Now that you’ve ordered an Apple Watch or two, you’ll want to start pre-ordering any accessories that you want to have by the time your watch arrives. Most of the products on this list of protective covers, cases, and bags are shipping around the same time as the Apple Watch — sometime between April 24th and June— but many can be preordered today for delivery in the coming weeks. Expand Expanding Close
Workflow for iOS was initially released back in December with a plethora of capabilities thanks to iOS 8. Now, the app has been updated to version 1.2 with support for Apple Watch. Workflow, similar to Automator on OS X, allows users to create more than 200 automated actions with a mix and match interface on the iPad and iPhone. With Apple Watch, users will be able to view and download workflows designed for Apple Watch instantly from their wrist.
Apple Watch is finally available to preorder, but if you missed the mark at 12:01 a.m. you might be waiting quite a while to get your hands on one. Luckily, Apple is providing try-on appointments that will allow you to get a taste of the experience and feel one out for yourself. Recently, we took that opportunity to get our hands on a few and offer some initial impressions on the hardware and software…
When unveiling the Apple Watch, Apple heavily touted the fact that the device is an incredibly precise timekeeper. As the Watch has rolled out to retail stores we’ve slowly been finding a few features buried within Settings, including one that relates to the accuracy of the time. In Watch OS, Apple has included the ability to manually adjust the time displayed on the watch face of your device.
Update: Shipment dates are all over the place for the Apple Watch. Many models are already showing delivery dates in June, while the Edition shows an August arrival date. Some 12-inch MacBook models still ship in 1-3 business days.
Apple’s online store has gone down this evening to prepare for the launch of the Apple Watch and 12-inch MacBook. When the store returns, the Apple Watch will be available for pre-order, while the 12-inch MacBook will be available for purchase. The Apple Watch will launch on April 24th.
While most are still waiting for the clock to strike April 10th, Apple Stores in the eastern part of the world have started opening their doors to Apple Watch appointments and potential buyers. Images posted to Twitter and Instagram show lines of customers waiting outside of stores to get their hands on the Apple Watch.
As the launch of the Apple Watch nears, Reuters this evening reports that Apple has been increasing its advertising of the device significantly over the past month. Since the company’s “Spring Forward” event on March 9th, Apple has spent $38 million on its Watch advertising campaign. That number includes U.S. TV ads and digital responses.
The Apple Watch goes up for pre-order this coming Friday, but an Instagram user this evening has provided us with the first images of the device’s box. The images, which appear to have been posted from New York City, show the box for the 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch with the Milanese Loop band. The Apple Watch pictured appears to have been sourced to UK newspaper The Daily Mail.
Last week we noticed that Apple had started seeding Apple Watch review units to the media, and this evening the device is getting more promotion. On popular TV show “The Voice,” coach Pharrell Williams can clearly be seen wearing the Apple Watch. Likewise, Apple CEO Tim Cook is attending the NCCA national championship game with the Apple Watch clearly strapped on his wrist.
Apple’s<a href="http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/29/apple-store-revamp-for-apple-watch-revealed-magical-tables-demo-loops-sales-process/" target="_blank"> upcoming retail overhaul</a> for displaying the Watch
A lot of my techie friends are saying that the entry priced-Apple Watch Sport will be their pick next month, and not because of the exterior look. The theory is that Sport is the cheapest way to experience Apple’s new product category in 2015, and since the second-gen Apple Watch will inevitably be upgraded, why pay a premium this year for nicer materials such as stainless steel and sapphire glass?
Despite the Apple Watch’s desire to marry jewelry with technology, it hasn’t lost the baggage gadgets carry, namely the reality that they’ll be outdated and replaced in a relatively short period of time. If the Apple Watch evolves anything like the original iPad did when it became the iPad 2, the differences could be dramatic.
Personally, when I think about getting more perceived value out of a higher-priced stainless steel Apple Watch rather than testing the waters with the cheaper aluminum model, I’m more concerned with how soon the Apple Watch 2 will be announced rather than how much more functional the newer device could be. No matter what happens with the first-generation model, an Apple Watch 2 will come to market. How will Apple balance keeping the Apple Watch evolutionary momentum going with keeping the first-generation model “modern” for enough time to satisfy early adopters?
