Yes, I need a smart watch

1. Battery life be a minimum of a week. Charging happens only at the weekends
2. It should always show the time irrespective of the position of my wrist. I myself see the time on others wrist if by mistake I did not take my watch along and am too lazy to draw out the phone for the same.
3. Should be dead-drop easy to operate. In any menu, a particular key click should return me to the watch face. a la home button.
4. Open API's in terms of software and programmable interfaces w.r.t hardware attachments. This will ensure the longevity of the product.
5. The watch strap should be standard as per the existing watch industry practises. This will keep this creative industry alive and allows inclusive growth.
6. The watch case design particularly the inner area housing the electronics portion should be open.
7. The electronics should be housed in a compact plastic enclosure so that it can be easily removed by removing the back case of the watch as is the existing industry practise. The only thing exposed out of the plastic enclosure will be the metallic contacts for the keys on the watch case.
8. Points 5. 6, and 7 result in ultimate customizability and will allow the existing watch companies to come out with watch cases and straps taking the look of it a completely different level. This also allows the smart watch maker to concentrate on his core ability, that is, the smartness of the watch and leaving the traditional competency of case and strap design to the established ones.
9. Point 8 is very important in bringing down the cost of the watch, which in turn is another important requirement of a smart watch.
10. The entry level watch should always cost less to allow the mass to adopt.
11. You can always have watches for the filthy rich by just embedding a few diamonds here and there.
12. It should be waterproof. My INR 400/- watch bought 15 years ago never allowed a drop of water inside.
13. The UI to be very basic and to the point. No razzmatazz. Yes, of cours the watch for the filthy rich ones can have it(They may have another 10 nos on charge all the time)
14. The software should talk to the phone at the system level. Should not be dependent on the particular app on the phone. The upgrades to the watch should be only when the OS on the phone changes, not when the app changes( I maybe wrong here. But it is a far stretched idea. Now, all programmers dont draw out your forks).
15. It should have the latest and the best connectivity stack optimized for power usage(bluetooth now).
16. Font and font size to be configurable. I like small font and more information.
17. Intensity of vibrations to be configurable
18. The handshake once established between the source device and the watch should be aggressively maintained until the physical limits are reached.
19. Smart watch makers should stop thinking about it as a small mobile and think of it as a watch first. Start from there. It should meet all the requirements of the watch first, then go on adding smartness in an iterative manner. There is definitely no hurry.
20. By opening up the hardware design the smart watch manufacturers can include the existing manufacturers thereby launching a variety of hardware shells instead of one smart watch. Just imagine the options the customer is going to get by this methodology.
21. Should it be able to recieve phone calls. No. Should it be able to reply to messages. Yes, small ones, prestored.
22. Should it do a zillian things, Yes. But the first thing it should be is, it should be a watch and show me the f*&$!*#g time.

Any smartwatch has to be first a "WATCH"

Curious case of premium phones and tablets.

People pay a premium for a certain section of phones and tablets expecting premium in terms of hardware, software, services and accessories. If we observe the trend along the evolution of phones and tablets, the more premium it is the more is it "closed". The more users have to depend on the manufacturers. Nearly zero indie development, Not "expandable" in nature particularly in terms of hardware, Maximum crapware, Forceful need creation(stylus, This may also be due to the lack of tech knowledge and design fundamentals. It is like the pen apps were designed around the pen. They should have started at the apps and then thought of how to use the fingers themselves or things which the user already carries around with him). The stylus was acceptable on a motoming not on devices(os) which have multipoint touch capability.

Let us discuss the subject w.r.t android devices. I see there is no point in discussing propreitory offerings.
If we take the case of the nexus devices, I was shocked at the ease with which the device can be converted to meet your requirement. Unlocking the device was a "breeze". After that, sky is the limit. Indie developers flourish on the nexus devices. Yes, It is not free as RMS would have liked, but, it is an excellent start. Now, these devices are exactly at the middle category w.r.t costs and the overall premium feel. The lower end of the tablets dont interest indie devs. All devs would love to have a maximum sweep when it comes to the number and variety of users.

I though that, in fact, the situation should be the other way round. The premium ones are the ones should be completely open and allow the user complete freedom of their device. Since, the user has payed a premium, Or, If we put it in business terms, He has payed in entirety for the device and services available. So, the device has to be completely "his" to tinker with. The manufacturers already know how to get out of the loop once a user tinkers with his device by making him accept long terms and conditions especially when a user unlocks his device. So, the manufacturer cannot tell us that he is locking the device for better performance during the servicing of the device.

The nexus device since has not taken the "full" amount required for offering the product and services should have been locked more tightly so that the user clings on to the manufacturer, thereby making him returns on perpetuity. Now, you tell me this is exactly what google is doing. Eh?. Instead of google sharing returns from the device with the manufacturers, why dont the manufacturers reverse the technique by making a nexus of all their premium ones and demand perpetuity from google. How awesome would that be. I dont know why the manufacturers are going behind having cheap skins on the vanilla android. This should be allowed to indie devs. Let  them come out with skins. Let them make money.

Will it happen?
It should happen. This is a pure business proposition. Not a tech discussion. This is more on the rights of a buyer. Let people/businesses concentrate on their core competency.

Let us see............