Apple Watch

While the initial Apple Watch launch is still ongoing, Apple started shipping standalone bands to customers this week. We’ve got our hands on both the Leather Loop and Sport bands plus packaging today. Check out our comparison photos and my early impressions of each band and the swapping process below.
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Nike+ Running App for Apple Watch

Earlier today, Nike CEO Mark Parker sat down with CNBC for a video interview to discuss his company exiting wearable hardware, Fitbit’s IPO, fitness software, a partnership with Apple, and the Apple Watch. Asked where the Nike and Apple partnership goes from here, Parker said “it continues,” and that “we are excited about the potential that the Apple/Nike relationship has.”

Parker noted that Nike already offers the Nike+ app on the Apple Watch and that Nike has over 60 million digital fitness software users. Parker said Nike is “working with Apple” on new software and experiences. He ended by saying there is “more” coming from Apple and Nike. Apple and Nike are already close partners for HealthKit as well. 

Apple and Nike’s relationship dates back nearly a decade with Apple releasing a special chip for Nike shoes that talked to early generations of the iPod for steps tracking. The pair of companies enhanced this partnership by installing step tracking sensors in the second-generation iPod touch and iPhone 3GS last decade.

Additionally, as is well known, Apple CEO Tim Cook is a Nike fan and sits on the fitness and sports company’s Board of Directors. Last year, Nike shuttered its FuelBand business to focus on fitness software. Apple has also poached multiple former FuelBand engineers to work on the Apple Watch, we reported in the months leading up to the product’s introduction last fall.

The full video interview can be watched below:

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Apple only includes its fancy charging case if you buy one of the $10,000+ gold Apple Watch Edition models, so I decided to DIY my own using the box Apple includes with its mid-range, stainless steel Apple Watch collection.

If you bought an Apple Watch model— the entry-level Sport collection comes with cheaper, somewhat disposable packaging— you get a box much like with the Edition minus the charging features and leather shell.

With a few drilled holes and less than $10 worth of materials, I transformed my box into a charging case that looks a lot like the Apple Watch Edition charging case.

Here’s how I did it:
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Earlier today, fitness tracker hardware and software company Fitbit filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. Since the regulatory filing went public, observers have been scouring the paperwork for information on Fitbit’s financials, sales numbers, and notes about the competition. The Financial Times‘s Tim Bradshaw noticed that that Fitbit cites Apple and the recently-launched Apple Watch as the top billed competitor in the IPO Risk Factors section:

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Nearly two weeks after the product’s official release, Chipworks has updated its earlier Apple Watch teardown to note several significant details, most notably that Apple’s latest processor uses a 28-nanometer building process that has already been leapfrogged by newer technology. The discovery reveals that the S1 — believed to be roughly equivalent in processing power to Apple’s A5 processors — can be readily evolved using the smaller 20-nanometer process used in Apple’s current A8 processors, as well as the cutting-edge 14-nanometer process that’s reportedly being used in the upcoming A9. This is good news for next-generation versions of the Apple Watch, as they will be able to easily fit faster or more power-efficient processors in the same space as the S1.

As highlighted in separate chip teardown and X-ray analyses released today by Chipworks and iFixit (partnered with Creative Electron), the S1 packs over 30 components into a resin-covered package, including everything from wireless chips, wireless charging, audio processors and sensors to the CPU itself. The CPU is again said to be Samsung-fabricated, continuing the unusual frenemy relationship between Apple and one of its chief consumer electronics rivals. Several of the beautiful iFixit/Creative Electron X-ray images of the Apple Watch are included below…

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With more than 3,000 apps for the Apple Watch already on the App Store for Apple’s new device, two major analytics platforms today announced support for Apple Watch apps through their respective SDKs.

Yahoo shared that its Mobile Developer Suite has added support for Apple Watch app analytics for developers at no cost through Flurry Analytics, the platform it acquired almost a year ago. By implementing Yahoo’s analytics system, developers of Apple Watch apps gain access to several metrics…
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Apple Pay continues its rollout across the US with a stop in Las Vegas. The Cosmopolitan resort has announced that Apple Pay will be accepted at the hotels’ front desk, restaurants and bars by early June. Room service can also be streamlined using Apple Pay, as the concierge service will also accept Apple Pay as a payment method. This means that you can pay with your iPhone or even your Apple Watch.

It’s unclear if you will be able to gamble directly with Apple Pay — most casinos limit chips purchasing to cash only transactions. Or if credit cards are accepted, the payments are marked as cash advances so there are no ways to turn quick money. It is not known if the establishment can or will support this kind of transaction through Apple Pay.

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Re/code regularly gets Apple executives to appear at its annual conferences and this year is no exception. The site announced that Apple’s Senior Vice President of Operations Jeff Williams will speak at the Code Conference 2015, which runs May 26 to May 28th. Re/code’s speaker appearances typically take the form of an interview, so you can expect the executive to give some insight on Apple’s latest announcements (Apple Watch) although naturally major feature announcements will not be discussed. The WWDC keynote will serve as Apple’s platform to feature its newest advancements in iOS and OS X, which is held on June 8th.

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Apple Watch is finally here and this week we all have one. In this episode we discuss our experiences (good and bad) with Apple Watch, Apple’s official solution for third-party bands, and news about the rumored iPad Pro. Feel free to drop us a line about your Apple Watch experience at listenermail@9to5mac.com. The Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and through our dedicated RSS feed…

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The American Foundation for the Blind today announced four honorees for the upcoming Helen Keller Achievement Awards, highlighting Apple’s VoiceOver and Accessibility efforts alongside actor Charlie Cox, musician Ward Marston, and biopharmaceutical company Vanda Pharmaceuticals.

The foundation says that it gives this award to “accomplished individuals and companies for their success in improving quality of life for people with vision loss either through groundbreaking innovation or inspirational achievement that changes perceptions about what it means to be visually impaired.”

Apple is specifically being awarded for VoiceOver Accessibility technology across its products, per the announcement:

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Apple is now preparing for the rollout of the in-store pickup option on new Apple Watch orders, which will allow users to select a retail location to pick up their wearable devices after order. This is the first time Apple has made any indication of watch stock appearing at its stores since Angela Ahrendts revealed that the company was unsure of when that might happen.

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After beginning to invite developers to test an app analytics beta last week, giving devs that signed up access to new analytic data for their apps through iTunes Connect, today we get our first look at the feature…
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We got an early indication that Consumer Reports were impressed with the Apple Watch when they were unable to scratch the sapphire screen of the stainless steel model. The well-respected non-profit has now revealed that the full set of lab tests are complete, and the Apple Watch ranked top out of the 11 smartwatches tested.

Consumer reports tested the watches for durability, water-resistance, health functionality, readability in bright and low light, ease of use, and ease of interaction – though there was one slightly worrying moment for the Apple Watch Sport … 
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Apple has rolled out Apple Pay support for another 24 banks and credit unions following last month’s expansion reaching more than 200 in total. The newly added banks include more than a dozen banks and credit unions from around the United States including The Bancorp Bank which backs Simple, a popular online banking service. Here’s the full list of newly added Apple Pay banks:
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