Apple Watch goes beyond being a wrist-sized smartphone
The Times staff highlights some of the new features of the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus and the newly introduced Apple Watch.
Apple’s first new product line in the post-Steve Jobs era, as expected, is a smartwatch that goes on sale early next year.
The Apple Watch, company executives said, is better than competitors’ that have tried to jump-start the market because it goes beyond miniaturizing functions of smartphones.
The Apple Watch comes in two sizes with multiple different bands. There’s a band that clasps with magnets, another that’s high on style (Apple Watch Edition) and one for people engaged in rugged activities (Apple Watch Sport).
The $349 Apple Watch requires pairing to an iPhone 5 or newer, meaning about 200 million are eligible, according to Apple.
Among its defining features is leveraging the side “crown,” or dial, as a sort of mouse-scroll button. It also acts as a “home” button.
Apple is trying to make the watch a worthwhile purchase by making sure apps have unique features.
“It will redefine what people expect from a watch,” Apple Chief Executive Time Cook said.
When messaging on the app, for example, the watch will analyze incoming text messages and suggest responses to reduce the need for typing. The Watch has animated emoticons within the messaging system and the ability share doodles drawn on the watch with others -- again reducing the need for cumbersome typing, oddly talking to the watch or annoyingly having to pull out the phone connected to the watch.
Apple’s Maps and Photos apps have special displays on the Watch, and outside app makers are getting in the game as well. Starwood Hotels is expected to launch features like using the watch as a hotel room key. BMW will give drivers directions back to their car.
Apple also described the watch as a way to bring people closer together. Health sensors allow Apple Watch users to share their heartbeats with one another. Those same sensors will give watch owners “intelligent reminders” to exercise.
The Apple Watch enters a tiny market for now, though Apple’s marketing and advertising muscle could change that. Just 4% of U.S. households with high-speed Internet say they are likely to purchase a smartwatch within the next 12 months, according to Parks Associates survey released in June.
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