Apple Watch

A pre-ban photo

The Telegraph reports that British government ministers have been banned from wearing Apple Watches during cabinet meetings, over fears that they could be hacked by the Russians.

Under David Cameron, several cabinet ministers wore the smart watches, including Michael Gove, the former Justice Secretary. However, under Theresa May ministers have been barred from wearing them amid concerns that they could be used by hackers as listening devices

The previous Prime Minister, David Cameron, allowed the Watches to be worn in the high-level meetings, and the change of policy is attributed to recently-installed PM Theresa May …

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With the recent release of new hardware, I’ve been in search of a better Apple Watch charging and storage solution. There’s no shortage of watch-compatible docks, but the Amber Watchcase Power Bank by ClearGrass is far and away one of my favorites. Have a look at our hands-on video walkthrough to see why this might be the best Apple Watch charging and storage solution yet.
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Really good fitness and health tracking is easily my number one reason for wearing my Apple Watch everyday (and upgrading to Series 2), and I really appreciate the new Activity Sharing features in watchOS 3 and iOS 10. Filling Activity rings and keeping a streak going is really effective motivation for me.

But breaking a streak or not quite filling an Activity ring can be equally uninspiring. It’s tempting to want to give up or take it less seriously, especially if you almost had it or the stream was broken by error. That happened to me this week, which prompted me to think about three things I’d love to see Apple’s Activity app gain: rest days, tolerance levels, and an honor system.

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There seems to be a bit of confusion about the differences between the Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2. To be sure, there are several differences between the two. We addressed these in our previous Apple Watch walkthrough, but speed isn’t among those differences.

The point is, if you’re just looking for a faster, more agile Apple Watch, then you’ll be happy with any of the watches that you can currently buy from Apple. The company has discontinued the original, notoriously slow Apple Watch (Series 0), so anything you purchase in store or online will be one of the new, faster models.
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While this year marks the first time Apple Watch has been on the market for a full 12 months, one analyst believes year-over-year sales will be down and not higher. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities has issued a report that says new Apple Watch shipments have decreased by 15-25% which affects the firm’s annual sales prediction.

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Jet Black iPhone 7 is highly reflective (with the ceiling in this instance)

iPhone 7 introduces a new finish from Apple called Jet Black, which is a glossy dark color that looks similar to Apple Watch’s Space Black finish. The iPhone is made out of aluminum, however, so the finish is a little different from that of the stainless steel Apple Watch. Here’s how Jet Black compares to Space Black…

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New York’s Union Square Cafe will use Apple Watches to enhance its customer service efforts when the restaurant re-opens next month, reports Eater.

When Meyer’s 30-year-old Union Square Cafe reopens in Manhattan next month, every floor manager and sommelier will be wearing an Apple Watch. And when a VIP walks through the front door, someone orders a bottle of wine, a new table is seated, a guest waits too long to order her or his drink, or a menu item runs out, every manager will get an alert via the tiny computer attached to their wrist.

The restaurant – owned by Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer – is working with reservation system startup Resy to deliver a hi-tech approach to the entire restaurant experience, from reservation to check …

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If you’re an Apple Watch Series 2 owner, you’ll find a new feature in watchOS 3 that allows you to gradually wake the screen using the Digital Crown. This is a handy feature for those moments when you wish to view the display in a subtle manner without fully turning on the screen. Watch our video overview inside to see it in action.
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A pair of popular accessory makers today revealed their first Apple Watch bands that are either coming soon or available for order now. Incase today announced 12 new Apple Watch bands that are available now, while Belkin has taken the wraps off of a new classic leather band in various colors that will be available soon.

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Healthcare company Aetna shared today that it is partnering with Apple on a new health and fitness initiative for its employees and customers using the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch starting in 2017. Aetna will be providing its 50,000 employees with Apple Watches at no cost and subsidizing the cost for large employers and individual customers through a new healthy living initiative.

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Today we’re taking a look at the new Apple Watch Edition. This year, Apple switched it up and ditched the all gold models in favor of ceramic. Why ceramic you might ask? Well first off, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than solid gold, but it’s also four times stronger than stainless steel, which makes it the most scratch resistant Apple Watch available…

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Apple has said many times that it sees medical and health initiatives as a big area for expansion in the future. Some of these plans are now actively being developed, according to Bloomberg. Firstly, Apple is working on new sleep tracking and fitness apps for Apple Watch that take advantage of the heart rate sensor for insight.

Apple is yet to offer sleep analysis of any kind in its wearable and its current Heart Rate app in watchOS 3 is very limited. The report says the new heart rate app will be more advanced, measuring a person’s fitness by observing the amount of time it takes for a heartbeat to fall from a peak to resting rate. The company is also apparently exploring ways to dramatically expand the functionality of HealthKit and the Health app …

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iCentre Apple reseller in Malta

Following preorders going live on September 9 and an initial launch in 28 countries on September 16, Apple’s new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus today launch in an additional 30 countries around the world.