Will the first generation Apple Watch become collectible? Or will your shiny new Apple Watch go the way of old iPhones and iPads in a year or two when the upgrade to a newer, likely more feature-filled model proves too hard to resist?
If Apple follows the release cycles of its other products, the Apple Watch could see at least a minor refresh every year and perhaps even a larger overhaul every other year, much like we see with Apple’s iPhones and iPads.
What might Apple’s second and third-generation Apple Watch collections look like? And what will that mean for owners of the current collection? Expand Expanding Close
While health tech has to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the agency will be taking “an almost hands-off approach” to fitness-oriented wearables like the Apple Watch, says policy advisor Bakul Patel in an interview in Bloomberg.
“We are taking a very light touch, an almost hands-off approach,” Patel, the FDA’s associate director for digital health, said in an interview. “If you have technology that’s going to motivate a person to stay healthy, that’s not something we want to be engaged in.”
Patel said the FDA would be drawing a distinction between products whose health claims focused on fitness rather than diagnosis … Expand Expanding Close
While Apple will offer extensive in-store sales and try-on experiences in Apple Stores, the company will also allow customers to virtually try on an Apple Watch or Apple Watch Edition and receive setup support, according to sources. Prior to purchasing either of two higher-end Apple Watches, customers will be able to video chat with an Apple Online Store representative who will personally try-on and model Apple Watch collections and band combinations. Additionally, as we noted in our prior article about Apple Watch Edition sales perks, Edition customers will be able to have a “personalized pre-sales experience” either over phone or online chat…
In a **totally unscripted surprise** call to celebrate Mad Money stock analyst Jim Cramer’s 10th year on the air, Apple CEO Tim Cook let loose a slew of compliments to the analyst who has had a controversialpast with AAPL stock trading.
The Apple Store is down, in preparation for announcements later today at Apple’s Spring Forward event. The store going down is a very strong indicator that something new will be available to buy after the event is over — but what products? The most likely answer is new MacBooks.
There is also the potential of Apple Watch preorders, although these are more likely to take place in a couple of weeks, assuming an April launch.
Research firm Strategy Analytics released its latest report today forecasting global Apple Watch sales and smartwatch marketshare for 2015. The firm’s predictions put Apple’s anticipated global smartwatch marketshare at more than half with 54.8% reached in 2015. Notably, that forecasted percentage is versus all other smartwatches combined competing with the Apple Watch.
While the report predicts that Apple will take the overwhelming majority of smartwatch sales this year, it predicts a relatively conservative number of units shipped globally in 2015 at 15.4 million. That forecast still beats the collective “other” group with a 12.7 million units shipped globally predicted.
To be clear, the firm is predicting that the as-of-yet unreleased Apple Watch will outsell the existing smartwatch market in 2015…
Over the past week, we’ve heard rumors that Apple planned “pop up” stores for displaying the new Apple Watch inside high end stores in both Paris Galeries Lafayette and London Selfridges (pictured above). Now the Austin Statesman notes that Apple has participated in SXSW in a number of ways over the past few years and it would almost be surprising if the Apple Watch wasn’t displayed in some capacity to the international SXSW Interactive audience there. Apple set up a pop-up shop for the iPad 2 during its spring launch in 2011 (pictured right).
Apple has used the festival in the past to showcase a new product (like the iPad 2) or to promote its services (like the iTunes Music Festival last year). SXSW Interactive is the perfect audience of early adopters for a product like the Apple Watch and it wouldn’t be surprising if the company offered a preview of the device there.
Following from features in fashion magazines in France and Germany, the Apple Watch has made its UK editorial debut in Sunday’s publication of Style. Although the Watch is not on the cover of the issue I received, there are four covers circulating — one of them features the Apple Watch as the cover photo. Regardless of whether you get a copy of the magazine with the special cover or not, inside the Watch gets three pages of press coverage.
