Tag: Apple Watch

Apple Watch May Hit the Indian Market Sooner than Expected

The first smartwatch to mark the debut of Apple in the wearable segment was struck by manufacturing hiccups at the time of its release. The elusive Apple Watch which was to go up for sale from April 24 onwards, was missing from the Apple retail stores. Only customers of a few countries have access to order the same via the Apple online store. But it looks like Apple has sorted the initial issues. A supplier responsible for producing the Apple Watch hinted that there are no more production issues and that supplies will improve in the coming time.

The online tech publication Digitimes quoted the Vice Chairman CC Leung of Quanta Computer saying, “its client’s wearable device is no longer a challenge to Quanta in both technology and quality.” He also clarified that labour problem during Lunar New Year holidays forced them to borrow manpower from other manufacturers, which led to the shortage of the product. The provider now has sufficient supplies and is said to make a “giant contribution from its wearable device business in the second quarter.”

However, Leung didn’t name the Apple Watch but pointed towards it saying the “wearable device is unlike the smartwatches it produced before and has a lot of functions in it and its client is satisfied with the product.”

This means that the innovative gadget will land in India ahead of the speculated date. People might walk into the Apple Store to own a Watch later this month or in the beginning of June. The device is otherwise speculated to hit the Indian wearables market in July.

May 16, 2015
Apple Admits Tattoos May Cause the Watch Problems

Who would have thought that the proper working of Apple’s newest product, the Apple Watch, will depend on if you have tattoo or not? A few days back, several reports had surfaced of tattooed Apple Watch owners facing trouble with their new purchase. Just like the Bendgate fiasco, it sounded like a tech glitch, which was made to sound bigger than it actually was. However, Apple has posted on its official blog that users sporting tattoos may face difficulty in operating the smart watch’s key feature – the heart-rate monitor.

Apple said the watch works on a technology called photoplethysmography that bombards the wearer’s skin with green LED and infrared light in order to follow the blood flow between heart pumps.

The official Apple support page reads:

Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can also impact heart rate sensor performance. The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings.

The only solution Apple has to offer for now is that by connecting the Apple Watch wirelessly to external heart rate monitors via Bluetooth, the wearable can bypass the sensor reading from the tattooed area.

The tattoo problem is not only being faced by Apple Watch users. Similar fitness wearables that use the same technology, have been reported to malfunction a little when worn on a tattooed hand.

May 2, 2015
It Costs Less Than $84 to Make an Apple Watch Sport Edition

The finest luxury Gold Edition smartwatch by Apple comes at a whopping amount of $17,000. The lowest version starts at $349, and the price goes up with the higher the model you choose. But do you know the heavily tagged Apple Watch costs just 24% of the retail price to the company?

The research firm IHS did a teardown of the Apple Watch Sport and discovered that one unit of the Sport is worth 24% of what buyers pay for it. It is less than one-fourth of the price and costs the Cupertino-based tech giant a mere $84 (approx.). The firm quoted it as the lowest price set by the company for any hardware as other Apple products are traded much higher than their manufacturing cost.

As per IHS estimates, the 38mm Watch has the OLED display as its priciest part that is coated with Ion-X cover glass. The whole arrangement of display and protection provided by LG costs $20.50. The second most expensive part of the watch is the A1 processor manufactured at the company’s plant itself. All other components cost below $10, except the electro-mechanical apparatus.

As the cost is estimated on the basis of teardown, the expenses such as licensing, logistics, R&D, and other noticeable costs have not been taken into account.

The expense table of the 35mm Apple Watch Sport by IHS is given below:

May 1, 2015
Apple Watch Already Has More Than 3,500 Apps Available in the App Store

The Apple Watch is the first smartwatch by the Cupertino-based giant, and the company is extremely proud of it, especially its apps. Yesterday the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook while disclosing about the total earnings of the company, boasted about the massive amount of apps ready for the Apple Watch. Tim stated that over 3,500 apps were available.

Cook further elaborated how significant this figure is as the iPad had only had 1,000 apps ready at its launch in 2010, and iPhone App Store had just 500 apps when it first debuted in July 2008.

Cook briefed in a meeting –

We’re far ahead from where we expected to be from an application point of view. We had an internal goal of beating that 1,000 [that the iPad had] and we exceeded that.

