Back in 1946, Dick Tracy, the famous comic-strip detective, broke technological ground when he began wearing his 2-Way Wrist Radio. Sixty-seven years later, we’re hearing a lot of rumors about a new Apple iWatch.
Chester Gould, creator of Dick Tracy, gave his character the new communication device after visiting with inventor Al Gross, a pioneer in mobile wireless communication. Gould upgraded Tracy to a 2-Way Wrist TV in 1964, but we’re way beyond that today.
Some people have put their older iPod Nanos on wristbands, essentially making them into multi-functional wristwatches. Other manufacturers have put “smart watches” on the market, but they haven’t achieved Rolex status. However, nobody can match Apple’s technology buzz. The reports we’ve come across as this newsletter went to publication indicate that manufacturing is gearing up for getting the new device on the market this summer.
I would find it especially helpful. We all have smartphones clipped to our belts or in our purses, and they’re hard to access just to see who’s calling. With a device on our wrist and Bluetooth, it would be as simple as checking the time to see the caller ID and know if you need to pull out your phone or activate it with a voice command.
Other manufacturers have some capability with smartphones, wrist-borne devices and Bluetooth already on the market, so this type of device makes sense for Apple. We’ll be watching.
We’ll also be watching for a possible new iPad – rumored to be released in March – and new developments in Apple TV. Maybe this and a new wrist device will enable us to watch Dick Tracy reruns while we’re walking the dog or waiting for a bus or train.
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Cutting the Cable? Ditching the Dish?
Evolving technologies that stream content to our TVs and mobile devices are portending the end for cable and satellite TV. They’re not going away all that quickly, but it’s just a matter of time. HDMI allows you watch anything from a computer on a TV. So, if you can wait a day to watch your favorite TV show, you can go to a website and watch it at your convenience. Live sports and news are another story, but you know the technology will be there to deliver the content.
As for TVs, our experience shows that the best deals on big flat screen TVs usually come in the middle of January – two weeks before the Super Bowl.
This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.