Reader-Contributed "Spring Forward" Theory Offers Up Radical Apple Watch Twist
Apple is well-known for filling their event invitations with little hints and puzzles about the nature of the products to be unveiled or discussed, and their “Spring Forward” flyer for tomorrow’s Apple Watch event is no exception. The title is clearly a pun on daylight saving time, and it is similarly a reference to mechanical wristwatches in general, which use mainsprings to power their many complex machinations. Apple Watch, as an evolution (or revolution!) of the classical wristwatch, would naturally make such an allusion, even as it intends to leave that concept in the dust. Perhaps Apple Watch is springing wearable technology forward, or maybe it’s springing away from the bindings of the windings of old. Puns are best when they’re versatile.
However, one of our readers came up with a deeper, more clever interpretation of the flyer, and it focuses primarily on the main perceived limitation of Apple Watch: battery life. In addition to the word “spring” having connotations of classical watch “batteries” (that’s basically what they are in this context), the actual background imagery of the invite seems to be a variation on something called the “flower of life” or “seed of life” (see “tube torus”). Of course, the imagery also happens to match up pretty well with visualizations of certain magnetic fields and effects. Because Apple Watch charges via magnetic induction, this could simply be a fun little take on that.
But it also might be a hint at a really revolutionary bit of tech that Apple Watch could certainly benefit from: wireless-at-a-distance charging. The concept has been in R&D for years, and there seem to be promising (albeit sometimes controversial) systems popping up for the idea. This magnetically-based solution patented by Apple is of particular import. Patently Apple explains:
Apple’s exciting new invention will provide a system and method for utilizing wireless near field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power transmission in a computing environment.
That patent was filed in 2012, so Apple has certainly been working on the model for quite some time now. Could it — or something like it — be announced tomorrow?
Our tipster thinks there’s an outside possibility:
Tim Cook’s comments about battery life have always been in the vein of “People are going to want to charge it every night.” Tim’s comments, from what I recall, are the only mention of battery life from Apple.
Jony Ive mentioned Apple Watch tapping someone to wake them up in the morning — which of course can’t happen if you’re not wearing the watch because it’s on the charger. …
The idea of attaching the announced inductive charger and placing Apple Watch on a surface or stand with the bands sticking out seems and looks very un-Apple-like, though they absolutely would need the attached charger (in addition to a wireless at a distance charger), for convenience or for those worried about any harm from wireless charging around/though their bodies.
The battery is small enough that a focused wireless charge at low energy could charge it over the course of a night. This is not practical for a phone battery, but for a watch, it would be perfect.
The underside of Apple Watch is pretty much all glass. Combined with the front, this gives ample room for a wireless signal to reach the inside of the device. …
All of these thoughts bring me right back to believing that NFMR (or perhaps a new type of focused Wi-Fi charger) could be announced Monday. The technology does exist, is inevitable, and Apple Watch is the perfect fit.
The unfettered, glass-overflowingly-full Apple optimist in me wants this to be true, even if the technology were limited to the tiniest trickle charge that merely maintained the Apple Watch battery in low-power mode. Maybe Apple’s perfected the safe consumer version of the Tesla Ray. (Remember, that unofficial Tesla app was one of the first Apple Watch mockups to hit the Internet.) Unfortunately, I don’t actually believe we’ll get such an announcement tomorrow. The only surprise I expect out of Apple on Monday has to do with MSRP, not NFMR.