Apple Watch

Nope, I haven’t caved to temptation and bought a $10,000 gold Apple Watch (waiting for gen-2…kidding!) … that’s a $549 stainless steel Apple Watch that met WatchPlate’s plating service to create a rose gold version with stunning resemblance to the Apple Watch Edition.

Last month we unboxed the first 42mm Apple Watch “3rd-party gold-plated edition” with Link Bracelet, a yellow gold version that looks like the ones only celebrities like Beyonce have, and today we’re taking a look at WatchPlate’s rose gold plating on a 38mm Apple Watch with Classic Buckle and Sport band. Check out our hands-on photos below:
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Apple Music is almost here and it looks like Taylor Swift had a thing or two to say about it. Along with that, we have some exclusive details on Apple Watch 2 and an overview of the new iOS 9, OS X El Capitan, and watchOS 2.0 betas. The Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and through our dedicated RSS feed.

This week we’re very excited to podcast with Brian from Pad & Quill and talk a little bit about some of the excellent accessories they make. Be sure to check out padandquill.com to view their products.

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Apple Pay is going international starting with the United Kingdom next month. The precise nature of how Apple Pay will work in the UK has been murky, with banks saying different things. Apple has now posted a FAQ to explain the situation.

Apple Pay will work with any current contactless reader. By default, it uses the same technology as other UK contactless cards. This means that performing an Apple Pay purchase will not require a PIN (as is standard with UK Chip and PIN payments). However, the usual £20 limit on contactless transactions does apply … for the time being. When Apple Pay launches in July, almost all merchants will only allow Apple Pay purchases up to £20 …

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Earlier in the year, the Bluetooth SIG appointed an Apple employee as secretary of the board. The two institutions are developing their relationship further today with the announcement that Apple is now a Promoter Member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. This is the highest level with the organization and gives Apple voting rights.

Promoter members get voting rights on Bluetooth corporate matters and a guaranteed seat on the board of directors. Current promoter members Ericsson, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Nokia and Toshiba ‘unanimously welcomed’ Apple to the position.

This means that Apple will now have significant influence over the technological roadmap for Bluetooth in cooperation with these other companies.

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When Apple first announced Apple Watch, one of the things I was most excited about was the ability to use third-party bands. I was surprised when Apple announced the capability and even though I was pretty sure I was going to buy an Apple Watch, third-party band support solidified my choice. Apple Watch has now been on the market for two months and so far, companies have been slow to release their aftermarket bands. With iPhone, companies usually have cases available the day the device launches, but Apple Watch has presented a whole new set of challenges for accessory makers.

When I purchased Apple Watch, I went with the stainless model with the classic buckle. Since my initial purchase, I have also bought a black Sport band, a Milanese Loop and now, an aftermarket stainless steel Link Bracelet. I love the idea of the band for my Watch matching the Watch itself, but Apple’s Link Bracelet offering seems absurdly high-priced at $449. Looking to save money, I went with an aftermarket solution…

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While Apple Watch models were selling for a premium on eBay and elsewhere for quite a while after launch, now that the device is in Apple stores and stock of most models almost caught up to demand, trade-in services have officially started accepting the device. One of the first bigger companies to announce support for Apple Watch is NextWorth, which as of today will buy your Apple Watch, but without the eBay premiums. The company is capping Apple Watch trade-in payouts at $500, and you’ll be getting much less than that for the cheaper models that start at around $350 from Apple.
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Concept image: Martin Hajek for Computer Bild

The idea of replacing the iPhone’s physical Home button with a pure touch one embedded in the display has been around for quite a while now, but a report from the variably reliable DigiTimes claims that Apple is already working on the technology.

Apple is internally developing touch and display driver integration (TDDI) single-chip solutions for its iPhones, according to sources in Taiwan’s IC design industry.

The TDDI single-chip solutions will also come with integrated fingerprint sensors, said the sources. The integrated design would fit into future iPhone designs – models with ultra-thin and ultra-narrow displays, and with a whole plane design eliminating the Home button.