As Apple allowed the third-party apps to make their presence on its Watch, developers have been submitting the ready apps for approval since March 31. The creation of apps wasn’t an easy task for developers as Apple limited the access to functional hardware. Most of those apps have been approved, and Apple Watch users can install any tool from the plethora of apps. Some of the Indian apps for the Apple Watch include NDTV News, HDFC and Cleartrip.

This seems like an important announcement, however we need to keep it in mind that the presence of apps was considerably less in 2010, when the iPad was first introduced. It would not be fair to compare the iPad with the Apple Watch. Recently, it was also learnt that developers are also creating a set of games for the wearable, which is a challenge. Know more about the Apple Watch games here.

April 28, 2015
Here’s Why It is Difficult for Developers to Create Games for Apple Watch

When Apple Watch went up for sale globally on Friday, nobody thought that games could find a place on Apple Watch. The Cupertino-based firm focused on health and fitness apps incorporated on its Watch, and never talked about any game-related app in its March 9 conference.

However, it sparks a question of whether developers would be able to shrink down games to the size of a 2-inch screen of the device. The gaming market for the smartphones is vast, and with the size of games decreasing year after year, it now seems possible. The preview page of Apple shows only two games.

It was learnt that developers don’t have access to full features of the wearable and development tools. But if any company succeeds to squeeze down a game to the size of the watch, it will have a firm grip on the smartwatch game sector. Apple has made a record-breaking $15 billion in 2014 through games in its App Store, and with estimates of 40 million Apple Watch to sell by year-end, there is a vast market for the developers ahead.

Some game developers have already started to take an initiative. New York-based studio Robot 5 says it has already designed three games that can be played on the 2-inch screen, along with seven more that will complete before the end of June.

Runeblade

Right now, the Apple Watch acts as a screen interface when tethered to the iPhone. Developers are still trying to figure out a way to develop native apps for the Watch. For making games on the wearable, it will need an entirely different mindset, however. Peter Chen, Founder and CEO of Robot 5 Studios says –

The biggest challenge is the complexity of the animations. iPhone games can have animations that are infinitely complex, with full control of each pixel and also of objects movements across the screen. Apple Watch games don’t have this kind of control over pixels and objects, so we have to mimic this kind of behavior.

It is likely that Apple will work on this issue on its launch or after, added Peter Chen. The 18-hour battery life of the wearable is also a problem for the developers.

It is quite evident that creating games for Apple Watch is not impossible. Just like for the iPhone and iPad, creating a set of games for the wearable needs a different approach.

Robot 5 Studios released a teaser of a new game. Check out how it looks like on Apple Watch in the video below:

https://youtu.be/tcwFyJysTG8

April 25, 2015
Thanks to Massive Demand, Apple Working to Accelerate its Smartwatch Production

Seems like Apple itself was dubious about the success of its first wearable, and ordered production of a limited number of Watch units. The demand of the Apple Watch, as forecasted by the US tracking firm Slice Intelligence, hit almost one million on its first day of pre-order, which outstrips the supply of the watch. As per Reuters, the consumer electronics giant is likely to speed up the production of the Apple Watch to meet the towering demand.

Analysts have predicted that Apple could see a total of 2.3 million to 4 million sales by June end. Meanwhile, Apple didn’t disclose the pre-order details on Monday as part of its usual strategy, and analysts are stating that this may be due to supply shortage.

A demand of 4 million is a great start for a company debuting in the wearables segment. Another Swiss analysis firm USB has revealed that the tech behemoth will sell as much as 16 million watches in FY 2015 ending September and 40 million in FY 2016.

Apple Watch was unveiled at the March 9 event and went up for pre-orders on April 10, and on sale on April 24. World over, the Apple Watch stores saw a huge flock of people patiently waiting to get a closer look at the personal luxury by Apple.

All these speculations point out to the fact that the fate of the Apple Watch was predicted wrongly by critics; they believed the device to be a worthless gadget with aggressive pricing.

April 14, 2015
Apple Watch Hits One Million Pre-Orders on its First Day

According to reports from Slice Intelligence, Apple’s smartwatch kicked off to a solid start by receiving almost a million pre-orders in the US. Slice Intelligence is a firm that tracks and projects US consumer spendings through e-commerce mail receipts. Slice Intelligence projections showed Apple, on its first day of accepting orders, hit a million pre-orders based on 9,080 online shoppers.

