Another thing that Apple introduced along with the iPhone 6 phones is Apple Watch & Apple Pay. Of all the rumours that was flying around, the Apple Watch was the one that didn’t match up with many of the rumours. But let’s focus on that first.
The Apple Watch is the best looking smartwatch thus far in my opinion. Having a Sony Smartwatch 2, I will admit that the Apple Watch looks better. The watch has the ability to change straps with ease with a push of a button & sliding the straps in. The straps connect to one another by a magnet or you can use the old fashion ways of snapping the two ends together. The watch has a digital crown which allows you to zoom the screen & the screen is pressure sensitive. There are 3 editions of the Apple Watch (Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport, & Apple Watch Edition) & the starting price is US$349. You will need an iPhone 5 & up to use the watch & is only for iPhones (duh!). The GPS & WiFi are connected to the iPhone’s. The Apple Watch has a mic & I think a speaker as well.
Now, am I impressed? No. The technology is nothing new here & comparing to other smartwatches out there, nothing is new or groundbreaking. With the Android Wear out there, the Apple Watch doesn’t have anything special in terms of features. Like many smartwatches out there (Android Wear or not), you still need to connect to your phone for calls, GPS, data, & Wifi connections. The pressure sensitivity feature doesn’t seem different from my Smartwatch with doesn’t have that feature. The long holds & taps make no difference with other smartwatch screens from what I know. But I love the digitial crown’s ability to zoom the screen. A. BIG. ASS. PLUS! Very smart on Apple’s part as smartwatch screens are small & can be difficult to see. With the zoom, it is a great selling point for the watch in my view. But the battery life is a mystery as nothing was report at the keynote presentation. Big issue to be address.
The only thing that will determine the sale of the Apple Watch is the design of the watch & apps. Apps is the biggest question. When Samsung released their first smartwatch with the Galaxy Gear, it was a pricey watch with a camera, speaker, & mic. But the amount of apps for it is so limited. When Sony released Smartwatch 2, it was cheaper but lacked a camera, mic & speaker. But the apps were plentiful & I can change the strap to any kind of strap I want since it uses the standard strap size of many watches.
Now will the Apple Watch sell? Yes & I think the Apple Watch Edition will be the seller. Why I think that is because of the premium build. It has the 18k gold frame & more of an elegant look & feel. The Sport & regular versions will sell, but probably in lower numbers. However, I don’t think the Apple Watches will be the one that will change the smartwatch market. Samsung did say that they hope Apple will release a smartwatch as they feel they will create the market, but I don’t think it will be much of a case. The use of smartwatches isn’t high & I know from my personal experience. I don’t wear my smartwatch much & I don’t rely on it as much as I think I would. Although I don’t use any fitness apps, I don’t see how the smartwatches will work well if you still need a phone to rely on. Anyways, the Apple Watch will sell but in a short time frame. But the watch aint coming until early 2015. The smartwatch market may be good or dead by then.
Aside from the devices, Apple Pay was another headline. Basically you can pay for things directly from your iPhone with iOS 8 or Apple Watch. This is most likely by NFC. Aside from tapping or scanning your device at a payment device, you can pay online as well from a 1 touch feature. Apple says that no personal data will be stored in their servers & they won’t know what you brought & where.
Although Apple Pay sounds great, this isn’t new as well. Japan had this kind of system for years on their phones & that was before smartphones existed. Also, my credit card company gave me a sticker where I can stick it on my phone & pay by tapping it on a payment device like a paypass card. So this Apple Pay technology isn’t new.
I do question the security of this system even though Apple says that it will require the Touch ID to make payments & they don’t have credit card information in their servers. I remember how the Touch ID system was easy to bypass at the time when a cat’s paw bypassed the system. Also, Apple says that your credit card information will be on your device if you have a credit card number on your iTunes account. Now they say that they don’t have your personal information & yet how can they know about your credit card information on your iTunes account? With the recent iCloud hack which Apple claims wasn’t a hack but the hacker guessing the passwords correctly, this may not sound safe to some people.
The acceptance of Apple Pay is another question. Merchants will probably need to get a special machine if their current scanners can’t be programmed to accept Apple Pay. But merchants that don’t have the scanner will need to get one in the end since the number of iPhone users is still high. Some merchants may not like this due to credit card frauds or accepting this kind of payment is not possible. I believe there will be some people that will carry a physical card, but there will be some that believe everything will be done from 1 device & 1 only. But it will only be rolled out in the US first with other parts of the world to follow later. This may be problematic if other parts of the world want Apple Pay now or Apple Pay may be for US only in the end.
So, what do I think about Apple’s stuff today? iPhone 6 series. Not impressed. Apple Watch. Not impressed. Apply Pay. Not impressed. I’m not saying this as some Apple hater (which I’m not). I’m saying this from a technological point of view. Apple tends to just take existing things that have been out for awhile & improve them which they do well on. But they aren’t ground breaking if you know about this & do some research. But I do believe they will sell in the end. I believe the phones will be the hotter seller than the watch with the Apple Pay being questionable to some people.
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