Lisa Armstrong, a contributing editor to Vogue and former Fashion Writer of the Year in the UK, has provided a fashion industry verdict on the Apple Watch – and if she speaks for the rest of the fashion world, Apple should be feeling pretty happy right now. Writing in the Telegraph, she said:
The Apple Watch […] looks terrific, although most of us will deploy a fraction of its potential. Would I like one? Yes. I love watches, and I’m a sucker for a good looking gadget […] [With the Apple Watch] the company is entering the style arena. It should be one hell of a show.
Apple always knew that the watch would need to succeed as a fashion accessory every bit as much as a gadget. The above image – from the Apple website – tells its own story… Expand Expanding Close
Apple is giving its social media department a significant shot in the arm this week. The Cupertino-based company has hired Musa Tariq, the former social media chief for both Nike and Burberry. At Nike, Tariq ran general social media marketing as well as social media partnerships with athletes across all Nike product platforms, and at Burberry he led “strategy and innovation” for social media…
Google today announced new features for its Google Wallet app for both iOS and Android that makes it easier to manage gift cards and request and send from debit cards.
Like Google Wallet already allowed for loyalty cards, the app now lets users store, redeem, and check gift card balance: Expand Expanding Close
Nike is today launching a brand new app called Nike Football (or Nike Soccer in the US), that will act as a hub for all things Nike Football from exclusive content and Q&A sessions with athletes to the latest product launches for the company’s line of football products. Nike is also including some social features that let users organize their own pick-up games, trash talk among friends and teammates, and more: Expand Expanding Close
Nike updated its Nike+ FuelBand companion app today with one notable new feature: the ability to receive push notifications for a number of different features within the app. Those include things like challenges, upcoming Nike events, exclusive video content, and more.
The new push notifications, along with bug fixes and some other minor improvements are available now in version 2.3 of the app. Nike might be planning to get out of the hardware side of its FuelBand business in the near future, but for now the FuelBand is still available for sale and the update a welcomed one by users.
What’s New in Version 2.3
• You can now stay connected to Nike via push notifications – receive the latest info on challenges and upcoming Nike events as well as exclusive video content.
• Bug fixes and other improvements.
The Nikkei Asian Review is reporting that Apple will launch its iWatch in October, rather than alongside the iPhone 6 in September as has been widely expected. It’s also citing unnamed “industry sources” as saying that the watch will have a curved, OLED touchscreen and that Apple is planning on producing 3-5M units a month.
According to a parts manufacturer, it plans monthly commercial output of about 3-5 million units, which exceeds the total global sales of watch-like devices last year. This confidence is backed by its partnerships with high-profile hospitals — it has teamed up with the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic …
Just a few hours after a report claimed that Apple was moving its TV advertising in house, the company debuted a new ad during the Stanley Cup Finals. The ad is part of Apple’s “You’re more powerful than you think” campaign and focuses on using your iPhone to track your fitness progress.
Following our reports earlier this year that exclusively revealed details and screenshots of Apple’s Healthbook app, Apple today just officially announced the app confirming the details of our reports. Apple’s new platform, codenamed Healthbook, will be officially known as ‘HealthKit’ on the developer side of things, and will come with an accompanying app for iOS 8 called ‘Health’. Expand Expanding Close
Parker stopped short of saying that the two were collaborating on a future fitness endeavour (such as the iWatch), but said that Nike is interested in working with many companies looking to integrate its NikeFuel software into their hardware. Parker said that his goal is to reach a total NikeFuel user base of 100 million, over three times the current number of 30 million.
Nike has decided to get out of the wearable technology market entirely, according to a brand-new report from CNET. The company is said to have come to the conclusion that fitness software has a more stable future at the company, leading to the discontinuation of the FuelBand and other wearable fitness products and the firing of most of the 70 employees currently working in that division.
The move is interesting timing. Just a week ago, Nike launched Nike+Fuel Lab in San Francisco, a “new program to develop partnerships and products with NikeFuel” hundreds of miles south of its current location at its Oregon HQ.