Saw the estimates of 1M Apple Watch pre-orders in my inbox. Won’t be surprised by an official Apple statement tomorrow saying 2M.

— Kevin C. Tofel (@KevinCTofel) April 13, 2015

According to Slice reports, 71% of the Apple Watch pre-orders were for the larger 42mm case and 32% of the aluminum Sports Watch. The expensive 19-karat Gold model did not have enough pre-orders to be included in the list. The report also revealed that 28% of the pre-orders included a black Sports band, thus making it the most popular option for its customers. The steel Milanese Loop came in second with 25% after which came the Link Bracelet with 14%.

Apple has not given any verification to the data yet or the official sales figures of the Apple Watch. The smartwatch sales will begin on 24^th April in over nine countries: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, UK and the US. The company is encouraging pre-orders, which seem to be quickly selling out. The availability of the watches have been pushed to May or June due to the massive demands.

To read more about the Apple Watch, click here.

April 13, 2015
Due to Massive Demand, Shipping of the Apple Watch May Get Delayed to June

It seems customers pre-ordering the Apple smartwatch will have to wait for a month more before the delivery process kicks off. The watch that went up for pre-order with the promise of in-store pickups or home delivery starting 24th of April, have slipped to June for some models due to the massive demand.

The watch officially goes up for sale on 24th April through online portals and appointments in shops. But as soon as the online pre-orders opened up on Friday, Apple’s website listed June as the shipping month for some models and four-six weeks for the rest.

There are a total of 38 models of the Apple Watch set up for pre-ordering via the company’s official online stores in nine countries, namely, Australia, China, France, Hong Kong, Canada, Japan, USA and United Kingdom. Even the most expensive variant of the Apple Watch is listed as shipping in June – with some Edition models shown as ‘Out of Stock’.

Apple officially confirmed Apple Watch’s arrival last year in September, when the iPhone 6 was announced. To know more about the wearable, click here.

April 11, 2015
Samsung Galaxy S6 Comes to India But Where is the Apple Watch?

Samsung’s latest flagship, the Galaxy S6 is set to hit the Indian and global stores today. The Korean electronic behemoth has grasped the importance of the Indian consumers for the future of the smartphone industry and has been bringing phones almost at the same time as the global market. But the other major force in the tech industry, Apple is still not close to giving India that priority, which is evident by the lack of the country’s name in the release locations for the Apple Watch.

Apple Watch is the company’s newest product family. The wearable is available from $349 for the basic model, the Watch Sport, and the line of offering goes up to $17,000 for the gold plated version called the Watch Edition. People looking forward to owning the device can pre-order it today in the countries where it is offered. But the only piece of information that the Indian Apple fans get is that the Watch will come to the country ‘sometime in 2015’.

Samsung brought the Note 4 to India at the same time as the US.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s Galaxy S6 was already up for pre-order in India and goes up for sale today. Samsung had also brought its last major launch, the Note 4 to India on 17th October, exactly the same time it came to the United States.

It’s not like Apple has a small market in India. Just in the space of October to December of last year, the company sold 500,000 devices in India, and the number keeps growing. Of course, it is just a tiny fraction of the global sales that have helped the company to have the most profitable quarter in history. A push for the massive Indian population can help the company take the profit higher.

Things do look brighter for the Indian consumers as Apple has plans to set up 500 stores across India. So maybe then the Indian fans would not have to wait impatient hours to buy Apple products.

April 10, 2015
Apple Watch Faces Roadblock in the Swiss Market

Switzerland is known to be the land of exquisite watch makers. For decades, the Swiss watch has been one of the most prominent exports of the tiny European nation. The year now is 2015, and it’s the age of smartwatches. Silicon Valley giant, Apple is ready to launch its new product, the Apple Watch around the world, but it has hit a legal wall in the watchmakers’ nation.

Apple cannot sell the Watch with the name Apple or image of an Apple, which are both central to the branding of the product. The patent to the brand name in the country is held by William Longe, who received it in 1985. This patent is set to expire on December 5 of this year after which the tech giant can bring its new smartwatch to the country.

The patent issue was reported by Swiss broadcaster RTS. Till now there has been no comment from either Apple or the patent authority of Switzerland on the matter. Apple will be bringing its new product to nine countries on April 24th.

Seeing the challenge to their markets, the Swiss watchmakers are raising their game too. Founder of one of the largest watchmaker from the country, Swatch had recently said that the nation’s watch business will head for trouble if they don’t compete with the tech companies. Swatch has already unveiled their own smartwatches, but they look like toys at present. They will have to do a lot better to take on the offerings from Samsung, LG and of course, Apple.

April 6, 2015
Apple’s New Video Tutorials Demonstrate Apple Watch at its Best

Since the day Apple Watch was unveiled, it has received a heavy number of mixed reviews. Some say it is an overpriced device, while others suggest it will change the way the general audience looks at wearables. The Cupertino-based giant has decided to give its final customers a closer look at the Apple Watch and has released four new videos that demonstrate the Apple Watch at its best.

The videos describe how the Apple’s first smart watch can make your day-to-day tasks a lot easier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LHdVkPrdRYg

The company recently updated its Apple Watch web page with four new videos. The clips walk the users through several features of the Watch giving a fair idea about how to use it and what it can do. The first one of the four is an introductory clip that says “Welcome to Apple Watch.” The 4:44 minutes video is dedicated to providing an elaborate detail of its hardware and software concepts like Messages, Digital crown, Force Touch and Faces. The video narrates the power of Apple Watch and how it is a must-have accessory for every iPhone user.

The other three videos are comparatively shorter than the introductory video and finishes within 2 minutes. Each of them focuses on one key feature and demonstrates how to customize the watch. The Faces speaks about how with a long press, all the watch faces come up and you can make a selection from a list. Tap any to make it the new face and customise it as you desire like changing hand colours, adding calendar and weather, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=N6ezjg6-0hU

Similarly, Messages and Digital Touch give an insight into the functionality of the other features. Messages give a tour of sending audio and text messages along with numerous emoji options. The Digital Touch caters to your social habits. The side button below the Digital crown gives access to your friends. You can add contacts, send sketches, taps, messages, and heartbeats to your contacts, and of course, you can ring them any time using the Watch.

Meanwhile, Apple has made public only 4 of the videos, while the official web page depicts 7 more guided tours each with “Coming Soon” tag. These include Phone Calls, Siri, Maps, Music, Activity, Apple Pay and workout. Apple Watch will go on sale on 24th of this month. Needless to say, we’re extremely excited to get our hands on Apple’s first wearable.

You can check out all the videos here.

April 4, 2015
About 40 Percent of iPhone Users Willing to Buy Apple Watch: Reuters Poll

Apple devoted a huge amount of time and thought to bring out a smartwatch that can outshine all other gadgets in the wearables category. The Apple Watch is a distinctive piece and sports many features like digital crown and Force Touch that are not found in any other smartwatch. But is it really getting the traction expected by the company? International news agency, Reuters, did a survey to find out the demand for the Watch and discovered that around 40 percent of the American iPhone users are interested in buying the Apple Watch.

The poll includes adult iPhone owners of the US of age 18 years and above. The primary reason to consider iPhone users in the first place was that Apple Watch requires iPhone for most of its functions. So, iPhone users automatically come into the picture to be the initial buyers of the product.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted a survey between March 9 and March 17 in which a total of 2,469 American adults of 18 years and above took part. It was found that 24 percent of the participants showed interest in Apple Watch, out of which 10 percent described themselves as very interested. Another survey of 788 iPhone users across the globe by the same firm speaks of 39 percent interested buyers, out of which 17 percent are ‘very interested’ in the product.

These numbers from the survey might not look uplifting at this moment for Apple, but considering the 100 million active users of iPhone in the US, and nearly half a billion in the whole world, the resultant buyers may turn out to be a huge number. According to Reuters, Analyst Walter Piecyk of BTIG marketing firm considers the survey inspiring, “The survey was “pretty encouraging” for a product that has not been seen in shops, even if it was unclear how much of the interest would translate into purchases.”

