One of the most annoying thing about many smartwatches is terrible battery life, requiring a charge just about every night. But the Apple Watch’s hidden port could be the solution.
The 6-pin port hidden in the little notch where you slide the Watch’s band. It’s technically a diagnostic port, which Apple can presumably use to figure out what’s wrong with your Watch when it’s not working properly. The port can quickly send power, too — and now some are wondering weather it can be used to charge the Watch, since wireless charging is so slow.
The idea of using the watch’s strap to lend it more power is already emerging. A team of entrepreneurs is working on a product called Reserve Strap, which is basically a battery-watchband for the Watch. The designers haven’t actually built the product, and they’re still looking into whether the strap concept will work. In other words, don’t go throwing $US250 at a pre-order without thinking it through.
Notwithstanding the fact that Reserve Strap isn’t a real thing yet, the idea is to put the band — and the extra port — to work is a good one. Pebble’s new line of watches have a port that allows you to plug in bands that add functionality to the watch, too — be it GPS, a heart rate monitor, or something else. It makes sense: If the watch is smart, why is the band still dumb?
[Reserve Strap via 9to5Mac via Popular Mechanics]