months to make their App Store offerings Apple Watch-compatible. The cost of doing that will likely run into the millions of pounds for UK companies – but Apple’s unshakeable popularity with Brits, many of whom are likely rush to buy an Apple Watch, means that it’ll be money well-spent.
The launch of the Apple Watch is a tipping point for the smartwatch. At first glance, it’s much more than a screen for notifications bounced off a smartphone. It looks smart, and is packed with features in a way that will inevitably incite comparisons with the products put out by Apple’s greatest competitor: Samsung.
Incidentally, once the price comes down, it’s not hard to imagine the next generation of kids and teenagers using the scribble functionality to create a new coded language of their own; parents can avoid the rush and start worrying now!
Apple may have lost the power to surprise us, but it has done enough to stifle the critics that say it has lost the ability to innovate – at least for now.
By Sam Clark
CEO
Conjure
www.conjure.co.uk