Apple Watch

Jay Blahnik, one of the lead directors behind the health and fitness features in iOS 8 and Apple Watch, is this month continuing his tour around the globe discussing his thoughts on health and fitness. Tomorrow, August 5th, Blahnik will host a question and answer session at the North Michigan Avenue Apple Store in Chicago.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple has now flipped on support for Apple Pay to more than 40 additional banks and credit unions across the United States. The new banks join a steadily growing list of over 400 institutions across the country with active support for Apple’s mobile payment service. Apple Pay also recently debuted in the UK with 9 of the major banks supported so far. You can find the latest additions of US banks below:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Specific sales of Apple Watch have been a mystery since the device’s launch back in April, with several analysts offering up their own respective estimates on numbers. Now, Taiwan’s Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. has hinted at sales of the device. ASE, for those unfamiliar, is responsible for putting all of the internal parts of Apple Watch into a case through a process known as system-in-package (via WSJ). The company, however, claims that Apple Watch sales are not as high as expected…

Expand
Expanding
Close

After my first impressions, lengthy update, decision point and one month update, this week is when I have to officially lose the ‘skeptic’ prefix to my Apple Watch diary series and relabel myself as a fully-fledged convert.

The trigger for this realization was a fairly small one, but one which clearly demonstrated to me that – little by little – the Apple Watch is transforming itself into a gadget I eventually won’t want to be without … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

The first round of Apple Watch stands were just that, accessories designed to keep your Apple Watch from rubbing against your nightstand or desk. This month, we officially moved into the second wave — powered Apple Watch docks — with the release of Boostcase’s Bloc and Nomad’s Pod ($60). Boxy, flat, and long, Bloc was a clean design with questionable practicality, but Pod makes a lot more sense: like the Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Cable it holds inside, it’s a partially metal and partially plastic puck you can easily take anywhere and use to charge any Apple Watch. Having previously designed the beautiful Stand for Apple Watch, Nomad promises that the rechargeable 1800mAh battery inside Pod “keeps your watch powered all weekend.”

From my perspective, the Apple Watch’s single biggest issue is its one-day battery life, which has meant risking a dead watch while traveling or otherwise away from a power outlet. Although you could just carry around a device-agnostic USB battery, Pod solves the power problem at a more aggressive price point than Bloc, and in a convenient form factor that will appeal to a lot of people. You can choose from a silver and black version, as shown in the photos here, or a space gray and black version made to match darker Apple Watches. Read on for the details…

Expand
Expanding
Close

It looks like the Apple Watch is launching in a certain big box retailer soon. Also, big changes may be coming to third-party Apple Watch accessories. Along with that, Zac and Benjamin discuss some issues with iTunes and Apple Music. The Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and through our dedicated RSS feed.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/216851741?secret_token=s-nN2Kd” params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”150″ iframe=”true” /]

Expand
Expanding
Close

I asked back in May whether you thought the Apple Watch Activity app would lead to a leaner, fitter you. At that point, more than 80% of you said that it either would or already had.

A Wristly survey yesterday suggested that the reality perhaps hadn’t quite lived up to this promise, but still contained some pretty impressive numbers. More than 50% of Watch owners said that they were exercising more and were making better health choices, with around 40% reporting weight loss.

For those of us who were lucky enough to take delivery of our Apple Watches on day one, we’re now three months in. Plenty of time for the novelty to wear off – and to see whether the anticipated benefits really have shown up on the bathroom scale, in our waistlines or in the gym … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Earlier in my reviewing career, I always tried to estimate the likely audience for products I tested: was an accessory likely to be universally appealing, somewhat popular, niche, or poorly received by virtually everyone? Many reviews (and reader comments) later, I learned there was at least a small audience for virtually anything, and conversely, that some people found reasons to dislike even the best-designed and best-reviewed products. I eventually concluded that there is no such thing as “universally appealing” or “universally bad” — just products for different audiences of different sizes.

