Apple’s long-anticipated ‘smart’ watch lit up wrist-focused discussions online and offline yesterday as Apple CEO Tim Cook showed off the new Apple Watch, calling it “the most personal product we’ve ever made.”
The device, offered in two sizes (38mm and 42mm high) and three different case treatments (including an 18-karat gold model) features a litany of sensors and functions (see our Watch of Day post for a full list), many of which require an adjacent iPhone 5 or iPhone 6, and perhaps most notably the addition of Apple Pay, a wireless payment system, among many other extensions of portable device technology. The device can also operate well-known apps like a calendar, maps and music players, plus offers many exercise-related tracking options.
The Apple Watch is the latest in a long list of so-called smart watches that have recently and not-so-recently vied to replace or supplement the ostensibly less-smart quartz or mechanical devices iW readers enjoy and collect. Releases in the past year or so include models from Pebble, Motorola, LG, Samsung and Sony, while Fossil and Swatch are reportedly both working on their own wrist devices. Many other offerings from smaller companies dot the year’s debuts. iW will review the recent entries in an upcoming issue and online. Stay tuned.
The sleek design of the Apple Watch arrives thanks to a design team led by Jony Ive who worked with several veteran fashion-industry designers and industrial designer Marc Newson, well known among watch collectors for his work with various watch brands from Ikepod to Hermes to Jaeger-LeCoultre. As a result, the final design adds touches familiar to watch collectors, including a sapphire screen (or crystal, if you must) on all but the aluminum-cased sport version, a choice of a yellow gold or rose gold case for the “watch edition” model, multiple strap options (including a Milanese bracelet), and a crown. Not detailed was its water resistance and battery life.
The Apple Watch will be available in early 2015 priced starting at $349.
Will the Apple Watch’s attractive design and its new (and not so new) set of features convince watch buyers to strap one on? Will it draw consumers who previously preferred a bare wrist? Will mechanical watch fans abandon their wind-up, old-tech timekeepers?
Let us know your thoughts by commenting below or emailing us at info@finelifemedia.com