“Today, it seemed as if every tech journalist in America was crammed into Apple’s auditorium. We were there to see the unveiling of the Apple Watch, the first new product category from Apple since the iPad,” David Pogue reports for Yahoo Tech. “I did get a chance to wear one briefly, use it for a little bit, and learn more about it in a private session. Here’s what I know.”
“The Apple Watch is water resistant. Sweating, wearing it in the rain, washing your hands, or cooking with it is fine,” Pogue reports. “Take it off before you swim or get in the shower, though.”
MacDailyNews Note: This is exactly the same as the Nike+ FuelBand SE.
“Up close, you realize that this watch is much smaller and more beautiful than most previous smartwatches,” Pogue reports. “There’s a speaker and a microphone on the watch. You can, in fact, take and make phone calls from your wrist, Dick Tracy style. That goofy ergonomic position was first made laughable by the Samsung Gear watches, so I’m not sure how many people will use it — but you can do it if you want.”
“That big button below the crown: What’s it for? We know that it summons your friends’ icons or lets you pay for things. But it will have other functions, as yet unannounced,” Pogue reports. “This watch keeps track of your heart rate as you exercise. (And that’s as you exercise — continuously; you don’t have to stop, hold still, and wait for it to take a sample, as on Samsung’s watches.)”
“Many questions remain, but one thing is for sure,” Pogue reports. “By blessing the Apple Watch with great looks, small size, customizability, and reasons for existing on your wrist, Apple has gone farther than any other company — much farther — in helping to launch the Dawn of the Smartwatch Era.”
Much more information in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Pogue reports that “there’s a remarkable ‘Digital Crown’ on the right side (sorry, lefties),” but, according to ZDNet’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, “there’s even a southpaw mode for all the Apple-loving lefties out there, which flips the user interface around.”
SlashGear’s Chris Burns confirms, “Apple tells us on initial setup, you can choose to have the watch face orient itself for use on the right wrist, making it friendly to lefties. The watch bands are also swappable, so your band isn’t facing the wrong way. Good news for everyone involved, but like most things in life, Lefties will still have to deal with a right-handed design — the crown will be on the bottom of the left side of the watch when on the right wrist.”
So, take heart, lefties (about 10% of the population), Apple hasn’t abandoned you.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
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Tim Cook: We started Apple Watch after Steve Jobs’ passing – September 9, 2014
Apple mum on Apple Watch battery life – September 9, 2014
Apple Watch, the world’s first real smartwatch, will be a massive hit – September 9, 2014
Why would anyone buy an iPhone 5c instead of an iPhone 5s? – September 10, 2013
Why I’ll be buying an Apple iPad – along with millions of others – January 27, 2010
Apple’s App Store makes me want to cry – July 10, 2008
Is Apple building ‘The Device?’ – December 10, 2002
this is great since i’m a lefty
Same here. It was my only concern. Looks like I have no more excuses to not drop $350 on this little guy. Everyone, prepare to get penis drawings from me on your watch!
i would like to read mdn’s casually dismissive view about the asymmetry if the watch were made for lefties and “all” the righthanders had to do was switch the band and turn it upside down. this is a very bad design decision.
Ha ha on another thread I predicted that despite an explanation there would still be some determined to claim discrimination because the controls will be reversed vertically despite no evidence this will be particularly less usable. Seems I totally underestimated how long it would take mind as I thought it would take months to stop the stupid claim lefties couldn’t use it at all before that would surface. Tell you what when you use it and find it makes a serious difference come back to us with your whinging because I doubt that if a totally symmetrical solution was feasible at this stage without more serious problems of usability Apple would have presented it.
LOL GENIUS!!!!
There would probably be more than 10% lefties if we did not grow up in a world designed for righties!
I am one of the lucky ones who was not forced to switch writing hands. But most of the equipment that was readily available during my youth, from scissors to golf clubs, was designed for righties. I ended up a mixture. I can hammer or saw with either hand. I throw, bat, and golf right-handed. But I shoot a bow and rifle left-handed. I shoot a handgun right-handed. I bowl right-handed, but one night someone decided that we should try a game where everyone switched hands and I rolled a 138 (not great, but not bad for the first time, either). The brain is adaptable.