SwitchEasy’s Blocks ($20) and Colors ($15) are as close to a test of my conclusion as anything I’ve covered so far for Apple’s $350-$17,000 Watches. Blocks lets you build your own Apple Watch dock from 92 plastic pieces that just so happen to be “compatible with Leading Manufacturer building blocks,” code for “works with Legos.” Colors is an inexpensive Apple Watch case designed to match three Apple Watch Sport bands. Toy-like in appearance, the designs are clearly not “universally appealing,” particularly for owners of expensive Apple Watches and Editions. But it’s possible that one or both of them may appeal to you, anyway…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Following the launch of Apple Pay in the UK two weeks ago, Apple is continuing the rollout with the addition of two major banks, HSBC and First Direct. Customers who have credit cards or debit cards with those banks can start using Apple Pay now. As with other UK Apple Pay transactions, there is a £20 transaction limit at most retailers apart from those with upgraded payment terminals that support higher-value contactless purchases. The £20 limit is getting raised to £30 in September.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Pad and Quill, one of our favorite Apple accessory makers, today introduced a set of Apple Watch bands with their trademark quality leather and stitching combined with two options of metal: Stainless Steel and Polished Black. At $86 (save 5% w/code 5forSUMMER), this turns an Apple Watch Sport into something you can wear with business casual to formal attire. Paired with a standard Apple Watch, it adds more color options to your Stainless Steel arsenal.

Not just any leather, but the luxury full grain leather used to craft all of Pad & Quill’s handmade goods. So we turned to Victorio, a 4th generation italian leather tannery artisan. His tannery uses  legendary soft-tumbled method to transform full grain American steer hides into a luxury leather watch band that will hug your wrist with pliable comfort, while being as rugged and durable as your active life demands.

We’ll have a review in the next week or so but if you can’t wait, you can order yours in 38mm or 42mm today for delivery starting in mid August. Check out our hands-on impressions with each of Pad and Quill’s full lineup of Apple Watch accessories in the meantime.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Most of the accessories I’ve reviewed for 9to5Mac require little explanation — they’re the second, third, or tenth iteration of a concept we’ve seen many times before. Marked with “Carte Blanche” branding, Boostcase’s new Bloc ($60-$100) is something new… and as such, it mightn’t completely make sense at first blush. It’s not just an Apple Watch stand like the many others I’ve covered: it’s actually a standalone charging dock. With its own built-in power source. Made from your choice of wood ($60 preorder/$80 regular), aluminum ($80), steel or gold-colored aluminum (each $80 preorder/$100 regular).

It’s as minimalist of a design as docks can get: a big, solid-feeling box hiding your Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Cable and a 2000mAh battery inside. And it’s available in colors matching nearly every Apple Watch, even including gold and rose gold. You’ll have to decide whether or not it makes sense for your personal needs, but one thing’s for sure — there’s nothing else quite like it on the market, or likely to appear any time soon…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Best Buy announced today in a press release that it will become the first national retailer, aside from Apple, to sell Apple Watch in stores. The company says that the device will hit more than 100 of its stores on August 7th and will be available online from that date, as well. Best Buy will expand Apple Watch availability to another 200 locations in time for the holiday shopping season.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple’s June announcement of watchOS 2.0 created a new challenge for top Apple Watch stand and dock makers: an upcoming software feature called Nightstand Mode turns the Watch into a small-screened alarm clock when it’s taken off for charging, but only if the Watch is laying on its long edge. If the Watch is in any other position, Nightstand Mode won’t work, a limitation that many people won’t care about, but some people might accessorize to accommodate.

Like most other Apple Watch stand makers, Portland-based SchuttenWorks designed its earlier Wave Apple Watch Charging Stand before anyone had heard about Nightstand Mode, and Wave’s mounting position doesn’t support the new software feature. So SchuttenWorks has developed a smaller and more affordable option called Ripple ($50) that’s built specifically for Nightstand Mode (and any future watchOS features that may require the same charging orientation). Offered in mahogany, walnut, and cherry, it preserves Wave’s genuine wood construction and novel magnetic assembly, but requires a little less space and lets you see the Apple Watch’s screen…

Expand
Expanding
Close