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I do think the iWatch will possibly encourage NFC use more from the standpoint of it's even easier to move your wrist past a transit fare machine than it is to get out your phone. As for the hotel room key, I think it's a lot like a retailer who hasn't upgraded their POS because they're not seeing enough people using it (although the retailers are going to have to next year.) I just think once the demand is there and some hotels start doing it, others will. I stayed at a hotel not that long ago where the key cards were NFC, so they'll be ready for phones.
In terms of hotels, I do think that more hotels will come up with "Experience Apps". Once you sign into the hotel, the app will know that you are in a certain room and you will use the app to control the room to some degree, as well as do things like order room service or request things (or check out.)
I can see the watch and phone be tied in to a greater degree to video games. Microsoft already has done this to some degree and specific games have apps where you can still participate in some ways in the game without being at your console. XBOX Smartglass: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/smartglass
I do think there's an aspect with indoor heating where I should just get up off my bleep and turn it up/down if I feel like it. However, I could see public spaces (even something like the library) where you indicate you are too warm and if enough different people indicated this (could even bring up a menu), it would turn it down.
I do think the Beacons could also work their way in for the watch. People who are going to catch a train could have the watch be aware and then the watch will cross a beacon and the beacon says which train the track is on and if it's running late. If you're in a city and waiting to catch a bus and there are a number of different busses that cross the stop you're waiting at, your watch could beep if the bus you are waiting for is about to pull up. Of course, lot of use possible at airports.
I'm still not really sold on the watch enough (not just iWatch, but the smartwatch in general), but I can certainly see where it could be useful.
The idea that Apple is getting 0.15% from Apple Pay is appealing. It's not going to move the needle in terms of Apple in a broad sense, but I do like they're getting a % (even a tiny one), as prices go up, that % is a larger and larger amount. The company does need to diversify, as while clearly there's still demand for the iPhone, it's more than half of revenue. Eventually (and it may not be for a few more iPhones from now) demand will start to move South (and/or saturation or other issues) and I'd like to see the company have something else going - maybe their long discussed venture into TV. The company certainly has the cash to venture into new areas.
It won't be long before an HVAC drone will fly around us at all times with our own personal energy settings to keep our personal space just how we like it! The most expensive drones might even come equipped to deactivate someone else's drone if they invade our personal space.
@scott, regarding iphone saturation, I think that is why China is important here. The latest number I have is 6 million reservations for preorder of the iphone 6. India would be another huge market but I don't know if Apple is pushing as hard there. Apple may also be counting on critical mass as a certain percentage of users will upgrade each cycle. TV was rumored to be done by now but that was unfounded. The iPad market is crowded.
Samsung is having a hard time selling their latest Galaxy. Their third quarter income was down 60% That's going to hurt.
I'm getting ready to install a new air conditioning unit here. There are sensors that detect human movement so if you leave the room the unit turns way down. Other sensors detect levels of sunlight and adjust the cooling up or down depending. It's supposed to reduce our energy bill by 40-50% on this one unit. Technology is great when it works.
LLJB is close. Trouble is that people scoff at things now which become mainstream and "can't-live-without" items in two or three decades. Of course, the rate of technological advance is speeding up.
I recall the first remote-control televisions in my teen years. The remote was at the end of a long cord attached to whichever TV you were watching - but a big improvement over having to get up and walk to the set every time you wanted to change channels or adjust the volume. That's how I feel about this wearable (tech) junk. It will soon be replaced with devices easily implanted somewhere in our bodies with batteries guaranteed to run100 years. Anybody still want a cord?
LLJB is close. Trouble is that people scoff at things now which become mainstream and "can't-live-without" items in two or three decades. Of course, the rate of technological advance is speeding up.
I recall the first remote-control televisions in my teen years. The remote was at the end of a long cord attached to whichever TV you were watching - but a big improvement over having to get up and walk to the set every time you wanted to change channels or adjust the volume. That's how I feel about this wearable (tech) junk. It will soon be replaced with devices easily implanted somewhere in our bodies with batteries guaranteed to run100 years. Anybody still want a cord?