Oh, and I (used to) wear a watch on my left wrist…
You *are* lucky – I got switched in 1st grade. So I write right-handed, but I’m not a native. Everything else except bowling (I have no idea why that is) – golf, throw, bat, shoot – is left and I ride a board goofy. I can still write left-handed though in a pinch; in fact I usually do when I’m giving a presentation on a wipe-board. For some reason, that’s just easier for me. Brains are indeed weird.
I was also fortunate that my left-handedness was treated as nothing special and not a “problem” that needed to be fixed. The only thing I do right-handed is use scissors. And that’s because the ones I had available to use simply didn’t cut well left-handed. But even now I still buy and use right handed scissors.
If I could start again I would also play golf right handed, but it’s too late for that now.
The primary reason righties wore watches on their left was to be opposite their writing hand. In today’s world everyone types on keyboards or taps on touch screens. We mostly only write to sign our name yet with Apple Pay that will diminish too. So wear it on whatever hand you wish and stop acting like a persecuted victim.
The primary reason is that wearing it on one’s dominant hand makes it more likely to collide with other objects and get damaged. But you being right handed I can see why that’s a little tougher for you to grasp.
Sorry wearing a watch on my right hand would make it more liable to damage? I would expect the hand that I have less control of awareness of would be more susceptible. Common sense tells me you are wrong but I would love to see some evidence to confirm one way or the other, it’s not something I have considered other than noting I tend to knock things unconsciously with my left more than my right.
It will likely have the capability during setup to flip around for left or right.
Though, in the olden times, Men typically wear watches on their left. Not custom anymore – but that is generally how it was.
Me too. I know many lefties who wear their watch on their left wrist, but I never have. Until I saw this I figured I’d have to cave in and wear it on my left. So I too am pleased (and I should have known better than to think Apple wouldn’t handle it).
Yes clearly Apple would have tested the viability of it for both and that the location of the controls is barely an issue in so doing, knowing the condemnation they would otherwise get. Indeed they will get done anyway but hey ho that’s the way of the stupid vertical ism is bound to surface no matter how irrelevant it is in the real world. As someone stated if we were split black and white vertically there would still be prejudice of those with black on one side against those with it on the other.
I think once people absorb the capabilities and implications of this thing, it’s going to be adopted widely.
I think so too. When the iPad came out, it got a huge “meh” Including from me. I ended up getting two of them.
There is much more excitement about this watch than for the iPad, and I think we’ll see shortages for a while after it goes live.
I anticipate that it will become an indispensable controller (via Bluetooth) for all Apple devices, not only iPhones, but TV & iPads, as well as 3rd party peripherals such as GoPro cameras.
In aviation, it would be great to control the iPad-based avionics on the instrument panel during flight from your wrist.
Another $1,000 or so towards apple products I didn’t now I need until now ….. Could even be more, wife wants the gold model, of course!
That’s real gold. Most likely it will be in the Rolex price range.
Real Rolex, not the Samsung kind.
I deal in precious metals. I would assume that in 18k, scrap rate would be around 15-20grams of 18k.
That would be $30.29 todays rate per gram.
Lets say it is 20grams, $605 in scrap alone.
Plus the watch features, add $200.
$805. Now comes the markup.
I would assume the pricing to be around $2200-2500.
My wife wants to know where’s the matching shoes.
Oh boy. This is going to cost me a lot of money. Haha
My teenage daughter already wants the rose gold model. As I said, “right, when you can pay for it”.
Seems like they got the charging right. That said, ill stick with my Tag Heuer Link.
Here’s another thing Apple didn’t say publicly:
In Redmond, you can only hear crickets.
