NEW YORK: The Apple Watch features a squarish screen and the company hasn’t gone for the round watch as some were hoping. Apple’s Watch will be coming in three distinct collections and two different sizes. The three editions are Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition. Apple Watch Edition is plated with 18 karat gold. The two different screen sizes are 38 mm and 42 mm.
The Watch is crafted from custom alloys of polished or space black stainless steel (Apple Watch), space gray or silver anodized aluminium (Apple Watch Sport) and 18-karat rose or yellow gold (Apple Watch Edition). With two sizes and three different editions, Apple has also introduced six different straps. These are a sports band; the Milanese Loop as Apple has named which has a flexible magnetic stainless steel mesh; there’s the Leather Loop which has a magnet for quick fastening; the leather Modern Buckle, which closes with a solid metal clasp; the leather Classic Buckle; and the stainless steel Link Bracelet.
The Sports band will come in black, blue, green, pink and white. The Classic Buckle comes in black and midnight blue. The leather Loop comes in bright blue, light brown and stone. The Modern Buckle in midnight blue, brown, soft pink, rose gray and bright red. The Milanese Loop is stainless steel and the Link Bracelet in brushed stainless steel and polished space black.
Input
There are three input methods direct touch inputs, navigation via the Digital Crown and voice input. There is no keyboard input at all. “All forms of input are handled with pre-populated options and voice dictation,” adds the report further. All voice control features are labelled ‘Voice Control’, instead of Siri. This version of the Watch doesn’t support replying to emails (no voice support either), and one has to send all replies from the iPhone.
Clock Faces
The Clock faces in the Apple Watch are said to be ‘incredible’ and expected to come with ‘insane’ level of detailing and customizing. Each face is supposedly like an app and the company won’t yet allow third-party faces. The smart astronomy Watch Face will let you use the crown to scroll through time and watch planetary alignments for the complete solar system.
Notifications and storage
The Apple wearable will come with a notifications centre, just like the iPhone. The notifications can be accessed by simply swiping down the screen. Apple watch may most likely support 8GB storage, just like the prototype watches. It will let users store music and play even when unlinked to an iPhone.
Battery Life
Earlier, there were reports about how the company will not achieve the target it set for the battery life. Now, Apple has reportedly improved the device’s battery life, and it spruced up to handle 5 hours of fairly heavy application usage. The report further states that the wearable won’t run out of battery during a typical day of mixed active and passive usage. The sources have now confirmed to the news site that the Apple Watch will require to be charged nightly, and definitely not last through a second full day.
Power Reserve mode
Apple is known to come with a Power Reserve Mode that will cut optional services and preserve the wearable’s core functionality. A recent report by 9To5Mac adds that the Power Reserve Mode can be activated using ‘a Battery Glance that’s accessible at any time, or via the Apple Watch’s Settings application’.
The Reserve mode can be accessed even when the battery life shows 100 percent charge. As soon as one activates the mode, it dims the display, slows down communication with the iPhone and even puts the display to sleep after about two seconds of inactivity. “One unit tested allowed access to all Apple Watch functions while in Power Reserve mode, while another unit was limited to the Clock face. Glances and yet-to-be-announced Heart Rate Glance
Glance is the quick view of Apple watch’s important app content. Apple Watch comes pre-installed with Glances and reportedly default Glances include Fitness Stats, Activity, Clock, Weather, Music, Quick Settings, Calendar and Maps. Heart Rate Glance, it is a new feature that will let users see their Beats/minute anytime. The Glance option will show a heart image and one has to tap a button that will start updating the screen with BPM reading. Recently an Apple Watch hands-on report reveals that the reading was displayed instantly and ‘seemed accurate’.
Companion app and health features
As per 9To5Mac, the Watch will come with settings for individual Apple Watch applications that can be controlled by a Companion application on the iPhone. The Companion app with a dark black user interface will allow to control the various settings, music storage and also with re-arranging the icons on the Apple Watch’s homescreen.
For Health, the SmartWatch has two main apps. These are the Activity App and the Workout App. The Activity app on Apple Watch provides a graphic of your daily activity, with three rings which show calories burnt, minutes of exercise done and how often a user takes a break from sitting. The Workout App lets users set goals as far as fitness and exercise is concerned and you can monitor your progress on your iPhone as well. Apple Watch uses the accelerometer, a built-in heart rate sensor, GPS and Wi-Fi from your iPhone for all of this.
Some of the earlier reports were hinting at an array of sensors for measuring blood pressure, heart activity and stress levels, however, looks like we may not see these features in the first iteration of the watch.
A WSJ report in February revealed that features like tracking stress levels and blood pressure were extremely complex to implement. On the other hand, some sensors couldn’t be implemented because the sensors didn’t meet Apple’s standards. Some sensors didn’t give accurate readings, adds the report.
Miscellaneous
The Apple Watch features Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 4.0 to pair with your iPhone. The S1 chip that powers the Watch is comparable to the Apple A5 chip. The Watch display will light up whenever the iPhone is locked for all of the phone’s notifications, but in case the iPhone is unlocked; the Watch will not light up for new alerts. Apple watch doesn’t come fitted with a ‘power off’ button and reportedly one can do so by long-pressing the ‘communications button’ seen on the right side. It also gets the option to Force Quit an unstable app using the same shut down screen. The Settings app brings the toggle option between Bluetooth and Airplane mode. Wi-Fi doesn’t get a dedicated settings panel and needs to be controlled on the iPhone.
Price
Apple Watch Sport starts at $349 which comes to around Rs 21,000 when converted without taxes. The Steel Sport Band could start at $749 while the Classic Buckle at $849. The high-end Apple Watch Edition with Sport Band may carry a price tag of $7,499 and the gold bracelet a whopping $17,999, suggests Fortune.