The main picture features Guinevere Van Seenus wearing a 38mm Apple Watch Sport with Space Grey case and black sport band. The written accompaniment says that the Apple Watch does not convey ‘power, status and discernment’ like a Rolex can but holds back no punches in saying it will ‘wipe the floor with existing smartwatch manufacturers and give mid-market watchmakers a fright’. The magazine compliments Jony Ive in particular, for the design.
Jony Ive has got the tone of the Apple Watch just right. It looks elegant but not standoffish, and as well as the 18 variations of the regular version, there are the 10 Sport options, which come with a lightweight case, strengthened glass and a rubber strap, plus the more expensive Edition range (six models), made from 18ct gold.
[Ed. Note: Rob Bates, is a senior editor for JCK, and blogger/writer about the diamond and jewelry industries—this post originally posted here]
When we first started talking about the Apple Watch, some predicted that the highest-end model—the 18k gold Edition—could retail for more than $1,000. Now that seems almost quaint. Apple-focused blogs such as Daring Fireball now regularly bandy about numbers like $10,000—and sometimes far more.
The jewelry and watch sources I spoke with all think a price tag of $6,000 or more is reasonable, maybe even probable. “If it’s under $5,000, it will shock me,” says Michael Pucci, founder of the Los Angeles–based Abbiamo Group, marketing and sales consultants for jewelry and watches. He thinks the price tag will fall between $6,000 and $10,000, but not likely much more than that.
The 18k gold is, of course, the watch’s most valuable component. While it’s difficult to judge gold content from photos—given questions about thickness, etc.—industry experts believe the watch and accompanying case will use about 1 ounce of gold (currently trading for around $1,200).
Courtesy: Apple
The Apple Watch Edition.
Yet, you can’t just value the gold by weight, argues Torry Hoover, president of Hoover & Strong, the metals refiner.
“These can’t be mass-produced,” he says. “You can machine parts of it, but it will take a fair amount to make a case. There is still a lot of handwork that has to be done with it.”
That’s because gold’s properties sometimes make the metal ill-suited for assembly lines, says Jason Wilbur, a Los Angeles–based watch designer.
“We all know how soft gold is. It’s tricky. It moves around a little more than other metals. You have a lot of sharp edges and soft materials and little connection points, so you can’t just use manufacturing tools. The lugs may end up snapping off. One little pockmark on this thing will show up. You can’t just use the same tools as the other models and throw some gold in there, and there is your watch.”
Apple claims it’s using a company-developed metal that’s “up to twice as hard as standard gold.” Of course, saying “up to” gives it a lot of leeway, and no one I spoke to thinks it will introduce anything truly radical.
“There are always different alloys, but I think that’s more marketing than anything else,” says Morris Chabbott, managing director of New York City–based Morét Time. “I’ve been in the gold business, and there are many different things you can do with it. Apple is about making the best technology, so if they are making gold they may want a little edge to it.” Expand Expanding Close
As Apple prepares to bring the Apple Watch to market in just a few short weeks, the company is once again turning to Vogue magazine to showcase its new product category or wearable devices. We first saw the Apple Watch make its magazine debut on the cover of Vogue China late last year, and now the popular fashion-focused publication is featuring a multi-page spread displaying various Apple Watch collections. What’s more impressive, though, is the first video ad campaign for the Apple Watch found in the digital version of Vogue seen below… Expand Expanding Close
European department store chain Cora has chosen Apple Watch to grace the cover of its latest flyer this month hyping a February 14th date “subject to availability,” even though the Watch is on track to be released sometime in April, according to the latest from Apple CEO Tim Cook.
While we’ll have to wait and see who is more in the know on this matter (joking!), the September unveiling of the Apple Watch has spawned a new market of cheap knock offs and even promised competition from legacy watch industry insiders. Expand Expanding Close
Contrary to a report from the often-reliable French blog iGen.fr, Apple is apparently not planning a media event late this month to introduce the Apple Watch or other new products, sources tell 9to5Mac.
Several media reports picked up the rumor today, repeating claims that Apple has planned an event for the last week of February, perhaps February 24. The blog speculated that the event could also include the introduction of the in development 12-inch MacBook we revealed earlier this year. Expand Expanding Close
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