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Agreed. I do jealously look at my Apple watch friends for things like locking/unlocking the laptop by proximity, no chance Garmin or FitBit gets that kind of fu

by entee 10y ago

Agreed. I do jealously look at my Apple watch friends for things like locking/unlocking the laptop by proximity, no chance Garmin or FitBit gets that kind of functionality. And re. fitness, if you don't go out and use GPS for more than an hour or two, then yeah Apple Watch is the perfect fit. That said, coming at it from the other side, I think the Garmin smart watch features are good enough for many, many people. Thing is, these are bloody expensive devices. I'd never buy both, but then again, maybe if you can afford one, you can afford two?

MBCook 10y ago
The Garmin features are fine, but they'll never be as tightly integrated as an Apple Watch or Android Wear device (assuming it isn't running Android Wear), and you have all the other things to think about (the large band market for Apple, general preferences in looks, etc). Makes me think it will be hard for Garmin to break into the mainstream.
brlewis 10y ago
I work for Fitbit. I don't generally talk about what I do and don't know about future features, but I'll make a one-time exception and tell you I'm completely ignorant as to whether there's any plan for laptop lock/unlock. Despite my complete ignorance, I'll still challenge your statement "no chance Garmin or Fitbit gets that kind of functionality." If Fitbit Blaze can do bluetooth music control it doesn't take much imagination to think lock/unlock.
- MBCook 10y ago
  Bluetooth music control it's a relatively standard part of Bluetooth. Normal headphones can do that, I'm guessing it's not too hard to do that. At a minimum your device could send a message over Bluetooth to your app on the phone which could do the adjustment us No standard platform APIs. Unlocking a computer has two different problems. First, you have the basic problem of access. Only Apple has the rights necessary to make something that can unlock a Mac. You may be able to do this in the windows world, but I don't think anyone else can accomplish it on the Mac. The second is the issue of security. When Apple created this feature they explained that they were using time of flight information from the two devices to be able to figure out when they were close enough to unlock. They claim this is only possible because they control both sides in the firmware on both devices. It's very easy to know if something is in range. And I'm sure there's a way to get some sort of signal strength. But how do you know if someone is using a signal booster? How do you know what "close" is? If you're dealing with random computers from different manufacturers then how do you calibrate with the correct "closeness" value is for each one? Even if there's a very good way to do that, do you have the resources? And to keep that database updated as new computers come out? I've been using the feature on my personal Mac and you do have to be VERY close. It won't work from a couple feet away, even though Bluetooth will work form a much much longer distance. That really is one of those little things that Apple is able to do because they have such tight control of everything. Even in the PC world, I would think it would be hard for someone like Microsoft to do on anything other than the surface computers that they build. (It occurs to me that I'm thinking of doing it automatically. Just like the music controls, you could always have an app on the computer listening for a special message sent over Bluetooth when someone tap the button on the watch that would unlock the computer. But that's not as convenient or secure)
  - brlewis 10y ago
    Interesting points. I have only a Linux laptop. I use Smart Unlock on my Android phone but don't know to what extent it relies on signal strength.
    - MBCook 10y ago
      I remember people making apps to let you do it on Macs years ago with an iPhone, but I don't know how much of a hack they were or how secure. MacOS has gotten more secure in the mean time so I'm not sure if it would still be possible.

by entee 10y ago

MBCook 10y ago

The Garmin features are fine, but they'll never be as tightly integrated as an Apple Watch or Android Wear device (assuming it isn't running Android Wear), and you have all the other things to think about (the large band market for Apple, general preferences in looks, etc). Makes me think it will be hard for Garmin to break into the mainstream.

brlewis 10y ago

I work for Fitbit. I don't generally talk about what I do and don't know about future features, but I'll make a one-time exception and tell you I'm completely ignorant as to whether there's any plan for laptop lock/unlock. Despite my complete ignorance, I'll still challenge your statement "no chance Garmin or Fitbit gets that kind of functionality." If Fitbit Blaze can do bluetooth music control it doesn't take much imagination to think lock/unlock.

MBCook 10y ago
Bluetooth music control it's a relatively standard part of Bluetooth. Normal headphones can do that, I'm guessing it's not too hard to do that. At a minimum your device could send a message over Bluetooth to your app on the phone which could do the adjustment us No standard platform APIs. Unlocking a computer has two different problems. First, you have the basic problem of access. Only Apple has the rights necessary to make something that can unlock a Mac. You may be able to do this in the windows world, but I don't think anyone else can accomplish it on the Mac. The second is the issue of security. When Apple created this feature they explained that they were using time of flight information from the two devices to be able to figure out when they were close enough to unlock. They claim this is only possible because they control both sides in the firmware on both devices. It's very easy to know if something is in range. And I'm sure there's a way to get some sort of signal strength. But how do you know if someone is using a signal booster? How do you know what "close" is? If you're dealing with random computers from different manufacturers then how do you calibrate with the correct "closeness" value is for each one? Even if there's a very good way to do that, do you have the resources? And to keep that database updated as new computers come out? I've been using the feature on my personal Mac and you do have to be VERY close. It won't work from a couple feet away, even though Bluetooth will work form a much much longer distance. That really is one of those little things that Apple is able to do because they have such tight control of everything. Even in the PC world, I would think it would be hard for someone like Microsoft to do on anything other than the surface computers that they build. (It occurs to me that I'm thinking of doing it automatically. Just like the music controls, you could always have an app on the computer listening for a special message sent over Bluetooth when someone tap the button on the watch that would unlock the computer. But that's not as convenient or secure)
- brlewis 10y ago
  Interesting points. I have only a Linux laptop. I use Smart Unlock on my Android phone but don't know to what extent it relies on signal strength.
  - MBCook 10y ago
    I remember people making apps to let you do it on Macs years ago with an iPhone, but I don't know how much of a hack they were or how secure. MacOS has gotten more secure in the mean time so I'm not sure if it would still be possible.