Apple in fact wanted its smartwatches to focus greatly
on health-related features, but the company was forced to changed direction
mid-development. According to The Wall Street Journal (The Wall
Street Journal is an American English-language international
daily newspaper with a special emphasis on business and economic news), the
company originally visualize a device that can monitor heart rate, blood
pressure and stress levels (based on the conductivity of the skin).
Unfortunately, the sensors they tested just didn't pass muster, which isn't
entirely surprising, since we've reviewed plenty of wearables with patchy heart
rate monitors in the past. The company's engineers found that hairy arms, dry
skin and even how tightly the watch is worn can influence the results, and they
did not find a solution in time.
Apple Watch became known as a black hole
within the company, the The Wall Street Journal’s sources
said, as it continued sucking in resources for four years despite all the
failures during testing. Its development slowed down once the company
understands that a health-focused watch that meets its standards will be very
hard to build at this time. The lineup of watches due out in April are a lot
different from the original one Apple envisioned and are more of an iPhone
companion with a much simpler pulse monitor and pedometer.
Still, the company's expecting to sell a ton,
reportedly ordering around 6 million units from its Asian suppliers just for
the first quarter. Half of those are the entry-level Apple Watch Sports, while
the mid-tier stainless steel model makes up a third of that number. As for
Cupertino's original vision, well, there's always a chance that we'll see it
come to life in the coming years. The company has a good track record of
substantially improving its devices after a debut model appears -- the first iPhone
didn't have 3G.
SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal
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