Apple Watch

Update: Images of the new store’s facade below via @MikesiOSHelp and @thequinntaylor.

With Apple’s redesigned company store set to open this weekend, details of changes to the new store have been highlighted in a memo to employees (via MacMagazine). Among the changes, the new Apple company store will for the first time sell Apple devices including the iPhone, iPad, Macs, and Apple Watch. The store is also re-opening with a new collection of Apple-branded merchandise including clothing, mugs, and other collectibles that are only available at the company store. 
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Ford has updated its MyFord Mobile iPhone app to add Apple Watch support for its three electric and hybrid cars. The Watch app allows you to get walking directions back to your car, check battery status and range, lock and unlock the car, start it remotely and check a range of stats … 
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The retail availability of Apple Watch has been gradually expanding since its initial release back in April and now it looks like another avenue for purchasing the device will soon emerge. According to images of an internal Sprint stock screen obtained by 9to5Mac, Sprint will begin to sell Apple Watch in its retail locations on Friday, September 25th.

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AgileBits has pushed out the latest version of its popular password management app, 1Password. The update brings support for new iOS 9-exclusive features, such as the ability to search for your saved passwords directly through the native iOS Spotlight screen.

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Apple has reportedly discovered a critical flaw in watchOS 2 and decided to withhold the update to fix it, pushing back today’s scheduled release. The issue may remind users of a similar predicament with HealthKit applications at the launch of iOS 8 last year.

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It is just me, or do you have to work for Apple to think that the fourth color added to the iPhone 6s/Plus is rose gold? To anyone else, the color is, like the Apple Watch Sport version, surely very obviously pink?

Don’t get me wrong – I have absolutely nothing against pink. It’s a popular color, it makes perfect sense to make pink iPhones and Watches. It might not be my personal choice, but then neither is gold – whether of the yellow or rose variety. Personally, I still haven’t quite stopped grumbling about Apple replacing black iPhones with gray ones, a topic I’ll return to in a moment … 
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Bank of America has updated its mobile banking app to allow sign-in using Touch ID, and has added Apple Watch support for balances, recent transactions and alerts.

The new fingerprint and Touch ID sign-in capabilities provide eligible Android, iPhone and iPad customers with a secure and convenient way to log into the mobile banking app using their fingerprint. This feature allows access to the most common functionality of the app without the additional need for a passcode.

The mobile banking app is now compatible with Apple Watch, allowing users to view account balances and recent transactions for their linked checking, savings, credit card and investment accounts, as well as receive real-time alerts and notifications on their wrist … 

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Perhaps best known for its excellent Stand for Apple Watch (reviewed here), Nomad Goods today unveiled Pod Pro — a more powerful sequel to its unique portable Pod charging dock for Apple Watch (reviewed here) — and Strap, a premium stitched leather strap similar to an Apple Watch Hermés band, but at a much more affordable price.

Pod Pro expands upon the Apple Watch-only Pod charging puck by boosting both power capacity and device compatibility. Now featuring a 6000mAh battery and an integrated Lightning cable, Pod Pro promises two full recharges of both an iPhone 6 and Apple Watch. Circular with a 98mm diameter, it winds an Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Cable underneath a space gray metal cap. It’s available for pre-order today at a discounted price of $79, going up to a regular price of $100 on October 15, and shipping October 30.

Strap uses impressively thick genuine Italian leather in only one size — 42mm — and one color, a handsome natural brown with beige contrast stitches. To match the color of your Apple Watch, you can choose from silver or PVD-treated space gray buckles, each made from stainless steel. It’s available for pre-order today at a reduced price of $119, with a full retail price of $150 starting on September 30. Strap ships on October 15. More pictures are below…

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Update: Apple has now informed developers that they can submit iOS 9, El Capitan and watchOS 2 apps to the App Store.

Three days later than the normal schedule, Apple is finally letting developers submit iOS 9 apps for review. Apple usually enables submission for apps built against the new SDK as soon as the Xcode GM is published but for unknown reasons, this milestone was delayed.

Although there hasn’t been an official announcement, developers are now successfully uploading binaries through iTunes Connect and are ‘Waiting For Review’. Apple’s review team will now be working double-speed to get the influx of submissions ready for iOS 9’s launch on Wednesday.

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Not to be outdone by iOS 9.1’s set of new emoji, watchOS 2 GM, released this past Wednesday following Apple’s press event, includes a little surprise of it’s own. Alongside a bunch of new watch face colors, dig into the animated emoji offered on the Apple Watch, and you’ll find 26 new options, ranging from faces sporting sunglasses, to sick faces, and even a few sets of clapping and fist bumping hands. Check out the gallery below to see them all in action:
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The iOS 9 GM includes a new feature for Siri to help it better recognize your voice when using the automatic ‘Hey Siri’ activation feature. On all current iPhones, you can activate Siri by saying ‘Hey Siri’ when the device is plugged in to power. On the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the ‘Hey Siri’ activation feature works all the time, plugged in or not, thanks to new dedicated components inside the latest iPhones meaning it can be ‘always on’.

This makes the addition of voice training particularly relevant. In previous OS versions, Hey Siri would just work if you toggled a switch in Settings. With the GM, the OS now prompts you to go through a few training exercises before the feature will be enabled. Some readers have claimed that this feature is like Voice ID, so that Hey Siri function will only respond when the true owner of the phone speaks to it. Whilst this would be a nice feature, we cannot reproduce this and believe it is only meant to improve general detection accuracy.

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In a new interview posted in the Wall Street Journal, Apple’s Jony Ive and Hermes’ artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas discuss Apple’s first partnership with a luxury fashion brand to create branded Apple Watch models. To recap, on Wednesday, Apple announced Apple Watch Hermes, a collection of watches code signed with the renowned Paris designer. The watches will be available in October.

Ive says the partnership is unprecedented and began before the Apple Watch was even announced to the public, breaking traditional Apple secrecy.

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Apple Pay in the UK is slowly rounding up all the major banks and getting them onboard. Following the addition of HSBC and First Direct last month, Halifax and Lloyds customers can now use Apple Pay from today. The service is still rolling out so if your cards don’t activate immediately don’t fret. Check again in a few hours.

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Hot on the heels of Apple unveiling the highly anticipated iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, popular accessory company Pad and Quill has today announced a new case for the device. The company has revealed its newly designed Traveler case for both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s. The Traveler case is a bumper style walled case and in classic Pad and Quill fashion, is made from full grain leather.

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Apple released a gold and rose gold Apple Watch Sport plus a new fall collection of Sport bands today, and inside the watchOS 2 software update due out next week is a variety of Sport band-matching color options. These new colors let you personalize the watch face with many more choices than the current software version. Check out each new color below:
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Apple just wrapped up its press event today where it officially unveiled the much anticipated next-generation iPhone 6s lineup, a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro and iPad mini 4, and an all-new, revamped Apple TV experience. It also gave us some updates on Apple Watch with new bands and partnerships with designers, as well as confirmation on release dates for iOS 9, OS X, and iCloud pricing updates.

Head below for handy links to everything Apple announced today:
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With iOS 9 set to release on September 16th, Apple has released the final beta build, the Golden Master, to developers. Along with this beta is an all new preview build of iOS 9.1. The exact changes in iOS 9.1 aren’t yet known, but we’ll keep this post updated with any changes we find in either build.

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