It is yet uncertain how many interested buyers will convert into purchasers, as the price of the smartwatch is the major roadblock. Its price ranges from $350 for a regular edition to $17000 for the 18-karat gold edition, which makes it the most expensive smartwatch yet.

March 19, 2015
Apple Watch Rumoured to be Coming to India in June

If rumours are to be believed, you might get a closer look at the Apple Watch sooner than you expected. During the massive ‘Spring Forward’ event, Apple had announced the arrival date of the Apple Watch, however only for a few lucky countries.

10th April onwards, in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US, Apple Watch will be available for preview, try-on by appointment at Apple’s retail stores, and available for pre-order through the Apple Online Store. Although, in the usual Apple style, the actual ‘on sale ‘date lands later on 24th April.

Unfortunately, India did not feature in the list of the first countries. But according to gizmodo.com, the potential sale of the Apple Watch in India might be a result of the country emerging as an important market for many brands.

The base model of the Apple Watch is estimated to start at a price of Rs. 35,000 (approx). The Apple Watch incorporates fitness tracking and health oriented capabilities along with the ability to integrate with iOS and other Apple Products.

The device will be coming in three variations – Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and the Apple Watch Edition. And will be compatible to use with the iPhone 5, 5S, 5C, 6 and 6 Plus.

To know more about this device, click here.

March 17, 2015
Google to Finally Add That One Important Missing Feature on Android Wear Smartwatches

Google has decided to fill the gap that makes its Android Wear software fall second in the wearables segment. According to a report by The Verge, the search giant is planning to bring Wi-Fi support to Android Wear software running on smartwatches. If the report is to be believed, then the extended support may come with the next software update.

The next update will diminish the fine line between the Apple Watch and Android Wear-powered wearables. Users can turn on Wi-Fi, and the Android Wear-powered smartwatches will get notifications and run Google Now even if the Bluetooth connection is not available. The new update will bring two additional tweaks – gesture control and improved UI.

The former tool allows users to swipe notifications and Google Now cards on the screen of the device without using the other hand. Despite, one can flick their wrist to do the same. The redesigned user interface was much needed in the Android-powered wearables. With the help of the tweaked UI, one can have easier access to applications and contacts. It will also get easier to switch between apps.

There are certain devices that come with built-in wireless, but because of this missing feature, the use of Android Wear-based wearables is limited. The new update will give a new dimension to a broad range of smartwatches like the Moto 360, the Asus ZenWatch, and the Samsung Gear Live.

This makes the upgrade of the Android Wear software much more crucial as users may consider switching to Apple Watch. Meanwhile, there is no information on when the company planning to release an update.

March 11, 2015
Thanks to Apple Watch, Swiss Watchmakers Headed Towards Troubled Times : Swatch Inventor

Apple’s has finally brought its long awaited Watch to the market, and there have been mixed responses to the new offering. Now the co-inventor of the Swatch watches says that the new device from Apple can cause serious troubles for Switzerland’s famed watch industry.

Swatch co-inventor Elmar Mock has said that the Apple Watch might put a lot of pressure on traditional watchmakers in Switzerland, and he anticipates an ice age for the industry soon. He said that anything in the range of $500-1000 should be a cause of concern for the industry.

Wristwatches are one of the many prominent offerings from Switzerland along with cheese, chocolate and, of course, the banking system for stashing huge funds. The watch making industry employs tens of thousands of workers and the smartwatch craze might affect their livelihood.

Mr. Mock said that the Swiss watch industry hasn’t been innovating enough to keep up with the new challenges from the tech industry. He cited the quartz crisis of 1970’s and 80’s when cheap watch offerings from Japan took over large market shares from Swiss watchmakers. He said that the Swiss industry has the technology to deliver competent product in the age of smartwatches, and they should take proactive efforts to tackle the assault from the tech industry. Elmar Mock warned that if corrective actions weren’t taken, the watch industry might face severe troubles in two to three years.

Smartwatches as a segment has a long way to go, and the most glaring deficiency of these devices is the battery life that mostly tends to last a day or two. It adds on as an extra device that regularly demands its moment on the charging plug while a regular watch runs for months or even years on a single battery. This is one of the major causes that discourages folks from buying these new devices. So the watchmakers should anticipate a comfortable run till the time the tech companies figure out the battery side of things.

March 11, 2015