I’m a self-confessed smartwatch skeptic. The first one I ever tried, the original Pebble, struck me as an extremely ugly solution in search of a problem. The Apple Watch, when it was finally announced, looked like a rather attractive (if too thick) solution in search of a problem.
Which raises the question: why was I up at the crack of 8 am (time zones can be useful things on occasion …) to order one? Three reasons … Expand Expanding Close
While hundreds of apps for the Apple Watch have been announced and detailed, screenshots of most of the major applications have yet to be revealed, until now. Developer Steven Troughton-Smith has created a tool to view screenshots of Apple Watch applications by pasting in the link to the existing iPhone application. Below, we’ve put together several galleries of several notable Apple Watch applications, including Twitter, Instagram, Uber, Starbucks, and Apple’s own Keynote presentation remote. We’ll be updating this post live as more application screenshots are discovered. WatchAware is also showcasing more interactive previews of over 2000 Apple Watch apps.
With estimated Apple Watch preorders getting close to a million, a number of polls suggest that the Sport made up between 55% and 60% of these. Our own poll, by far the largest of those featured in a Fortune roundup, put Sport sales at just under 56% based on 11,865 responses at the time.
A second poll of just over 5,000 responses showed a slightly higher number of 59%, while a pre-sale poll of purchase intentions put the number at 60%. Only one poll differed markedly from this range, but that was based on a much smaller number of respondents so is likely to be less reliable … Expand Expanding Close
You had to be quick to order an Apple Watch this morning. Some models went out of stock within minutes, and shipping dates were soon slipping into May, June and beyond. Within a few hours, almost all models were sold out.
So, with plenty of time to think about it before pre-orders opened, but very little time to actually make your purchase, which model did you buy – and was it the one you really wanted? Expand Expanding Close
The Swiss watch market is bracing for the smartwatch movement, with many fearing another downturn for traditional mechanical timepieces much the same as when low cost Quartz movements were first introduced.
Industry players don’t intend to sit around and see how Apple Watch sells against traditional watches, however, as many of the watch world’s biggest luxury watchmakers— Tag Heuer, Breitling, Swatch, Frederique Constant—are showing off their first smart watches at Baselworld 2015 this week, the premier tradeshow for the jewelry industry where most Swiss watchmakers choose to unveil their latest creations each year.
A few on the list below were announced in the weeks leading up to Baselworld which officially starts today, but this week will be the first time anyone actually gets their hands on these new Swiss smartwatches that hope to compete with the Apple Watch. We’ll be updating this list as more luxury smart watches get unveiled in Basel, Switzerland. Expand Expanding Close
With the Swiss watch conference, Baselworld, underway this morning, we’re expecting to find out how traditional watchmakers are going to respond to the Apple Watch. Tag Heuer is first in line, announcing a smartwatch version of one of its best-selling models, the Carrera, in partnership with Google and Intel.
TAG Heuer, Google and Intel have announced a partnership to launch a Swiss smartwatch powered by Intel technology and Android Wear. The effort signifies a new era of collaboration between Swiss watchmakers and Silicon Valley, bringing together each company’s respective expertise in luxury watchmaking, software and hardware.
While the company did not go into details, Reuters reports that the watch “will be a digital replica of the original Tag Heuer black Carrera, known for its bulky, sporty allure, and will look like the original.”
Sincere or not, Tag Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver says that he welcomes the launch of the Apple Watch … Expand Expanding Close
UK safety tests have shown that using a smartwatch while driving is more dangerous than using a smartphone, reports the Huffington Post.
The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in Wokingham, Berks showed that a driver reading a message on an Apple Watch would take 2.52 seconds to react to an emergency manoeuvre, whereas a driver talking to another passenger would react in 0.9 seconds. Reading on an Apple Watch was even found to be more distracting than using a handheld mobile (1.85 second delay).
While the piece refers to the Apple Watch, the TRL told me that the tests were conducted with an unspecified smartwatch, and was not a full-scale study, but earlier studies have shown that even talking with someone handsfree is more distracting that holding a conversation with someone in the car. Expand Expanding Close
The Apple Watch is not a cheap purchase, and with only 60% of our readers planning to buy one, it’s clear that many of you are not yet convinced you see a role for it. (I have to say I was even less convinced after checking out the size on my wrist in the Apple Store app–even the 42mm model looks tiny.)
My own plan, as a smartwatch skeptic, is to check that Apple’s 14-day return policy applies to the watch before buying one to try out for a week, fully expecting to return it. But if you don’t want to lay out that kind of cash even temporarily, a startup called Lumoid is offering Apple Watch rentals starting at $45 a week … Expand Expanding Close
Update: The image has been removed and replaced with the below image of an actual pebble… Oops?