While the report doesn’t specifically reference embedding the home button into the display itself, referring only to ‘a whole plane design,’ this would seem to be what the report hints at …
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In an interview with the Chinese language edition of Bloomberg Businessweek, Tim Cook noted that developers are showing more interest in the Apple Watch than they had in the iPhone and iPad at a similar early stage.

Developers are working on more than 3,500 apps for the gadgets, he said. That’s well ahead of the 500 apps available for the 2008 edition of the iPhone and the 1,000 for the first iPad in 2010, he added.

Cook also confirmed what most had assumed: the gold color introduced for the iPhone, iPad and now MacBook (and presumably real gold for the Watch) was “in part” driven by the popularity of the color in China. Greater China now accounts for a whopping 29% of Apple’s revenue … 
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Pebble Time is an interesting smartwatch. This is a bit different from anything else out there in the sense that it’s super low-tech. There’s absolutely nothing flashy about it. As far as smartwatches go, this is as barebones as it gets, but is that bad thing?

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Wood has historically been a tricky material for Apple accessories: it can be challenging to precision-fit to Apple devices, and isn’t always a good visual match for metal and glass. But wood accessories are beginning to enjoy a renaissance thanks to the Apple Watch. Since nightstands are almost invariably made from wood, and Apple Watches need to be left on nightstands for overnight charging, matching wooden Apple Watch stands can blend in to an extent that plastic or metal stands cannot.

Oregon-based SchuttenWorks’ new Wave Apple Watch Charging Stand ($75) arrives on the heels of well-regarded wood stands from Pad & Quill and DodoCase, and is actually a little less expensive — there are cheaper wood options, but they don’t look great and are getting bad reviews. Thankfully, SchuttenWorks hasn’t skimped on Wave’s design. Available in your choice of seven different woods, the C-shaped holder can hold open- or closed-band Apple Watches, and uses internally hidden magnets to make assembly a snap. Is there one that’s right for your nightstand?…

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Following the launch of the Apple Watch in April, IDC’s latest estimates for wearables shows the market is set to grow approximately 173% this year as shipments increase from 26.4 million in 2014 to an estimated 72.1 million worldwide for 2015.
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An upcoming product called The Duo will let you wear a traditional watch and the Apple Watch at the same time.

The company behind the product, watchmakers Original Grain, sent one over and I’ve been playing with it for the last week. So I decided to share my thoughts for those considering contributing to the crowd funding campaign launching today.
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Update: The problem should now be resolved. Watch apps should upload as normal once again.

Developers are flocking to Apple’s developer forums today as the iTunes Connect submissions process is currently experiencing a glitch which makes it impossible for developers to submit apps that include Apple Watch extensions.

Rather than continuing submission process as normal, the system is incorrectly flagging up misuse of an Apple private framework called SockPuppetGizmo. Naturally, this is causing frustration in the developer community at the moment because it prevents apps from being submitted to the App Store.

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Two months after the initial launch of the Apple Watch, and only a day following the device’s debut at Apple Stores, sources have revealed Apple’s considerations for the 2016 release of a second-generation model. According to multiple sources familiar with Apple’s plans, the Apple Watch 2 is planned to gain a video camera, a new wireless system for greater iPhone independence, and new premium-priced models. Interestingly, it will also feature similar battery life to its predecessor…

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Slice Intelligence, which tracks online orders by scanning the email inboxes of more than 2M panel members, estimates that Apple has sold 2.79M Apple Watches in the USA, reports Reuters. The estimate does not include sales in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong or Japan.

Slice last month reported that around 1.5M U.S. orders were placed on the first day of pre-orders, with sales tailing off rapidly after this. KGI is estimating worldwide sales of 5-6M Watches in Q3, 20-30% down on earlier estimates.

Sales are likely to be boosted by the availability of in-store pickup as of this week, with global sales set to grow significantly following a launch in a second wave of countries later this month. Apple has not released any numbers, simply saying that it was “thrilled” by the popularity of the Watch … 
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Well-known developer Steve Troughton-Smith, who previously was able to get real UIKit-backed apps running on Apple Watch with watchOS 2.0, now says that he has gotten native UIKit apps running on watchOS 1.0. Smith shared a video showing off the feat, which can be seen via the embed below.

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