Apple Throws a Curve With Apple Watch, iPhones and More

by Chris Preimesberger

The Apple Watch screen is controlled by touch, arm movement and by the “crown”—the circular wheel button on the side that traditionally was used to wind a watch. The watch, which must be used with an iPhone to get full usability, can do everything a smartphone or laptop can do, just on a smaller scale. It can also do things those other devices cannot do, such as track steps, heart rate, blood pressure and other health-related metrics. They will start at $349 and become available in early 2015, CEO Tim Cook said.

They are Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport (several colors) and the high-end Apple Watch Edition (gold or silver). The new devices are extremely customizable, with two watchband sizes and six different styles of bands that are easily interchangeable. Pictured: Apple Watch Sports.

Thanks to the watch’s embedded near-field communication capability, users can talk to each other with a touch, as well as with Short Message Service (SMS). A user can draw a simple shape (like this heart) and send it to another Apple Watch wearer with a simple nudge. This touch ability also comes in handy with the new Apple Pay app, which is explained later in this slide show.

There’s a long list of apps available for the Apple Watch, and the company is actively promoting outside development of news apps throughout the development communities. Basically, anything one can do on a smartphone will be made available on the watch, which will be quicker and more accessible in many situations.

The Apple Watch’s versatility is one of its biggest selling points. Users can choose from numerous apps, faces and backgrounds; they can send email, text messages, photos and video, and even audio files using the device.

Users can charge up the Apple Watch by simply attaching the magnetic charging device to the face of the watch. Battery life is expected to be in the vicinity of 24 hours.

Apple Vice President Kevin Lynch, head exec in charge of the Apple Watch project, introduced a new toolkit for developers who may want to join the gang expected to design and develop new apps for the Apple Watch. Examples of some apps now available: You can tweet from the watch by tapping on the top; you can unlock a hotel room door with a tap; BMW’s app will show you a map of where you left your car in a parking lot; you can control the temperature in your home; and with the Nike app, you can challenge friends to a run and chart every step.

To the surprise of no one, Apple launched two new iPhones, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. Now Apple has the larger size users wanted in order to try and cut into the high sales numbers Samsung, LG and others have been putting up with their 5-inch Google Android smartphones. As one might also expect, the new phones have improved 64-bit, A8 processors, improved cameras (new 1.5µ pixels, f/2.2 aperture lens with all-new sensor; Focus Pixels; improved image stabilzation; 240 frames-per-second slo-mo in video; time-lapse video and FaceTime 1080p HD camera.

Being able to pay with just a tap from a device to a special point-of-sale station without using a credit or debit card will cut down tremendously on fraud; neither the vendor nor Apple will ever see the transaction or the buyer’s personal information, and there’s no card to lose or have stolen. Several of the largest banks in the U.S. are already making preparations for this, as are vendors such as McDonald’s, Disney properties, Whole Foods Markets, Subway and even Apple retail stores. It is expected to go mainstream in 2015.

Some of the Apple Pay function’s information stays within the system and cannot be seen by anybody, except the bank and the buyer. The implications of this are expected to be widespread in the next few years.

Lines of Apple Watches and new iPhones are ready for their close-ups, as journalists from all over the world crowd in around them to snap photos and videos. More than 2,700 people crowded into the De Anza College Flint Center for the event; this is the same location where the Macintosh and iMac were introduced in 1984 and 1997, respectively.