We told you last week that Pebble is likely about to announce the next-generation of its smartwatch, featuring a thinner design, a color e-paper-like display, and a revamped OS. Now, thanks to an image hosted on Pebble’s own servers, we have a look at a device with a physical appearance matching the device we described. The device looks to have a larger bezel, as well as buttons that are smaller compared to its predecessor.
Android Wear is great, but if you’re an iOS user, it looks like the Apple Watch is going to be your only option for a while. Google has yet to make any of Android Wear’s functionality compatible with Apple’s operating system, and it doesn’t look like they plan to do so any time soon. But that’s not stopping one developer, Mohammad Abu-Garbeyyeh, from hacking Android Wear to at least support notifications from iOS devices.
Although Apple has said that the Apple Watch will need to be charged nightly, the company has not disclosed any details on how long the wearable’s battery will last. For the first time, people with knowledge of the Apple Watch’s development have provided us with the specific performance targets Apple wants to achieve for the Apple Watch battery, but the actual numbers may fall short of those targets.
According to our sources, Apple opted to use a relatively powerful processor and high-quality screen for the Apple Watch, both of which contribute to significant power drain. Running a stripped-down version of iOS codenamed SkiHill, the Apple S1 chip inside the Apple Watch is surprisingly close in performance to the version of Apple’s A5 processor found inside the current-generation iPod touch, while the Retina-class color display is capable of updating at a fluid 60 frames per second.
Apple initially wanted the Apple Watch battery to provide roughly one full day of usage, mixing a comparatively small amount of active use with a larger amount of passive use. As of 2014, Apple wanted the Watch to provide roughly 2.5 to 4 hours of active application use versus 19 hours of combined active/passive use, 3 days of pure standby time, or 4 days if left in a sleeping mode. Sources, however, say that Apple will only likely achieve approximately 2-3 days in either the standby or low-power modes…
A Credit Suisse survey of iPhone 6/Plus owners found that 18% of them would ‘definitely’ buy an Apple Watch, with a further 11% saying they would probably buy the upcoming smartwatch, reports Business Insider.
A general rule of thumb when interpreting purchase intention claims is to count only those who say they will ‘definitely’ buy (some of them won’t, but that’s balanced out by the fact that some of the ‘probably’ and ‘maybe’ categories will). That would suggest around 35M sales in the first year … Expand Expanding Close
Apple is finishing up work on the Apple Watch’s software, and sources familiar with the product’s development say that the device is currently on track to ship in the United States by the end of March. Apple previously said that the wearable product will ship in “early 2015,” while Senior Vice President of Retail Angela Ahrendts got a bit more specific by telling employees that the launch will occur in the “spring,” after the Chinese New Year…
Withings announced its new Activité Pop smartwatch today during CES. While the original model will set you back $450, the new “Pop” version will only cost you $150. For that much lower price you’ll gain the same fitness-tracking functionality of the original, including compatibility with the Health Mate mobile app. Oh, and an eight-month battery.
A secondary hand on the face of the watch provides a simple way to quickly check how much of your daily exercise routine you’ve completed. The Activité Pop can measure many activities, from running to swimming, and even monitor your sleep cycle. It even has a silent, vibration-based alarm to help you wake up.
A report by Taiwan’s United Daily News claims that Apple supplier Quanta will begin mass-production of the Apple Watch in January, echoing an earlier supply-chain rumor from September. It claims that the initial production run will be between three and five million units.
The report says that there have been ‘breakthroughs’ in yield issues, and that the company increased its production staffing from 3000 to 10,000 workers in the second half of the year, with further recruitment ongoing … Expand Expanding Close
A new Bloomberg report indicates that Sony might be preparing to produce a smartwatch that uses an e-paper display rather than a traditional LCD display. Not only will the display be made of e-paper, the report continues, but the entire wrist band as well. Could such a device take on Apple’s own smartwatch, set for release early next year?
E-paper, for those unfamiliar with the term, is the same low-power “electronic paper” display used in devices like the Kindle. It allows a display to be legible, even in direct sunlight, by reflecting light rather than emitting it like a standard LCD display.
Anyone thinking that their Apple Watch might provide a virtual copy of a well-known watch face is likely to be disappointed, reports TorrentFreak: big-name watchmakers are issuing cease-and-desist notices to those creating smartwatch versions of their designs. Expand Expanding Close
If I told you about a touchscreen smartwatch with a crown-driven interface and a UI based on circles (despite the square display) that can allow you to view your contacts, calendars, and more, you’d probably have a pretty good idea what I was referring to: the upcoming Apple Watch.
