summarize article

falsafr

applewatch.pdf

Home >English homework help >summarize article

TECHNOLOGY

JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL SERVICE PROFESSIONALS | JULY 2015

DT* Phone Home: The Apple Watch by Richard M. Weber, MBA, CLU, AEP (distinguished)

Vol. 69, No. 4 | pp. 49-52

ABSTRACT

How does the Apple Watch, the newest

entry into the “gotta have” technology

frenzy, help the advisor in his or her day-

to-day/24/7/365 world? At the top of the list

are the convenience and usefulness of per-

sonal technology that is always with you—

securely on your wrist—and unlikely to get

lost underneath the couch cushion or left at

a store’s check-out counter. With careful in-

clusion and exclusion of apps and features

(beware information overload!), the busy ex-

ecutive has a to-do list, calendar, shopping

list, phone book, boarding pass, activity

tracker, and the ultimate remote control—al-

ways just a flick of the wrist away.

Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy was one of the most popular syndicated cartoon strips of the 1930s, and over time Gould intriguingly developed (for the era) a high-tech orientation. Yet, who would have guessed that the fanciful wrist-radio—the sine qua non for the square-jawed detective—would become a reality on April 24, 2015 in the form of the Apple Watch? What, you don’t have yours yet? Even with the July 2015 Journal’s publication several months after the watch’s official delivery date, relatively few tech en- thusiasts will be sporting the $349-$17,000 device due to overwhelming demand and underwhelming supply chains. But if you have an interest in the in- triguing direction this technology is taking—po- tentially groundbreaking in the realm of personal technology—it would be a mistake to dismiss the watch as nothing more than a wrist-bound video screen 75 years in the making. Accorded the relatively new term “wearable de- vice,” the Apple Watch offers an astonishing array of possibilities as a computing device with which you are intertwined virtually (pun intended) around the clock. In its first incarnation, Apple Watch is mostly tethered to an iPhone 5 or 6 conveniently tucked away in a purse, pocket, or briefcase, yet the iPhone man- ages the heavy lifting for receiving or making tele-

*Dick Tracy

TECHNOLOGY

JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL SERVICE PROFESSIONALS | JULY 2015

phone calls and texts. While the 38- or 42-mm-sized device has a small speaker plus microphone allow- ing an awkward-looking wrist-to-ear conversation, I highly recommend a Bluetooth earpiece, particularly an ultralightweight, noise-suppressing one. With this additional bit of audio technology, in a future update you’ll also be able to conduct a Tracy-like FaceTime conference call with grandma—or your hedge fund manager. (Note: this first iteration of the watch does not have a camera).

Under the Cover Incorporating an innovative Digital Crown and a touch-sensitive face made of extremely durable glass, the watch is all “high-tech.” It has a number of built- in sensors, including a gyroscope and an accelerom- eter, plus a sensor that uses visible-light and infrared LEDs along with photodiodes to measure heart rate. Because the watch is tethered to your iPhone, it can use the phone’s GPS and Wi-Fi for determining loca- tion and other useful information. There are dozens of different watch faces you can select (from chro- nometer to Mickey Mouse) to represent its most tra- ditional function, and time-keeping accuracy is said to be ± ½ second a year!

Apps Since the dawn of the computer age, hardware can’t do much without appropriate software. In ad- dition to Apple’s own apps included with the watch (principally Calendar, Contacts, Messages, Notifica- tions, Maps, Passbook, Music, Weather, Stocks, Apple Pay, and of course, Siri) more than 3,000 watch-spe- cific apps from third-party vendors appeared in the new Apple Watch App Store the day the first watches were received by those who ordered online 61 seconds after midnight on April 10. At press time (2 months before you’ll be reading this column), here’s a sample of the most compelling Apple and third-party apps:

• Transit—When’s the next train? • PowerPoint—Use your watch to control your

PowerPoint (or Keynote) presentation.

• Hue—Control the color and intensity of your home or office LED lighting systems.

• MLB.com At Bat—Get live scores of your fa- vorite teams

• Passbook—Use your watch for f light check- in at the gate, as well as the enabled portion of Apple Pay for those merchants accepting elec- tronic payments.

