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Jony Ive gushes over the ‘millions’ of Apple Watch combinations

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Picture: ABC News
Picture: ABC News

Jony Ive shared a bit of insight into the design process behind the Apple Watch during his interview with ABC News, following Tuesday’s keynote.

With Tim Cook looking on, Ive described how his team “worked extremely hard to make an object that, one, would be extremely desirable, but would also be personal because we don’t all want to wear the same watch.”

When asked how many Apple Watch variations will be available, Ive claimed that there are “millions and millions” of different configurations available, taking into account the different combinations that are possible.

“There are different materials for the actual case, there’s two different sizes, you can choose one of six different straps or bands,” he says, in addition to noting the different watch faces that can be chosen within the UI.

Don’t worry, lefties! The Apple Watch has a left-handed mode

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Apple’s actually made watches before, but one thing that makes the Apple Watch unique from other Cupertino products is it’s the first design I can think of that is asymmetrical. Look at the buttons, and you can see the Apple Watch has a clear handedness: it’s meant to be worn on the left wrist, and operated with the right hand.

Bad for lefties… or is it? Come on: this is Apple we’re talking about. As it turns out, the Apple Watch can be easily set up to wear on the other wrist, as long as you don’t mind the digital crown being on the bottom.

Apple gets a cut of every Apple Pay purchase you make

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Apple's partners went to extremes to keep news of Cupertino's mobile payments entry quiet.
Apple Pay will replace your wallet, as well as giving Cupertino an iTunes-like slice of every sale.

Apple might be a hardware first company which creates software only to drive sales of its physical devices, but that doesn’t mean it can’t earn a bit of money from its services, right?

According to a new Bloomberg report, Apple will earn a fee every time its newly-announced Apple Pay service is used to make a purchase.

The deals were reportedly brokered by Apple with each bank individually and will give Apple a sizeable share of the $40 billion generated by banks each year from so-called swipe fees for credit card payments. JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup have not yet disclosed the terms of the deal.

Clever trick will safeguard Apple Watch from thieves

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A special sensor on the back uses infrared, visible-light LEDs and photodiodes to detect your heart rate. Photo: Robert Baldwin/The Next Web
A special sensor on the back of the Apple Watch uses infrared, visible-light LEDs and photodiodes to detect your heart rate. Photo: Robert Baldwin/The Next Web

CUPERTINO, Calif. — One of the big questions about the Apple Watch is how Apple will prevent thieves from ripping it off your wrist and using it to clear your bank account.

Because the Apple Watch is connected to Apple Pay — making purchases as easy as a quick swipe — what’s to stop miscreants from abusing it?

The answer wasn’t addressed at Tuesday’s unveiling, but an Apple staffer at the hands-on demo told me how the watch will be protected against fraud.

Vainglory trailer justifies demo time during yesterday’s iPhone 6 event

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(Picture: )
(Picture: Super Evil Megacorp)

During yesterday’s unveiling of the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, awesomely-named developers Super Evil Megacorp took to the stage to show off the iPhone 6’s impressive graphical capabilities through a demo of their forthcoming iOS game Vainglory.

Despite the presence of “scarf guy” (one of the demoing developers wearing an infinite scarf that’s already become an Internet meme), Super Evil Megacorp was able to claw back viewer attention for their “unapologetically core MOBA” (that’s multiplayer online battle arena to the noobs out there) developed by veterans from the likes of Blizzard and Riot.

And no wonder: the game looks fantastic, built on Super Evil’s E.V.I.L engine, and boasting full Metal support from day one. The game’s rolling out globally from next month, but for now excited gamers can check out the trailer after the jump:

Is the Apple Watch ready to become your digital doctor?