But actually, you’d be wrong. I’m really referring to the 2001 WatchPad from IBM, seen in the video above. It seems Apple’s latest creation isn’t nearly as original as they’d hoped.
Maybe IBM should take out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal saying “Welcome, Apple. seriously.”
The Nest smoke detector may look decidedly old-fashioned if one Apple patent ever makes it into production. Apple has patented the idea of embedding smoke detectors into “electronic devices” and using those devices to provide a comprehensive response to a fire.
In response to detecting smoke with the smoke detector, the electronic device may issue an alert or take other suitable action. The electronic device may transmit alerts to nearby electronic devices and to remote electronic devices such as electronic devices at emergency services facilities. Alerts may contain maps and graphical representations of buildings in which smoke has been detected. Motion detectors and other sensors and circuitry may be used in determining whether electronic devices are being used by users and may be used in determining where the electronic devices are located. Alerts may contain information on the location of detected smoke and building occupants.
In other words, your Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad or Mac could detect smoke, alert you, alert other devices within range, activate sprinklers, call emergency services and use the fact that an iDevice is moving or in use to tell fire crews where in the building you and your family members are … Expand Expanding Close
Apple’s announcement of WatchKit, the tools developers will use to create Apple Watch apps, has provided a few insights into what the device will be like to use. We noted yesterday that there will be a Short Look, with just key information displayed, and a Long Look with more details – illustrated above. The Verge notes that switching between the two views won’t even require you to touch the watch.
The “Short Look” is only seen briefly when you raise your wrist — it’s an app icon, an app name, and some brief information. If the wearer keeps their wrist raised long enough — “after a moment,” according to Apple — the screen changes to a “Long Look” notification, which provides more information and is more customizable. For Long Looks, the app icon and name move to the top of the screen, and wearers can scroll down through the interface to use custom actions (such as “comment” or “favorite”) or dismiss the notification.
Third-party apps will initially need a connected iPhone, with ‘fully native’ watch apps coming later in 2015.
Apple has still not provided a specific date for availability of its smartwatch, but there have been reports of chip suppliers gearing-up for production following a leaked comment by retail head Angela Ahrendts that the launch would be in “the spring.”
We may need to wait a while until we get our hands on the Apple Watch, the company still saying only “early 2015,” but that hasn’t stopped third-party companies getting their charging stands ready – and so far, they’re all looking good.
After last month’s ‘$60-80’ Dodocase stand, Rest has announced pre-orders for the $79 Composure Dock. Both products have taken the same approach of supplying a stand with a slot into which you insert the Apple MagSafe charger that will be supplied with the watch … Expand Expanding Close
With Apple Watch official and expected early next year, it’s likely too little, too late for Fitbit, but the company is finally moving beyond simple fitness bands to a fully-featured smartwatch in the form of the $250 Fitbit Surge.
Ok, a solid chunk of plastic might not be very functional, and the finish doesn’t quite compare with that of the real thing, but if you’re really keen to get a sense of what the Apple Watch might be like on your wrist – and which of the two sizes might be right for you – you can now create a 3D-printed model.
Concept designer Martin Hajek is offering “highly detailed” 3D-printing models compatible with most 3D printers, including Makerbot and Ultimaker. The models include both 38mm and 42mm sizes so you can see which best fits your wrist.
The download file will cost you 35 bucks. If you don’t have your own 3D printer, you may be able to find one near you thanks to companies like UPS and Staples offering their own 3D printing services – and you can search for individuals and small businesses on the Makexyz site.
You may remember Apple CEO Tim Cook teasing major new product categories for Apple to be released in 2014. Technically, that will happen with Apple Pay next month, Apple’s first foray into the mobile payments category, but it is far more likely that Cook had been focusing his teases on the Apple Watch. Earlier this month, Apple debuted the fashion and fitness-oriented smart watch to the same crowd that saw the debut of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. While the Watch was demonstrated, it is obviously not a finished product: it’s not shipping until “early 2015,” according to Apple.
How early in 2015? Nobody knows for sure, but a new profile from The Information says “that Apple would be lucky to ship it by Valentine’s Day.” At 9to5, we’ve been hearing similar whispers. Valentine’s Day is in February, and this could be a great target for Apple to try to hit for the Watch’s launch. That Hallmark Holiday isn’t as strong as a shopping season as the December holidays, but it is still a time that many people seek out expensive or fashionable gifts. So why not the Apple Watch Edition, too? Apple has done product launches around that timeframe before, releasing new iOS device storage capacities and pink-colored models on multiple occasions.
Valentine’s Day aside, the bigger picture here is that many signs indicate Apple missed its own 2014 launch target. As The Information says:
