Apple Watch - page 97

As the company’s first major new product category since the iPad, Apple fans are understandably excited about getting their hands on an Apple Watch sometime in 2015.

But while Apple has so far given just “early 2015” as a vague launch date, a look at the Apple Watch micro-sites for around the world paint a different picture; suggesting Apple’s eagerly-awaited wearables debut will follow a gradual iPhone-style rollout which may keep some customers waiting much further into the new year.

Of course, this is highly speculative based on the fact that Apple’s verbiage can change from market to market, but there’s no getting around the fact that currently major markets like the U.S. describe the Apple Watch as “Coming Early 2015” while others simply advertise “Available in 2015.”

So if this is to be believed, when will an Apple Watch land in your market? Check out the (possible) answer after the jump:

Apple won’t be at the mammoth International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, but once again, it’s setting the agenda from afar.

While Korean electronics giants like Samsung will dominate the show floor, Apple is laying the future path for the entire tech industry.

In the coming year, the tech industry’s big battlegrounds will be your body, your home and your car. At CES, thousands of companies will showing off new and prototype products to do battle in these arenas. But Apple is the company to beat. With the upcoming Apple Watch, in addition to HealthKit, HomeKit and CarPlay, Apple is setting the agenda for the entire tech industry, and it’s not even there.

2014 was an absolutely monumental year for Apple. Haters will hate, but one thing can’t be denied: This is a company that refuses to rest on its laurels.

Under Tim Cook’s leadership, Apple debuted a new product category with the Apple Watch, sold a record number of new iPhones, made the biggest acquisition in its history, and successfully sent its suffering stock price back into the stratosphere.

The company wasn’t without its missteps, but all in all, it’s hard to call 2014 anything short of a blow-away year for Apple.

I’m really digging the Microsoft Band. I’ve worn various fitness trackers for a couple of years now, starting with the original Jawbone UP and most recently the new Fitbit Charge.

I’ve had mixed results with them, and none have became indispensable. The Microsoft Band, on the other hand, is rapidly becoming a fixture on my wrist. It’s a great omen for the Apple Watch, which is due in early 2015. The Apple Watch will be like the Microsoft Band on steroids, and if it works as well, it’s going to be awesome.

The first wave of Apple Watch apps will probably be pretty limited in functionality, but even with the WatchKit restrictions Apple has in place, the design gurus at JBS Labs have created an Instagram for Apple Watch concept that we can’t wait get on our wrists.

The Hungary-based design firm pared down the Instagram UI to just the bare essentials. No, you can’t upload pictures or comment on your friends’ latte photos, but the simplified app does let you view and like pictures, as well as read comments and find new people to follow.

Check it out:

We’re still waiting to slap our wrist with Apple’s first wearable, but MIT Media Lab professor Neri Oxman has taken the wearables movement to a freaky new level by designing a new line of wearable structures that “grow” organically.

The project was a collaboration with the Mediated Matter Group and created four grown and 3-D-printed dresses that look like freakishly large organs growing outside the wearer’s body. To create the shape of the wearables, the team used a computational growth process inspired by natural growth behaviors. Each item starts as just a seed and then expands and refines its shape.

Take a look at these hypnotic growth variations MIT created:

Apple released the third beta of iOS 8.2 to developers this morning. iOS 8.2 is the first version of iOS to provide support for WatchKit and the Apple Watch, slated for release in early 2015.

iOS 8.2 beta 3 Build 12D5452a can be download directly to devices as an over-the-air update. Developers can also pick it up from the Mac Dev Center, along with a new Xcode 6.2 beta 3. The release notes for iOS 8.2 beta 3 don’t mention any new features, but contains plenty of bug fixes for WatchKit and Messages.

Here are the direct download links:

A job ad that made a brief appearance on Apple’s website before being taken down has confirmed that Apple Pay is on its way to Europe. The listing called for a London-based intern who would “drive the roll-out” of Apple’s new mobile payment system across Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa.

Luxury Swiss watch makers were originally dismissive of Apple Watch, but now that its launch is inching closer, their tone is changing. TAG Heur’s chief squirmed in front of the press today and announced that his brand is working on something that might be totally amazing. They’re just still looking for partners to make it happen.

Jony Ive prophesied in September that Swiss watchmakers were in “trouble” thanks to his new creations, and it’s looking like he was right. TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver said his company is creating a product to take on Apple Watch, but only if it “can be first, different and unique.”

Biver told reporters that TAG has already struck several partnerships for the watch, and they’re also considering acquiring a few companies to speed up the process.

Third-party developers are already making apps for the Apple Watch, but they’re doing so with one hand tied behind their backs.

Coders that Cult of Mac spoke with are pleasantly surprised by the opportunity to bring apps to the Watch so early, but many note they must abide by severe limitations to get their apps ready for the Apple wearable’s launch next spring.

We don’t know when Apple Watch will hit stores, but if you can’t wait to strap your wrist with the most luxurious Apple product ever created, Mervis Diamonds has the perfect band to match the 18k gold Apple Watch you’ve been lusting after. And it’ll only set you back $30,150.

Apple is said to have resolved yield issues with various Apple Watch components, and the device is set to go into mass production in January — one month earlier than many were expecting — according to a new report from Taiwan’s United Daily News.

The news story also claims that Apple has ordered 24 million Apple Watches for 2015, and that supplier Quanta is massively boosting its workforce to accommodate. Quanta has already increased its number of workers from 2,000 to 10,000 — and it will supposedly expand again to 20,000 employees at the height of first year Apple Watch production.

The minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China got a sneak peek at the Apple Watch during a recent visit to Apple’s Cupertino headquarters. Photos published by a state-owned website show Apple CEO Tim Cook demonstrating the device to Lu Wei, who also stopped by Facebook’s campus to meet Mark Zuckerberg.

Of all the big companies that would interested in buying their employees the Apple Watch when it comes out, fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Fendi come to mind first. What doesn’t come to mind is BuzzFeed.

But that’s exactly what BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti is doing for his 700+ employees. As a reward for reaching 200 million unique visitors and 750 million video views in one month, every BuzzFeed staffer gets an Apple Watch.

An incredibly sketchy report, citing supply chain sources, claims the iPhone 6s could arrive as early as spring next year, to coincide with the eagerly-anticipated launch of Apple Watch.

“[O]ur source says that Apple is hesitant about launching the iWatch in the spring of 2015 without a new iPhone to go along with it, as it could give hesitant consumers an excuse to wait on buying both until the fall,” notes Jerry Miller of Stabley Times.

The report goes on to suggest that Apple is looking to narrow the time between iPhone releases down to six-monthly intervals to match the more rapid release cycle of other companies, such as Samsung and Sony — the latter of which upgrades its Xperia Z handsets every six months.

We’re months away from being able to shackle our wrists to the Apple Watch, but the UI designers at Impekable have been busy dreaming up new app experiences that will delight wearers once the timepiece is finally available.

“Our concept was to re-envision how Apple Watch could enhance the Starbucks customer experience by providing an even better way to order rather than standing in a long line,” Impekable’s founder Pek Pongpaet told Cult of Mac. “Wouldn’t it be cool if I could just go grab a table, order one of my usual drinks, pay for it using Apple Pay or my Starbucks card and get notified when my drink is ready – all from my phone without leaving the comfort of my seat?”

Check out the slick concept below:

Despite never having laid their hands upon an Apple Watch, developers are feverishly crafting apps for the long-awaited wearable.

To do this, they face considerable challenges: The size of the device is unlike anything most of them have ever contemplated, and they must design for an entirely different kind of user experience. To make matters worse, the Apple Watch’s functionality will be severely limited, at least at first.

Still, the independent developers that Cult of Mac spoke with are unabashedly delighted to take on the design challenge as they seek to colonize the next frontier of computing: your wrist.

No one has had a chance to try the Apple Watch on for size yet, but according to a report from UBS, that’s not stopping Apple fanboys from planning to scoop up the Apple timepiece once its available, and all those eager buyers could lead to a staggering 24 million sales in the first year.

According to a recent survey of iPhone owners, at least one in ten users say they’re ‘very likely’ to buy the Apple Watch once it hits stores, and while that figure doesn’t sound like a lot, the investment firm estimates it could lead to $3.4 billion in gross profit in the first few months alone.

Hey, guess what? It’s yet another fantastic round up of great stories from Cult of Mac, so time for another special Newsstand issue just for you!

We’ve got all of the best news stories and features compiled in one place to easily read on your iPad or iPhone, like: New innovations in gaming include hot upcoming game Subterfuge, currently available MOBA Vainglory, and a new ex-Pixar-employee-led studio, plus news on the Apple Watch, some amazing gift guides, and a Black Friday special report that you won’t want to miss.

Dig into Cult of Mac Magazine November 21 Edition, Free on iTunes

With the Apple Watch release still months away, plenty of details — like the timepiece’s price and battery life — remain unknown. But the release of WatchKit this morning sheds new light on Apple’s most personal product ever.

We dug through the new WatchKit programming guide and Apple Watch human interface guidelines this afternoon and found a few details that weren’t mentioned in the keynote, such as a special new font designed to look good at any size on the Apple Watch’s tiny face.

Here are five new Apple Watch details buried in the WatchKit SDK:

The mad dash to develop the first wave of Apple Watch apps has just begun, and to go along with the new WatchKit for devs, Apple has also released the first iOS 8.2 beta this morning.

iOS 8.2 beta 1 includes support for WatchKit, which allows Apple Watch apps to connect to and run processes on your iPhone in the background. In a press release announcing the update’s availability, Phil Schiller said, “With the iOS 8.2 beta SDK, developers can now start using WatchKit to create breakthrough new apps, Glances and actionable notifications designed for the innovative Apple Watch interface and work with new technologies such as Force Touch, Digital Crown and Taptic Engine.”

Release notes for the beta don’t mention other major new features, but we’ll report on any surprises we find, once we get it installed. The iOS 8.2 beta is available to registered developers in the iOS Dev Center, along with a new Xcode 6.2 beta as well.

You can also grab iOS 8.2 from the direct download links below:

As promised, Apple has given third-party developers tools to start making apps for the upcoming Apple Watch. Today the company announced the availability of WatchKit, its new SDK for creating app experiences on the wrist.

With WatchKit, developers will be able to make actionable notifications, Glances “for timely information accessible by an easy, quick look,” and eventually full-fledged apps. Early WatchKit partners like ESPN, Instagram, and American Airlines have already tested the new APIs for future versions of their apps.

Cupertino has its chic Apple Watch, Redmond has its Microsoft Band, and now Intel has unveiled its own female-friendly take on the wearable phenomenon with a $495 smart bracelet — which will allow users to receive and respond to text messages, emails and other notifications.

Called the MICA, the fashion-conscious bracelet boasts a sapphire 1.6-inch, 256 x 160 OLED curved screen on the inside of the wrist. As with the Apple Watch there are multiple styles available — ranging from black and white water snake skin, Chinese pearls, Madagascan lapis stones, South African tiger’s eye, and Russian obsidian.

One way you can tell a technology is becoming mainstream is when it starts to have brushes with the law. We saw it in the 1980s with the first computer hacker trials, more recently with the appearance of Google Glass, and now with fitness trackers — courtesy of a personal injury suit taking place in Canada.

In what is thought to be the first ever case of data from a wearable device being used in court, a female Calgary plaintiff is using information gathered by her Fitbit device to demonstrate that her activity levels have dropped dramatically following an accident.

The data is being analyzed by a third-party analytics firm called Vivametrica, which will make its findings known to the court.