• SPG—Use your watch to open your room’s door at Starwood Hotels. Marriott, Hilton, and other major chains are quickly moving to adopt similar technology.

• Activity and Workout—Activity shows prog- ress toward a daily goal; Workout performs more detailed data tracking.

• Nike+ Running—Distance, duration, and pace are right there on the screen of your watch. With an anticipated system update, add that Bluetooth receiver and listen to music during your workout.

• Lifesum—Track how much food and water you’ve had during the day.

• Maps—Especially useful when walking—and then finding your parked car.

• Uber—Makes it now even easier to summon transportation.

And there’s more! How cool is BMW, allowing you to check the battery charge on your BMWi elec- tric car and warm up the seats? Or OpenTable, for making a dinner reservation? Or your watch’s Ever- note app, for dictating a quick reminder note? Or PaybyPhone Parking, with a 10-minute reminder to avoid those egregious parking fines? Hint: leave the Stocks app off your watch; there is some information that just doesn’t need constant attention! Some apps anticipate cooperation between the Watch and the tethered iPhone. WebMD will “re- fer” users to their iPhone version when the informa- tion would be better viewed on the larger screen. The Maps function on the watch uses the iPhone’s GPS and will even give you a gentle vibration on your wrist to indicate turning right or left at the appropriate time

JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL SERVICE PROFESSIONALS | JULY 2015

TECHNOLOGY

my recommendation is to stick to the low (Sport) or medium (Watch) with as modest a band as will be comfortable until Watch 2 becomes available in your neighborhood Apple Store by this time next year! The good news is that you’re not restricted to Apple products for watchbands, power adapters, and other accessories. Check out “Click” (https://www. get-click.com/#preorder), expected to begin shipping by the time this column is in your hands, for slide-in mechanisms to use watch bands from the much larger selection of conventional leather or steel bands. There are third-party screen protectors (not needed for the top two tiers of Watch; they use sapphire screens that are virtually unscratchable), and Navitech, Pad & Quill, Griffin, and Nomad sell charging stands that look good while charging the Watch overnight (Grif- fin’s charges the iPhone at the same time).

Recommendations • It will take some time to learn to get the most out

of an Apple Watch. Watch Apple’s useful videos at http://apple.co/1FprBR5.

• The Apple Watch can also be a major distrac- tion—for those who notice it on your wrist— and because of the novelty of having this very intimate device in nearly 24/7 proximity. Pro- ceed with caution!

• Turn off the feature on your iPhone that auto- matically ports all watch-compatible apps to the Watch; add them one at a time as you think you’ll need/want them.

• Turn on “do not disturb” when sitting down with friends and colleagues amongst whom you don’t want to be distracted.

The Next Big Thing Apple’s ResearchKit was formally announced on April 14, 2015. In its press release, the company stated that it was “… a software framework designed for medical and health research that helps doctors, scientists and other researchers gather data more frequently and more accurately from participants

in your journey! In the near future, Apple will allow third-party developers to use more of the computing power of the watch itself; likely by Watch 2 or 3, the iPhone will no longer be a required companion.

Obvious Uses for a Wearable Device Telephone calls, texts, directions, to-do remind- ers, and calendar: many of these allow personal tech- nology to be more subtle in use, at least to the extent that a surreptitious glance at your wrist is less rude than taking your phone out of your front pocket. But wait, there’s still more! Less obvious uses include des- ignating the most important e-mail correspondents as “VIP” in your e-mail software, and the resulting filter will direct only those e-mails to your watch. How does this newest entry into the “gotta have” technology frenzy help the advisor in his or her day- to-day/24/7/365 world? At the top of the list are the convenience and usefulness of personal technology that is always with you—securely on your wrist— and unlikely to get lost underneath the couch cush- ion or left at a store’s check-out counter. With careful inclusion and exclusion of apps and features (beware information overload!), the busy executive or home- maker—and everyone in between—has a to-do list, calendar, shopping list, phone book, boarding pass, activity tracker, and the ultimate remote control, al- ways just a flick of the wrist away.