Apple is also launching its new Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Edition, and updated Series 1 models in 20 additional countries today as its new special edition Apple Watch Hermès models become available for the first time.

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Apple used the word ‘courage’ recently to describe its decision to remove the headphone socket from the iPhone 7, and much fun was poked at the company by those who missed the reference. But what I personally found far more courageous was Apple effectively admitting that it got the original Apple Watch user-interface badly wrong, and completely revamping it in watchOS 3.

Glances never worked. They were supposed to be a fast way to see information from your favorite apps, and to go on to quickly open those apps when required. In reality, neither objective was achieved: data was slow to load, and so were the apps.

And the side-button for immediate access to contacts was simply the waste of a button. Using the Watch Dick Tracy-style for phone calls was never more than a novelty, and sending scribbles and the like to contacts was even more of a gimmick.

So Apple had the courage to abandon both. Glances are gone, replaced by the app Dock, and the side button has been repurposed to access it. These two changes have transformed my use of my Watch …

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Apple is known to be notoriously bad at social — look no further than Ping, a social feature embedded in iTunes that Tim Cook killed because no one used it. That’s fine for the most part because Apple makes the platform (iOS) where the best social network apps (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.) exist and people continue buying iPhones.

Apple isn’t completely socially awkward either. Music lets you tweet and post playlists, Photos lets you share Photo Streams with contacts and on the web, and iOS share sheets facilitate the majority of my social sharing. It’s Apple’s new Activity Sharing feature that I’ve been enjoying the most since iOS 10 and watchOS 3 were introduced.

Activity Sharing lets you automatically share fitness data captured from the Apple Watch with other Apple Watch wearers. Adding a social aspect to activity tracking is especially motivational for staying active and shows Apple doing social right (even if Activity Sharing has opportunities to improve).

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Kantar reports that Apple has retained its dominance of the smartwatch sector, even as overall growth has started to slow. The data is based on sales as of July of this year, so pre-dating the launch of the Apple Watch Series 2.

Apple continues to dominate this segment with a 33.5% share, although that lead shrank slightly in the last three months as the market awaited the Apple Watch Series 2 announcement. The EU4 countries show a similar trend, with […] Apple leading at 31.8%.

The company says that the Apple Watch Series 2 seems ideally placed to appeal to those intending to purchase a wearable within the next 12 months, offering the two key features they are seeking …

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Apple Watch Series 2 hit stores on Friday and I’ve spent the weekend testing its new features. From outdoor cycling and swimming in the ocean to comparing it to the first-generation Apple Watch, I had my own list of questions I wanted answered and I’m mostly happy with my experience.

I used the first-generation Apple Watch every single day since April 2015 and reviewed it in May 2015 after a couple of weeks. For me, the original Apple Watch was a tremendous improvement over my Pebble and basic digital watch with features like Siri, iMessage and Apple Pay plus a design that was good enough to continue with Series 2. A year in, I fully realized how effective Apple Watch can be as a fitness tracker which is where much of the focus on Series 2 exists.

Apple Watch Series 2 is similar enough that it’s easy to draw several conclusions about the new version after just two days. It’s a more capable fitness tracker and a better smartwatch thanks to its hardware changes, but the differences are more nuanced than what a spec sheet can tell you.

I’ll start by jumping straight to my conclusion:
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Along with the iPhone 7, I was able to go hands-on with both new flavors of Apple Watch: The Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2.

Apple Watch Series 1 doesn’t contain much new in the way of features, but it does come with a faster processor, which makes it worth considering. Series 2 is a larger upgrade, but depending on how you use your Apple Watch, it might not be large enough to warrant an extra $100.

Whatever the case may be, both new watches are much better than the notoriously slow original Apple Watch, which Apple no longer sells. Another thing that flew the coop with this latest update is the somewhat confusing Apple Watch Sport nomenclature. Now, it’s just Apple Watch, and you can get it in either Series 1 or Series 2.

Watch our hands-on video for an explanation of the new Apple Watch and a look at several of its new features.
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iFixit didn’t waste any time on a teardown of the iPhone 7 Plus, and has now done the same with the new Apple Watch Series 2.

The main discovery is a much higher-capacity battery. The 273mAh battery offers almost a third more capacity than the 205mAh one in the first-gen Watch. However, all that extra power doesn’t extend the battery-life of the device – it’s rated for the same 18 hours as the original – it instead powers the built-in GPS and much brighter screen.

iFixit also identified what seems to be the main secret to the greatly-improved waterproofing of the Series 2 …

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