If you already received your Apple Watch, try to take a closer look at it closely. After detaching the bottom section of the band, you'll see what looks like a tiny SIM card tray slot. What you're looking at is the door to a six-pin port. With the port's discovery going viral, it is being theorized that the port will allow users to charge the watch directly with a cable or accessory, instead of the wireless charging that is being used now.
One such accessory is being produced as a project called Reserve Strap, which claims to have cracked the code of the mysterious socket. The Reserve Strap will charge your Apple Watch while you wear it using a flexible lithium-ion battery and plugging into the six-pin port instead of sliding in like current bands. Brace yourselves, Apple Watch owners, as this is likely just the beginning of many custom bands and accessories for the product.
Although it was unconfirmed, there was always a possibility of the Reserve Strap obstructing normal functions of the heart rate sensor, or causing the Watch to not function altogether by interfering with skin contact completely.
After getting their hands on an Apple Watch, third-party developers Lane Musgrave and John Arrow have gone back to the drawing board on the design of the Reserve Strap, coming up with a new look that acts as more of a traditional Apple-made band without blocking the heart rate sensor at all. They said:
Third-party charging bands like the Reserve Strap could be the key to having a smartwatch that lasts days, something Apple's main competitors lack. The ingenuity behind this possible new wave of accessories deserves appreciation. The port was likely used by Apple to load software onto the devices or as a diagnostic tool at the fab. No official word on whether Apple intended the port to be used.
One such accessory is being produced as a project called Reserve Strap, which claims to have cracked the code of the mysterious socket. The Reserve Strap will charge your Apple Watch while you wear it using a flexible lithium-ion battery and plugging into the six-pin port instead of sliding in like current bands. Brace yourselves, Apple Watch owners, as this is likely just the beginning of many custom bands and accessories for the product.
Although it was unconfirmed, there was always a possibility of the Reserve Strap obstructing normal functions of the heart rate sensor, or causing the Watch to not function altogether by interfering with skin contact completely.
After getting their hands on an Apple Watch, third-party developers Lane Musgrave and John Arrow have gone back to the drawing board on the design of the Reserve Strap, coming up with a new look that acts as more of a traditional Apple-made band without blocking the heart rate sensor at all. They said:
"Finally getting our hands on the Apple Watch has further confirmed the immense value of the Reserve Strap. Since release day, we've been executing series of tests on the Apple Watch and have some really exciting news to share today.It's possible that ultimately the most practical use for this port is to extend the battery life of the watch during power-consuming activities. One of the main selling points of the Apple's new smartwatch is its use as a fitness accessory and tool. Apple officially states that the watch can provide up to 6.5 hours of continuous fitness tracking or 18 hours of regular use. But even 18 hours is little when for the first time in your life you have to worry about charging your watch.
We've developed and tested a completely rethought design that takes advantage of the 6-pin port underneath the band slide of the Apple Watch. This port hadn't been deciphered by anyone until now but we've been able to make significant enough observations so far to warrant shifting our development focus to this new method. We're looking forward to sharing more design details and technical specification of this new Reserve Strap as soon as we can. "
Third-party charging bands like the Reserve Strap could be the key to having a smartwatch that lasts days, something Apple's main competitors lack. The ingenuity behind this possible new wave of accessories deserves appreciation. The port was likely used by Apple to load software onto the devices or as a diagnostic tool at the fab. No official word on whether Apple intended the port to be used.
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