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Will the Apple Watch revolutionize mobile health as we know it? (Picture: The Next Web)
Will the Apple Watch revolutionize mobile health as we know it? Photos: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web

Months of rumors suggested Apple’s wearable device would be a health-centric powerhouse capable of predicting heart attacks, analyzing sweat and other miraculous feats. But in reality, the Apple Watch seems more like a sexy, supercharged fitness tracker than a full-fledged medical device.

Still, this is an ambitious first-generation device — a crucial step forward for wearables that points the way toward the comprehensive health and fitness device the Apple Watch could become.

Enjoy Apple’s iPhone keynote on-demand and without interruption

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“One more thing” returned at this year's iPhone keynote. Photo: Apple.
“One more thing” returned at this year's iPhone keynote. Photo: Apple.

We love it when Apple live-streams its keynotes so that we can watch along with those lucky enough to have gotten an invite, but yesterday’s was nothing short of a disaster. It was down more than it was up, and it made Tim Cook and Phil Schiller sound like Chinese girls. But if you missed anything, you can now catch up on-demand and uninterrupted.

Apple’s painfully unstable live stream was caused by bad JavaScript

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The new landscape view of the iPhone 6 Plus. Photo: Chris Roman

Apple Watch might have stolen the spotlight at the Flint Center yesterday, but for many fans, tuning into the first 30 minutes was as impossible as scratching sapphire crystal glass.

Fans trying to watch the event via Apple TV and Safari were greeted by colorful bars and an Apple TV truck schedule. Even if you could get connected to the live stream, understanding Tim Cook and Phil Schiller was nearly impossible thanks to a Chinese translation track play loudly over the main feed.

It was an absolute disaster for the first 30 minutes from a company that executes marketing events with zen-like precision, but according to Dan Rayburn at Streaming Media, a few simple errors is all it took to bring down the show. After digging into the meta data and code from Apple’s site, Rayburn found the root of the problem: A couple lines of JavaScript.

See how the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus fit in your hand right now

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Apple Stores across the globe will have plenty of new big-ass iPhones on display tables in less than 10 days, but if you can’t wait to see how well the gigantic iPhone 6 Plus will fit in your hand, you can print out these printable scale models of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to get a feel for the device ahead of next week’s launch.

All you have to do is download the models here, print at 100% scale, cut them out, and you’ll be ready to create your own “hands-on” demo, no Flint Center invite required.

Here’s CultCast host Erfon Elijah taking his paper-thin iPhone 6 and 6 Plus out for a spin:

U2’s sad show was a swan song for iTunes

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U2's performance couldn't match the star power of the Apple Watch. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web
U2's performance couldn't match the star power of the Apple Watch. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web

Dragging U2 onstage to end Apple’s big iPhone 6 event was more than a disappointing denouement to an otherwise solid piece of marketing theater: It was a tacit admission that the recorded music industry is gasping for its last breath.

During his peculiar onstage banter with Bono, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the iTunes-exclusive release of U2’s new album, Songs of Innocence, “the largest album release of all time.” He also crowed that dumping the record for free on iTunes’ half-billion users would make music history.

It did, but for all the wrong reasons.

Apple Watch is water resistant, not waterproof

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Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web
Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web

One of the smaller details Apple failed to mention during today’s keynote was its new watch’s tolerance of liquids. While the Apple Watch is designed to stay on your wrist all day, it’s not suited for all situations.

It turns out that the Apple Watch will be just fine with a little water, but don’t plan on wearing it while swimming.

Why the iPhone 6 looks like the best phone ever

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I suspect could well be the iPhone 6 is the best phone ever made. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web.
I suspect could well be the iPhone 6 is the best phone ever made. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web

CUPERTINO, Calif. — The iPhone 6 is about the only phone that can make your iPhone 5 look fat and schlumpy.