At this very moment, Samsung is scouring manufacturers for cheap taptic engines…
Meanwhile, shortly after the announcements today, Bill Gates was quoted as saying “I don’t see anything in the Apple Watch that we couldn’t do…”
But haven’t because Apple didn’t show us yet.
And … It needs a keyboard.
Bill, where would you put the stylus?!
I’m sure Samsung is firing up the copy engines to duplicate the Apple Watch and then sue Apple for “infringement” because they got to the market before Apple did, based on rumors at the time.
P.S. I’m overjoyed that they didn’t call it the iWatch… I’m so sick of the i-thing.
I’m a lefty. But like most lefties, you could say I’m also ambidextrous as we live in a right handed world. (that is especially true for cameras)
It’s good to know that we have a choice as far as the Watch is concerned.
I wonder if it could count how many strokes a second I achieve and what my heart rate is before I pop
And you will be able to compete for prizes.
Do you use your left hand?
WATCH
WATCH Google engineers scramble like they did with the iPhone (desperately overlaying a touch UI over their ‘Blackberry Clone Keyboard’ interface) to COPY Apple’s ‘watch Digital Crown’ navigational technology.
WATCH Samsung shamelessly copy the crown etc followed by Xiaomi etc until ALL smart watches will have them albeit vastly inferior versions.
WATCH the tech press who depend on Android reviews for survival $$$ (50-100 android reviews to one iPhone) and DUMDROIDS to eventually claim the CROWN etc tech to be ‘OBVIOUS’ (just like they did with Apple’s Mac Gui, the IPhone etc )
WATCH dumdroids claim that Samsung was FIRST and Apple the copier as Samsung came out with their stupid watches earlier
WATCH big investors ‘not getting’ Apple’s new massive ‘eco system’ (hardware, Yosemite iOS 8) advantages.
WATCH Davewrite gnash his teeth and shake his head…
oh I forgot:
WATCH when Apple sues Judge Koh will rule against apple and for Samsung.
Ching-changs gonna copy!
Those sensors on the bottom of the Watch could do something besides take your pulse. Depending on the wavelength of light they might be able to measure blood sugar. I’m still hoping for blood pressure but can’t see just light being able to do that. Maybe the sensors have some other sensory mode other than sending and receiving light.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. All of those sensors are needed just for a heartbeat? A. They could be waiting on government approval like FDA or patent and/or B. They will be introducing features over the next couple of months to buildup the hype.
Suggestion to Apple: send a Christmas present to Judge Koh. A Samsung watch available today and a photograph and brochure of Apple watch.
Damn! No swimming = deal breaker. 😞
Me too. I can’t believe that you have to take it off to have a shower let alone go for a surf. I’ll buy the Rip Curl Surf watch.
The problem with showers and many water resistant watches is the HOT water, not just the water. It reeks havoc on many water resistant seals.
“…southpaw mode for all the Apple-loving lefties out there, which flips the user interface around.”
Yesssssss! I was a bit worried about that.
I really want to know the pricing of the 18k model.
That pricing will say a lot about Apple’s strategy in this space.
I love it, I really want one, but I think I will wait until the second generation. For a start, if I decide to upgrade every two years it will be alternating with upgrading my iPhone (which I am doing this year), but also I can see them really upgrading it once they’re in full swing of producing and selling them.
This watch greatly exceeds the Nike Fuel Band, but contrary to MDN’s take you can shower with the Fuel Band. Having to take it off when I swim is one of my pet peeves. Was really hoping for water proof and wireless charging (so it could gather sleep data at night) but I supposed that will have to wait for another generation.
Surely it has wireless recharging or is your definition different to mine, not sure how that would help you wear and recharge mind. At the end of the day it’s battery life that will show how useful it will be for night use I guess of how quickly it can be recharged.
The “sport” version should have been waterproof to 50m IMO.
Right because so many touch screen devices are waterproof and salt waterproof.
Would be awesome if there was a diver version of the WATCH complete with dive computer app.
Finding it ironic that the company that named their last OS after a famous surfing spot made a watch that you can’t wear while surfing.