Posted on 03/09/2015 11:26:25 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It’s been some time since Apple introduced the world to the Apple Watch, it’s first wearable ever. Few devices could hold our attention for so many months without losing their allure, but because it’s Apple, we’ve been following every move since it first appeared onstage in September. Now, the time has finally come to meet Apple Watch. Here’s what we know so far.
A note on updates: We’re updating this post with all the news from the March 9 reveal, so keep checking back.
Tim Cook relieved a lot of people today when he announced that the Apple Watch will tell time accurately. He said it’s within 50 milliseconds of UTC, so you’re never behind. Cook also showed off watch face widgets for the first time, which can be anything from a stopwatch, calendar events, world clock, or other tools. The Glances feature was also explained. All you have to do is swipe up from bottom of watch to see Glances such as weather, calendar, music, heart rate, and other key information that you only need to see for a second or two at a time.
Cook claimed the Apple Watch offers brand-new ways to communicate immediately and intimately with your family and friends. Thanks to what Apple calls Digital Touch, you can send animated sketches scribbled on the screen to a friend’s Watch, in real time, or send a tap from your watch to get your their attention. It’s even possible to send your digital heartbeat.
Unlike Android Wear, the Apple Watch will have a home screen that’s full of app icons. The app icons look like small, brightly colored bubbles, resting on a black field. You’ll be able to choose which app to open at will. However, we’ve also heard that the watch will be contextually aware and bring up appropriate apps when you need them most. You’ll receive notifications, calls, texts, and other alerts on your wrist, which you can glance at, answer, or dismiss.
Related: The Apple Watch must succeed for smartwatches to surrvive
The watch will supposedly know when you’re looking at it and turn off when you’re not, so you don’t have to worry about pressing the power button every five minutes. Apple says the screen will be sensitive enough to recognize a “force touch” press from a light tap, so you’ll have yet another way to interact with the watch. Meanwhile, the digital crown will handle all the zooming, scrolling, and so on. Additionally, Siri will be there for voice commands, dictation, and other functions.
Apple always puts a lot of focus on design, but it has really put the emphasis on style for the Apple Watch. The watch comes in three versions, each made of different materials. All three watches will come with several strap options at the start, though many third-party manufacturers are expected to jump in with their own straps, too.
The entry-level Apple Watch Sport is made out of anodized aluminum and comes in space gray or silver. You can choose from a variety of strap options, including brightly colored silicon. The Sport has an ion-X strengthened glass screen to protect it from scratches. Meanwhile, the mid-range Apple Watch comes in stainless steel with a hadr-wearing sapphire crystal face, and you can choose between the space gray or standard silvery finish options. A variety of metal, leather, and other kinds of straps are available for this model.
Related: Get a virtual pet on your Apple Watch
Finally, the premium and likely most expensive version of the Apple Watch, called Edition, comes in 18-karat yellow and rose gold. The watch face is made of sapphire crystal, and you can choose from several fancy leather and metal strap options.
So far, wearables have been one-size fits all, but that’s not the case with Apple Watch. It will come in two sizes, 38mm and 42mm, so as to fit a wider range of wrists more comfortably. For reference, the 38mm Apple Watch will be smaller than the 1.56-inch wide Moto 360, as well as the 42mm Huawei Watch. It will also be much shorter than the Samsung Gear 2, which measures 58.4mm tall. Theoretically, this will make it ideal for smaller wrists, while those who can sport a Moto 360 and look natural can have the larger 42mm version.
According to Apple’s WatchKit developer information, the 42-millimeter Apple Watch model will feature a screen with 390 × 312-pixel resolution, and the 38-millimeter model will pack a 340 × 272 pixel resolution.
Jeremy Kaplan/Digital Trends
As with any smartwatch, one the Apple Watch’s biggest features is fitness. Tim Cook says it’ll even give you a tap on the wrist if you sit for too long. The watch has a built in heart rate monitor, which should give it accurate fitness tracking and an awareness of how many calories you’ve burned. It will track your steps, the intensity of your workouts, and other fitness metrics. The accelerometer and GPS are also sure to draw gym rats, as are the personalized fitness goals in the workout app.
Just like the latest iPhones, the Apple Watch will work with Apple Pay, thanks to built-in NFC. Tap-to-pay will undoubtedly become much easier once you’re doing it from your wrist instead of your phone. Reports hint that it’ll be secure, thanks to sensors in the Apple Watch that know it’s on your wrist when you pay.
Apple isn’t a miracle worker, and it probably still hasn’t solved the eternal smartwatch battery life conundrum. The Apple Watch will almost certainly need charging every night in its box, or with the company’s MagSafe charger. Luckily, it seems there’s a power saving mode, which should keep the most basic watch functions alive when the battery’s running low.
Tim Cook even says you can wear it in the shower, while you’re running in a rainstorm, or sweating through a hot yoga class. There’s no mention of swimming with it, though.
We’ve heard that pricing will start at $350 and go up from there, perhaps into the thousands of dollars. Tim Cook previously said the Watch will arrive in April, but we’ll keep you updated in the meantime.
No watch is "waterproof". . . only "water resistant". The AppleWatch is water resistant. Watches are rated to water resistant to specific pressures. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook:
"While on a trip in Germany to visit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and meet with a few German-based Apple staff members, Apple CEO Tim Cook told Apple Store employees in Berlin that he wears his Apple Watch constantly, "even in the shower", according to iGen.fr [Google Translate].