This announcement comes only weeks before Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where the company is expected to show off its upcoming Healthbook application as part of the next generation of iPhone software in anticipation of iWatch hardware coming later this year. Nike’s new strategy will put it more in line to compete with Healthbook as an application rather than the actual iWatch device.
Seven years out from the original iPhone’s introduction, and four years past the iPad’s launch, Apple has found its next market ripe for reinvention: the mobile healthcare and fitness-tracking industry. Apple’s interest in healthcare and fitness tracking will be displayed in an iOS application codenamed Healthbook. I first wrote about Apple’s plans for Healthbook in January, and multiple sources working directly on the initiative’s development have since provided new details and images of Healthbook that provide a clearer view of Apple’s plans for dramatically transforming the mobile healthcare and fitness-tracking space…
The online Apple Store was taken down briefly for an update which sees Accessories given their own tab on the store homepage, appearing to the right of the recently-added Shop Apple TV tab … Expand Expanding Close
Announced last month, the new Nike+ FuelBand SE has gone on sale through Apple’s Online Store. The new fitness-tracking gadget was scheduled to go on sale on November 6th, and it is still listed as being solely available for pre-order direct from Nike’s website. Tipsters also say that the new FuelBand is available to purchase from several of Apple’s physical retail stores.
The new FuelBand comes in four black-based tones (pink, black, red, and green) and in three sizes (small, medium/large, and extra large). The design is mostly similar to that of the preceding FuelBand model, but the battery life is improved due to the incorporation of Bluetooth 4.0 technology. Since the gadget is Bluetooth 4.0 based, you will need an iPhone 4s or later or a 5th-generation iPod touch to power it.
Much like the new Nike+ Move application for the iPhone 5s, the FuelBand uses various sensors to calculate a proprietary Nike “Fuel Points” score to track your fitness and movement. The new FuelBand includes a major leap in software on the device and for iOS, allowing users to compare their fitness scores to those of their friends.
The application requires an iPhone 5s as it is completely based off of the new iPhone’s M7 motion co-processor chipset. The M7 chip, which Apple plans to integrate with its own mapping software next year, works with the iPhone’s motion sensors (like the compass and accelerometer) to provide by reliable data while simultaneously improving the phone battery’s overall efficiency.
A very cool iWatch concept made by Thomas Bogner takes a very different approach to the highly anticipated and rumored wearable computer by Apple: Bogner imagines the device borrowing influence from the Nike Fuel Band with iOS 7 design language and features.
We recently ran a poll asking readers to vote on the best of various iWatch concepts, most of which look more like a traditional watch than something Apple created, but a much smarter Nike Fueld Band-style wearable computer could just what the doctor ordered.
Bogner’s iWatch concept features Siri-style voice input for apps like Mail, Messages, and Calandar, and Music control, and features integrated Nike fitness software like Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch. Expand Expanding Close
In line with my report from earlier this month, Nike has taken the wraps off of its brand-new Fuel Band. The FuelBand is Nike’s fitness tracking device that is worn around the wrist, and it has been popular (including within Apple’s upper ranks). The new version, officially called Nike FuelBand SE, makes improvements to the design that focus on color, durability, and connectivity. As I reported, the new FuelBand is more durable, more water-resistant, and connects to devices via Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy (LE) technology:
Earlier this year, we reported that Apple is engaging in a push to hire talent to work on wearable devices (an “iWatch”). Since then, we noted that Apple hired two notable wearables specialists from Nike: Jay Blahnik (a consultant on the Fuel Band) and Ben Shaffer. Based on these hires, we believe that the iWatch will hit the market within the next couple of years.
iWatch concepts are constantly emerging. A new poll on Polar shows thirty-seven different iWatch concepts. Some of the concepts we have covered in our roundups, and others are new that focus on iOS 7 software design. Of course, these are all concepts and mockups that may not look at all like the actual product. However, we thought it would be interesting to gather polls from Polar indicating which concepts are most enticing to Apple fans.
In the above poll system, you can vote for your favorite concepts and use the arrows to move between images.