Gemalto is working on a device that you wear and you pay by touch. The device sends a signal across your skin and to the thing you're touching (to pay for something, open your car door, whatever.)
But you never know. I don't have much in the way of tech simply from the standpoint of so much is here today, gone tomorrow and few companies have demonstrated an ability to change and adapt.
I definitely don't have any interest in very speculative tech anymore. Look at what happened to GT Advanced Tech yesterday.
I'm getting ready to install a new air conditioning unit here. There are sensors that detect human movement so if you leave the room the unit turns way down. Other sensors detect levels of sunlight and adjust the cooling up or down depending. It's supposed to reduce our energy bill by 40-50% on this one unit. Technology is great when it works.
As I noted above, I really don't like anything very speculative, but in the "internet of things"/automated home realm, CTRL is about the closest thing to Nest that I can think of in terms of a public company. It's something I could see either Google or Apple interested in, but it becomes can they simply do it better themselves in-house?
Comments
In terms of hotels, I do think that more hotels will come up with "Experience Apps". Once you sign into the hotel, the app will know that you are in a certain room and you will use the app to control the room to some degree, as well as do things like order room service or request things (or check out.)
I can see the watch and phone be tied in to a greater degree to video games. Microsoft already has done this to some degree and specific games have apps where you can still participate in some ways in the game without being at your console. XBOX Smartglass: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/smartglass
I do think there's an aspect with indoor heating where I should just get up off my bleep and turn it up/down if I feel like it. However, I could see public spaces (even something like the library) where you indicate you are too warm and if enough different people indicated this (could even bring up a menu), it would turn it down.
I do think the Beacons could also work their way in for the watch. People who are going to catch a train could have the watch be aware and then the watch will cross a beacon and the beacon says which train the track is on and if it's running late. If you're in a city and waiting to catch a bus and there are a number of different busses that cross the stop you're waiting at, your watch could beep if the bus you are waiting for is about to pull up. Of course, lot of use possible at airports.
I'm still not really sold on the watch enough (not just iWatch, but the smartwatch in general), but I can certainly see where it could be useful.
The idea that Apple is getting 0.15% from Apple Pay is appealing. It's not going to move the needle in terms of Apple in a broad sense, but I do like they're getting a % (even a tiny one), as prices go up, that % is a larger and larger amount. The company does need to diversify, as while clearly there's still demand for the iPhone, it's more than half of revenue. Eventually (and it may not be for a few more iPhones from now) demand will start to move South (and/or saturation or other issues) and I'd like to see the company have something else going - maybe their long discussed venture into TV. The company certainly has the cash to venture into new areas.
Samsung is having a hard time selling their latest Galaxy. Their third quarter income was down 60% That's going to hurt.
I'm getting ready to install a new air conditioning unit here. There are sensors that detect human movement so if you leave the room the unit turns way down. Other sensors detect levels of sunlight and adjust the cooling up or down depending. It's supposed to reduce our energy bill by 40-50% on this one unit. Technology is great when it works.
I recall the first remote-control televisions in my teen years. The remote was at the end of a long cord attached to whichever TV you were watching - but a big improvement over having to get up and walk to the set every time you wanted to change channels or adjust the volume. That's how I feel about this wearable (tech) junk. It will soon be replaced with devices easily implanted somewhere in our bodies with batteries guaranteed to run100 years. Anybody still want a cord?
But you never know. I don't have much in the way of tech simply from the standpoint of so much is here today, gone tomorrow and few companies have demonstrated an ability to change and adapt.
I definitely don't have any interest in very speculative tech anymore. Look at what happened to GT Advanced Tech yesterday.
http://www.businessinsider.com/gt-advanced-files-for-bankruptcy-oct-6-2014-10
How A Company That's Worth $1.5 Billion On A Friday Could Go Bankrupt On A Monday