Apple Watch

A new supplier report out of Asia includes two details that may tell us a little more about the third generation Apple Watch rumored for release later this year. Digitimes points to industry sources in claiming the Apple Watch Series 3 will use a different display technology with shipments starting in the second half of this year.

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Apple is rolling out the third watchOS 3.2 beta for developer testing on Apple Watch. watchOS 3.2 beta includes Theater Mode which disables raise-to-wake and mutes alerts.

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If there’s one thing worse than damaging your iPhone or iPad by dropping it, it’s when that damage is a cracked screen. While you might be able to ignore a scuff to the casing, you’re going to see cracks in the screen every time you use the device.

Apple appears to be aiming to make screens more resistant to cracking by exploring a method of automatically detecting cracks, asking users to confirm them and then sending diagnostic data to the company to help it understand the type of impacts that cause them …

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Sleep tracking has been one the most oft-requested features for Apple Watch, but Apple itself has yet to implement a solution. That hasn’t stopped developers from creating their own watchOS apps for doing it, though.

One of the more popular apps for sleep tracking with Apple Watch is called AutoSleep….

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Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2 both address a major flaw of the first-generation model with significant speed improvements, and all Apple Watches benefit from a performance boost and a simpler interface with watchOS 3. So what’s next for Apple Watch and watchOS this year? Let’s take a look at some of the next opportunities for Apple Watch (and a few rumors) that may tell us what Apple could be planning.

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Apple doesn’t break out its Apple Watch numbers when it reports device sales and revenue each quarter, but it did say during the fiscal Q1 earnings call the wearable hit record numbers for both units and revenue during the important holiday period. The latest report from research firm Canalys today puts estimates of Apple Watch sales at around 6 million units and $2.6 billion in revenue. This would mean the company took almost 80% of total revenue for the smartwatch market last quarter, according to the report’s estimates. It would also represent around 12% year-over-year growth for Apple Watch sales:

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If you’re a Spotify Premium user with an Apple Watch, you’re well aware of a big glaring omission as far as watchOS apps are concerned. Indeed, we’re approaching two years since the Apple Watch arrived in stores, and there’s still no official Spotify app for watchOS.

Developer and second year undergrad CS student, Andrew Chang, is aiming to lessen the void when he releases Spotty — a currently-in-beta, free third-party app that will allow Spotify Premium users to sync playlists and albums for offline playback.

That’s right; the app’s offline mode lends users the option of leaving their iPhones at home or in the car while engaged in Spotify-powered music workouts.

Spotty is a super-impressive app that works with all models of Apple Watch. Watch our hands-on video walkthrough as I take the app for a test drive.
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Apple is rolling out the second watchOS 3.2 beta for developer testing on Apple Watch. watchOS 3.2 beta includes Theater Mode which disables raise-to-wake and mutes alerts.

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Earlier today, we reported that Jawbone was exiting the consumer hardware market in favor of selling health products and services directly to businesses. Furthermore, 9to5Toys shared an Apple Watch deal today that pushed the price of a Series 1 model down to $199.99.

With Apple Watch prices continuing to fall and Jawbone exiting the consumer hardware market, is there still a market for dedicated sport bands like the Fitbit?

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In this week’s top stories: We go hands-on with the new Theater Mode on Apple Watch, we break down LG’s UltraFine 5K display woes, Tim Cook speaks out on Trump’s immigration ban, Apple’s Q1 earnings report, and much more.

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With multi-day battery life on the wish-list of many Apple Watch owners, it’s not surprising that Apple is at least considering making a battery band available which could potentially allow the wearable to go many days between charges. This would be of particular value to those who want to use the Watch for sleep-tracking in addition to its usual duties during the day.

The company was recently granted a patent for a multi-function band that could include power, and AI has spotted a new patent application – filed back in 2015 but only published today – which deals specifically with power …

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Following Apple’s “record” quarter it reported yesterday, Strategy Analytics is today out with new data showing the performance of the Apple Watch during the holiday quarter. Apple touted yesterday that its wearable had a record quarter and today’s data further reflects that strong performance…

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Apple just released the first developer beta for watchOS 3.2, and we’ve spent some hands-on time with the release to observe the new features. The biggest feature, as alluded to in our initial post about today’s beta, is the presence of a new Theater Mode. In this brief hands-on video walkthrough, we take the new Apple Watch Theater Mode for a test spin.
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Apple Watch is gaining a helpful new feature called Theater Mode with watchOS 3.2. You could already mute alerts easily, and now Theater Mode lets you both mute alerts and disable raise-to-wake which easily activates the screen.

Theater Mode is intended to be used at the movie theater where lighting up a small screen accidentally when you raise your wrist can be distracting. Theater Mode may be useful in other situations despite its name. With a few tweaks, Theater Mode could be especially ideal for drivers.

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After first detailing the software update in developer documentation, Apple has now released the first beta version of watchOS 3.2 for developer testing on Apple Watch. watchOS 3.2 is the first version of the Apple Watch software that works with SiriKit, enabling developers to tap in to Siri in the same way as apps on iOS 10.

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Square already makes it possible for small businesses to easily accept Apple Pay at checkout with their latest payment terminal, and now Square is working with Apple on a new promotion to discount Square Readers and make processing fees free for businesses that use Apple Pay.

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Any Apple Watch can play music without iPhone which is especially useful for outdoor workouts, but you have to decide what music and how you’ll listen ahead of time. It’s fairly simple if you follow the right steps, however, there are a few tricks to make syncing music to Apple Watch easier.

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Following the release of the Apple Watch Series 2, I wrote about my initial first impressions of the device. Essentially, I explained that the first-generation Apple Watch had never truly won me over. I often went through phases where I would wear it for a while, but then go weeks without even charging it. I noted, however, that the Series 2 model may have righted enough wrongs to keep it on my wrist…consistently.

Four months with Apple Watch Series 2, however, and I’m officially sold…

Back in September, Incase entered the Apple Watch strap market with the launch of its leather and nylon bands. Incase Leather Watch Band and Nato Nylon Band are straps similar to Apple’s leather and nylon bands that offer slightly different style at a more affordable price. Check out our hands-on below.

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It was originally rumored that Apple was planning to introduce a new “Theater Mode” with iOS 10.3, but the company today released the first beta of that operating system with Theater Mode nowhere to be found.

According to a change log document on Apple’s developer website, however, Theatre Mode may be coming in a future update to watchOS.

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