Nike has scheduled a Tuesday, October 15th media event in New York City to discuss “the future of the digital world and physical activity.” Besides that, the company has been light on official details about what will be announced. However, we’ve been hearing about an upcoming Nike fitness/digital-related event for the past few weeks, and we are expecting a successor the popular Nike FuelBand fitness device to be announced. The event was originally planned for November, but perhaps the upcoming announcements from competitor Fitbit put pressure on Nike to move up its timeline…
Apple has lured away top Nike design director Ben Shaffer, according to a source at Nike with knowledge of the details behind Shaffer’s departure. At Nike, Shaffer was the Studio Director of the Innovation Kitchen. This is Nike’s research and development lab where new product designs are created. Under Shaffer’s lead, Nike was named the most innovative company in 2013 by Fast Company. Nike’s Innovation Kitchen has been connected to wearable products like the popular Nike Fuel Band, and most recently, the Flyknit shoe.
Apple announced on Tuesday that iOS 7 will be publicly available on September 18th. The revamped OS moves completely away from the realistic designs of the past six generations, dropping almost all “artificial shadows” (as Apple SVP Craig Federighi called them), gloss, and even button borders. Instead, the Jony Ive-inspired interface features an entirely rethought design language that focuses heavily on large icons, lightweight fonts, whitespace, transparency, and conservative use of color.
We previously took a look at what some of Apple’s own in-house apps could look like when redesigned for iOS 7. During Apple’s September 10th event, Federighi flashed up a slide displaying the upcoming iOS 7 updates for many third-party applications. None of the apps were labeled, but we’ve tracked down names for most of them.
The loneliness of the long-distance runner may have been reduced by the latest update to the Nike+ Runner app. Version 4.3 allows you to challenge friends at other locations to virtual races, set a distance and duration, and then the app keeps track of how you are doing against your mates.
A group chat function allows you to encourage them or mock them as the mood strikes.
The free app uses your iPhone’s GPS and accelerometer to record your progress – no additional hardware is required.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is one of Nike’s best-known fans, sitting on the Nike board and sporting a Nike FuelBand.
A new iPhone app allows designers to check the sustainability of the materials they are considering using in new products, reports Wired.
Some time ago, a team of employees at Nike was given a special project: Cataloging the 75,000-some items found in the company’s vast materials library and giving them each a score based on their environmental impact and long-term sustainability. No one had really done anything like it before, and it ultimately took the team six years to complete. Now, you can flick through their findings on your iPhone … Expand Expanding Close
Bloomberg reported earlier this year that Apple had a team of over 100 product designers working on a wristwatch-like device. At the time, we noted that all the recent rumors and intel surrounding the iWatch seemed like the lead up to an impending product launch. Bloomberg is out with a new report today, claiming Apple will indeed launch its watch product in 2013:
Apple seeks to introduce the device as soon as this year, this person said. Apple has filed at least 79 patent applications that include the word “wrist,” including one for a device with a flexible screen, powered by kinetic energy… The watch business is experiencing a renaissance reminiscent of the cell phone industry before the iPhone.
The report added information about some of the potential features of the device that we had also heard of previously, including the ability to receive incoming calls, view maps, and record health data via various sensors:
Features under consideration include letting users make calls, see the identity of incoming callers and check map coordinates, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. It would also house a pedometer for counting steps and sensors for monitoring health-related data, such as heart rates, this person said.
Citigroup Inc. analyst Oliver Chen estimated Apple could generate $6 billion of the approximately $60 million in sales he expects the global watch industry to bring in during 2013. As pointed out by Bloomberg, gross margins are roughly four times bigger than TVs, which would only bring about $1.79 billion in gross profit for the company compared to $3.6 billion for watches.
Former creative director at Nike Scott Wilson told Bloomberg that Apple’s Jonathan Ive “has long had an interest in watches.” Expand Expanding Close
Remove Turkey and Italy from region list.
Turkish and Italian are not supported by this new version.
Support for iOS 6.
Support iPhone 5 4-inch screen.
This version adds Mobile Deposit® for eligible customers and enhanced graphics for iPhone™ 5 users. Additionally, version 2.2.1 is bilingual (English/Spanish), has full Bill Pay capabilities (add payees, select pay accounts, etc.), transaction details with check and transaction images, account transfers, and an enhanced branch/ATM locator.