Good to know!
I think it looks fine, but my question is, besides looking nice, and being something I would wear on my wrist, will it do more than my iPhone already does? It appears to me, to be just an extension of my IPhone.
It also has many features the Samsung watch just doesn't have. . . and before the Samsung watch was ever thought about an Apple engineer was interviewed "off the record" about what Apple was working on next, and he spoke about a "possible" AppleWatch and what it would be including. Immediately, like the next week no less, Samsung announced they were going to make a watch too, with the same features as were listed in the Apple engineer's interview. Gee. Who'd a thunks it from Samsung? I thought Samsung's announcement was hilarious.
I also don't think I've ever heard of an iWatch either.
Samsung is a “me too” company ... just slapping together “features” that they scope out and copy from competition, and slapping it together, no matter what ... LOL ...
They don’t have the finesse of the product that Apple does, they don’t have the quality and they don’t have the ecosystem.
I mean ... is Samsung NOW going to announce their “ResearchKit” ... since Apple just did today??! ... :-) ...
Safe for shower, not for swimming. That's what I hear. Tim Cook says he showers with his on.
Now that’s cool ... and it’s great for the usage that people will put it through. I’m glad to hear Apple has done that. I haven’t gotten to the part where the Apple Watch is talked about ... yet ... on today’s event. I’m watching it in pieces ... :-) ...
And you ignore everything else they make. That makes you very ignorant. Apple has $190 BILLION in cash, so you claim at minimum, the company is worth $10 Billion. You math is way off. Apple has $240 in hard assets: land, buildings, and equipment. . . irrespective of good will. That totals to $430 BILLION in book value. . . so you are quite wrong already on your HIGH END of $400 BILLION. Two companies that value TRADE MARK value, the most valuable in the world, and Good Will place Apple's Trade Mark value at between $90 BILLION and $119 BILLION, taking the lower value of that we are now at $520 BILLION in book value. . .
I don't know what kind of math you are using, but it is NO WHERE NEAR real world math. I'm wearing my Economist hat and my ex-CEO hat and frankly, you've demonstrated you haven't a clue about how to value stocks or companies.
Apple at the current price and Market Cap is just around 9 times Earnings. That is very low. YOU want Apple to be selling for between 2.27 times Earnings and 4.54 times Earnings.
If those idiotic PEs were the case, Apple would be in danger of a hostile take over bid. . . BIG TIME. . . and the stockholders would be in revolt, assailing the board room with pitchforks and torches calling for the heads of upper management.
As it was, when the price was lower Carl Icahn was screaming about how under valued Apple stock was. . . and demanded stock buy backs because it was so undervalued!
Apple has returned over $225 BILLION to the stockholders in dividends and stock buy backs in the past two years. . . and you still think Apple's OVER HYPED!?
Keep beating on your dead horse, adorno:
It has the sensors your iPhone lacks for HealthKit to keep track of your health, fitness, and exercising. It can provide payment through ApplePay without getting your iPhone out of your pocket or purse. You can answer your iPhone or initiate a phone call without getting your iPhone out of your pocket or purse. You can see and respond to messages without getting your iPhone out of your pocket or purse. It can provide Maps directions without getting your phone out of your pocket or purse. You can ask SIRI questions and get answers without getting your iPhone out of your pocket or purse. You can enter a hotel room without a key. Clear airlines without a boarding pass. . . control your AppleTV. . . and a host of other things right on your wrist.
There are thousands of AppleWatch only apps ready to go for the AppleWatch on launch.
Samsung doesn't have to. Apple made ResarchKit open source for anyone to use under Commons license.
LOL ... I wrote that before I got to that spot in the video ... :-) ...
I am not anti-apple...I have iphones, ipads, macbooks, and even a few ipods laying arounds somewhere. But I am not a fanboy either. I use Windows 8 and 10 on all my desktops and game machines.
My opinion of the watch is that I probably won’t be getting one. It’s too thick for starters and looks like a rounded off ipod nano made into a watch that already existed 4 years ago and was for nerds at the time.
I expect to see Paris Hilton sporting the $17,000 Red Band Edition watch, but that won’t sway me I don’t think. I always have my phone with me, so why do I need a watch connected to my phone that’s in my pocket? It’s not even a heirloom that you can pass down either. It will age and the batteries will die and will wind up in the back of a drawer like my old 60 gb ipod.
I wish people would stop calling it the "iWatch". Apple stopped naming new products with an "i" in front a while ago (other than revisions of existing products). The "iWatch" name is owned by another company (Swatch?), so Apple named it "Apple Watch". They say the "i" is no longer necessary on newer products. For instance they've been selling the "Apple TV" puck for many years now, no "iTV" on it. Same with their routers and other gear, no "i" in front of them. So no, their car won't be named the Apple "iCarE" (I made that up a while ago for their version of an electric car).
I have heard that Nordstrom will retail the watch.
I would imagine Apple would retail the $349 sports edition out of their stores. Do you think they’ll retail the higher priced ones out of Nordstrom? Or the other way around?
Oops, looks like that is still a rumor.
It's half a millimeter thicker than a Rolex.
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