Apple’s betting on a watch as its newest game-changing product.
Apple announced today the launch of a brand new product line — the Apple Watch (not called iWatch as some had expected) — priced at $349 apiece to be sold starting early 2015.
Apple’s first wearable device will come in 3 collections: (1) the basic Apple Watch with a stainless steel finish; (2) a more durable Apple Watch Sport model in aluminum casinf; and (3) a high-end Apple Watch Edition, which is finished in 18K gold. They are pretty much the same watch differing in finishes only.
The Apple Watch uses touch-screen display and sports a flexible Retina display. The display uses sapphire glass, a material more scratch-resistant and harder than Apple’s Gorilla Glass, which has been used for iPhone screens since the iPhone 4s.
The watch is particularly centered on health and fitness, tracking things such as heart rate, activity, distance covered and calories burned. The watch will also come with pre-installed health apps created specifically for the device. One cool feature of the Watch is the ability to share one’s heartbeat with friends who also use Apple watches.
It comes along with infrared LEDs and photo diodes that take one’s pulse and “turn movement into data.” The Watch runs on an S1 processor, is equipped with a gyro accelerometer and can piggyback off the WiFi and GPS on one’s phone.
It can only work in tandem with the iPhone 5, 5s, 5c, and the new iPhone 6 models.
To address the problem of magnifying content on a small screen, Apple is resorting to the use of the Digital Crown which allows the user to zoom and scroll nimbly and precisely, without obstructing the view of the display. Pushing the Digital Crown returns the user to the Home screen, making it an integral part of the Apple Watch experience.
The watch will take dictation and offers very precise synchronized time to plus or minus 50 milliseconds.
Price. $349 in the US. No confirmed pricing yet in the Philippines or in Asia or Europe.
Availability. Early 2015.
Pictures of the new Apple Watch