The first thing you notice when you get your hands on one is that the iPhone 6 is pleasing to the touch: The aluminum feels great, the screen is big, bright and beautiful. This is the total package, possibly the best smartphone ever made, and definitely the best in class. I’m not ashamed to say I tried to sneak out of Apple’s demo tent with one.

iTunes 11.4 on OS X Mavericks adds support for iOS 8

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iTunes114

Apple has some new software to go along with its new iPhone 6 and Apple Watch announcements from this morning.  iTunes version 11.4 is now available for Mavericks as free update.

iTunes 11.4 adds support for iOS 8 ahead of the public release on September 17th. The release notes state that update adds the ability for users to sync favorite music, movies and other content on iOS 8 devices.  The update is available now in the Mac App Store, or via direct download on the viTunes website.

Hands-on: First impressions of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus

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The new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are bigger, faster and thinner than ever. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web
The new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are bigger, faster and thinner than ever. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus take everyone’s favorite smartphone to the next level. They are bigger, faster and thinner than their predecessors, with better battery life to boot.

In the videos below, you’ll get Cult of Mac leader Leander Kahney’s first hands-on impressions, straight and unfiltered from the demo room after Apple’s big press event in Cupertino, California.

Apple Watch was conceived just after Steve Jobs’ death

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Original Apple Watch models
It's time for a showdown. Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Tim Cook just took Apple into uncharted waters with a new product that could completely redefine the smart watch category, but when he took the stage, Tim says he Steve Jobs was on his mind.

Minutes after the keynote closed, Tim Cook met up with ABC News’ David Muir and said that he thinks Jobs was smiling down on the event, and would be incredibly proud to see what the company is doing today. Cook also talked a little bit about the development of the Apple Watch, revealing that it’s the first post-Jobs device Apple has released.

Watch the short interview below:

Once you get your hands on the Apple Watch, you’ll never let it go

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Apple Watch supply is finally catching up with demand.
Trust me, you'll want one. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

CUPERTINO, Calif. — The Apple Watch doesn’t look like it comes from some distant future, where cars drive themselves and we never have to go through airport security again. Instead, it’s clearly the best smartwatch Apple could design based on knowledge gleaned from today’s experts — including those in arcane arts like metallurgy and horology.

And you will absolutely want one.

It may not look like it yet, but after trying out the Apple Watch, I’m convinced it will become an essential piece of kit – as important as your iPhone.

The 10 most important things to know about the Apple Watch

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Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web
Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web

Apple finally showed the world today what the media has been calling an “iWatch” for months. Apple Watch is the first new product category to come out of the company since the original iPad. It marks a “new era” for Apple, according to Tim Cook, and introducing it was even worthy of the “One more thing” tease made famous by Steve Jobs.

There’s a lot to digest about Apple’s first wearable, so we’ve made it easy for you. Here are the 10 most important things you need to know about the Apple Watch:

Poll: Which iPhone 6 will you buy on September 19th?

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We finally know all the detail of the iPhone 6, but there’s just one question remaining: Which one are you going to get? The iPhone 6 has all the features of its bigger brother, but is your pocket jonesing for the iPhone 6 Plus and its monstrous 5.5-inch screen?

Pre-orders don’t start until September 12th, but you can vote in our poll above and drop the reasons for your choice in the comments below while you wait for iPhone 6 launch day on September 19th.

Apple makes everything you own obsolete … again

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You're gonna want one of these. Probably both, though. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web
You're gonna want one of these. Probably both, though. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web

That like-new iPhone 5s in your pocket? Obsolete. How about that smartwatch or fitness band you’ve been carting around on your wrist for the past six months? Old news. If you whip out your leather wallet and try to pay with a rectangle of plastic — at least at the corporate stores Apple works with — chances are you’ll be looked at like an old fogey.

Apple has, once again, thoroughly owned the mobile category, expanding the ways we communicate, live and transact business in our daily lives.

This domination of the smartphone, smartwatch and mobile payment categories, as revealed in today’s big iPhone 6 and Apple Watch event, has us ready to hand over another load of cash to the Apple mothership, and gladly. As usual, there were some surprises — some awesome and some not so much — but here are the main takeaways.