Apple Watch

Image via <a href="https://twitter.com/Mbrawler/status/590579777188278272/photo/1" target="_blank">Karan Pandya</a>

Apple today released an update to its mobile presentation software that enables support for an Apple Watch-based remote application. The Keynote Remote app, which will allow users to control their slides from their wrists, was first mentioned during Apple’s October 2014 event.

The Cupertino company also pushed out updates to several of its other mobile apps, fixing bugs and improving stability. The updated apps include Pages, Numbers, Remote, and Beats Music. The Mac iWork apps were also updated with bug fixes.

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Apple is sending out invites to random registered developers, giving them the chance to buy an Apple Watch with guaranteed delivery by the end of the month. Developer get the opportunity to buy a 42 mm Apple Watch Sport with shipment by the 28th of April. Apple is emailing selected developers, who are offered to apply here.

The process is by application only. Developers find out whether they are eligible to actually go through with the purchase on the 23rd of April, this Thursday.

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Two weeks after the last wave of new banks and three days before the Apple Watch launches, Apple Pay support has gone live from 31 more banks and credit unions from around the United States. The total number of institutions now exceeds 200 banks and credit unions with active support, and some 2,000 banks have signed on to support the mobile payment system for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch in the future. Below you can find the latest additions to the list of active banks as well as the full list so far.
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Beyond a unique sales process and exclusivity to select stores, even returning the Apple Watch Edition will have its own special process. Bringing the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition back to an Apple Store for a refund will require the device to be scrutinized under micro-inspection by Apple Store staff, according to sources. While the return process itself is unique, the return timeframe will be the standard 14 days like most of Apple’s other products…

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Re/code has an interesting look at the three different approaches major news organizations are taking to their Apple Watch apps.

The New York Times will dispatch one-sentence stories that answer the question, “Hey, did you hear?” in a conversational tone. The Washington Post will pick one story — say, an article about the end of tipping — and storyboard it like a movie or TV show, using a combination of graphics, images and text to adapt it for the 38 mm (or 42 mm) screen. CNN will let people personalize their news feeds by picking from among a dozen topics and choosing how they’d like to be notified (a tap on the wrist or no?).

News organizations weren’t particularly quick to adapt to the Internet, trying to stick to their existing business models in the face of rapidly-changing consumer behaviour, but this time the major players believe they are ready …

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The iPhone has become a mature platform for health and fitness software in recent years, especially since iOS 8 introduced HealthKit and the dedicated Health app followed by ResearchKit and a new set of medical apps. Today a new app called One Drop is launching with an ambitious goal: to help people with diabetes live a happier and healthier life.
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Ahead of the expected first Apple Watch arrivals on April 24th, Apple has began charging customer credit and debit cards. Various users on social media that pre-ordered the Apple Watch are reporting that they have been charged by Apple for their order. According to reader reports, both Apple Watch and Apple Watch Sport customers have been charged.

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Following an Apple Watch with gold link bracelet, an exclusive combo that Apple isn’t offering to consumers, surfacing on the wrist of designer Karl Lagerfeld, today Beyonce is flaunting the same model at Coachella, as shown in these images posted to her website. 
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TuneIn Radio is the latest addition to Apple’s short list of App Store apps that work with the iPhone’s CarPlay feature. The service streams “over 100,000 real radio stations from around the world, including sports, news, talk, and music.” The latest version of TuneIn for iPhone brings radio station streaming to the CarPlay interface and includes Apple Watch support for controlling stations from your wrist.
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Pad & Quill has just introduced another product in its recently announced collection of goodies for the Apple Watch: The Timber Catchall, a charging station/organizer that holds your iPhone and Apple Watch with enough room to fit keys, change, or a few other small items.
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10, a popular video capture and editing app for GoPro and DJI drone users, is the first to be updated to enable control of the cameras from Apple Watch.
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Ahead of the Apple Watch making its way onto the wrists of consumers, Apple has published a new support page detailing the device’s heart rate monitor. As we know, the Apple Watch includes a heart rate reader to measure a person’s intensity during workouts.

With knowledge of this intensity data, the Watch is able to more accurately measure the amount of calories a person burns per day. Additionally, a user can check their heart rate at any time using a feature known as the Heart Rate Glance. But beyond these two user functions, this new support document details the technologies behind the hardware as well as some little known software features.

According to the document, the Apple Watch will silently measure your heart rate every 10 minutes. This data will be stored in the iOS 8 Health application for later viewing and integration with third-party health tracking applications and hardware.

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A leading technology analyst has estimated that Apple Watch sales in the first two weeks are likely to hit 3M, comprising 1.8M Sport models, 1.2M steel and 40,000 Editions – generating more than $2B revenue. Think Big Analytics principal Carl Howe also estimates that gross margins on the wearable are likely to exceed 60%, making the Apple Watch the company’s most profitable ever product.

[The electronics] in the expensive models are the same ones used in the Sport models, and they just don’t cost that much. And while adding Gold cases and designer bands add cost to the bill of materials, the costs are small compared to the price premiums paid for these products. Unlike in the consumer electronics business, I see no pressure for prices to fall and if anything manufacturing costs will, resulting in a very profitable business.

Howe readily admits that his analysis, like any other from outside the company, are “really just educated guesses,” but he’s a credible name and his reasoning makes sense … 
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With no official support from Apple, the third-party strap market for Apple Watch is still a bit of a wild-west, but there are some companies making it possible and offering inexpensive alternatives to Apple’s own bands.

Apple might have its own exclusive strap colors available for a select few, but you’ll likely need to go the third-party route if you want a similar level of customization for your Apple Watch.

Below we’ve put together a list of third-party bands already available to order, as well as adapters for traditional straps and replacement straps for Apple’s leather bands.
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Apple’s PR tour for the Apple Watch doesn’t appear to be slowing down with Apple’s design chief Jony Ive showing off the device and revealing an exclusive collection of never before seen Sport band colors tonight in Milan. Apple this morning kicked off a showcase of the device at Milan’s Salone Del Mobile Design Fair in Itlay, which was attended by Apple executives including marketing head Phil Schiller and designer Marc Newson.

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Apple kicked off its Apple Watch showcase today at Milan’s Salone Del Mobile Design Fair in Italy and on hand at the event were Apple executives including marketing chief Phil Schiller and designer Marc Newson.
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Apple is reportedly planning to launch Apple Pay in Canada, its first expansion of the payments service outside the U.S., this fall, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The company is reportedly in talks with banks for a launch as soon as November:
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