Basics Plus Accessories The Apple Watch isn’t cheap. The least expensive one sells for $349 but will quickly escalate to $699 or $999 depending on the quality of the case and band. Those who have made their $10 million (and held on to the first $9 million) may be drawn to the upper-end 18-karat-gold version for a mere $17,000. Fortunately, shipping is free. Those who bought the first iPhone (April 2007) or Android device (October 2008) will recall how limited those first incarnations were com- pared to today’s iPhone 6 Plus or Samsung Galaxy S6. We can anticipate an even faster evolution of features with wearable devices such as the Apple Watch, and

JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL SERVICE PROFESSIONALS | JULY 2015

TECHNOLOGY

the precooled air started by your thermostat when it detected that your iPhone or Android device was approximately a half-hour away. It’s not just about Apple and its glamorous devices:

• Major consumer product vendors such as Hon- eywell and Phillips are developing “connected” products that are starting to appear in retail stores.

• As a worldwide manufacturer and distributer of home appliances, Samsung has committed to having 90 percent of its products Internet-con- nected by 2017.

• Google and its recently acquired Nest thermostat are already looking far beyond merely controlling a home’s heating and air settings.

• There are ingenious start-ups including iDevices and SmartThings (hubs to connect everything), and Schlage (door locks) and Chamberlain (garage doors) to handle life’s little automation chores.

And that’s just a sampling of what we know about today’s adventures in home automation. For some, consumer technology is about conve- nience; for others it’s about efficiency. For still oth- ers—it’s about cool! However it best works for you, in the home or in the office, Apple’s newest consumer device is a game changer, and we’ll be looking for- ward to the innovations that can today barely be imagined in the infancy of Apple Watch. n

Richard M. Weber, MBA, CLU, AEP, is well known by insur- ance agents for his activities on their behalf in the area of life insurance “Due Care.” He received the Kenneth Black, Jr., Leadership Award in 2008 in recognition of his “exem- plary leadership qualities and significant contributions to the fulfillment of the Society’s core values of ethics, ed- ucation, and relationships.” He is president of The Ethi- cal Edge, Inc., Pleasant Hill, CA, consulting to insurance companies and agents on issues of product expertise and the appropriate use of technology. A past president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, Mr. Weber has written hundreds of articles and delivered presentations throughout the industry on “... increasing earnings while maintaining high levels of integrity and ethics.” He can be reached at Dick@EthicalEdgeConsulting.com.

using mobile devices [and] is now available to re- searchers and developers. The first research apps developed using ResearchKit™ study asthma, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and Par- kinson’s disease, and have enrolled over 60,000 iPhone® users in just the first few weeks of being available on the App Store™.” Apple further indicated that immediately “… medical researchers all over the world will be able to use ResearchKit™ to develop their own apps and de- velopers can also contribute new research modules to the open source framework.” For more information, see http://apple.co/1DOwHRB. The greatest long-term benefit from wearable technology will likely be the ability to detect and transmit the body’s vital signs—from heart rate and blood pressure to (eventually) glucose levels and other data that can be critical to living and man- aging a long, healthy life. Five years from now the Watch will be performing functions through fea- tures invented by third-party developers that today wouldn’t seem possible. WebMD has for many years sponsored an app for iOS devices (phones and tablets) and has already extended its reach to the Watch. Presently, the Web- MD Watch app will just provide reminders with pill images and dosage/timing information. With the Watch’s current sensors for heart rate and physical activity—and the anticipated third-party sensors in development that can measure and provide more crit- ical data—wearable technology could usher in an en- tirely new era of disease detection and life extension. For couch potatoes and gear heads, HomeKit is the counterpart to ResearchKit. For any reader who was an electronics enthusiast as a kid, you’ll be in heaven with the home automation opportunities that are being introduced for iOS devices—and by extension—to Apple Watch and its eventual com- petitors. Imagine the combination of wrist-based de- vice control and Siri (voice command) activation to open the garage door and/or the front door, fire up the evening news on the flat screen, while enjoying

Copyright of Journal of Financial Service Professionals is the property of Society of Financial Service Professionals and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.