The Apple Watch: From $349 to… $10,000

I think it is fair to say that everybody who has even the slightest interest in wearable technology was waiting in eager anticipation for the announcement of the Apple Watch. Whether you wanted to see Apple fall on their face or stand proud with this new product, you have to admit it, Apple can, and do, know how to build anticipation for a product.

Apple say the Apple Watch is the most accurate watch that has ever been made. Now, as far as I’m concerned a watch should be accurate, right? I mean that is its main function – to tell the time. I didn’t quite understand why Tim Cook made such a massive deal about it.

That point aside, the new wearable has many different faces that have been designed with individuality in mind; they are supposed to reflect your personality. The Apple Watch face is interchangeable and for those of you who want a little fun in your day, there is even a Mickey Mouse face. The device is customisable and you can add almost any details you choose to the face of the timepiece.

The Apple Watch has a new feature that is called Glances. This can allow you to control your music and apps with simple touches. A much anticipated feature of the new Apple Watch is that it will allow you to communicate with others via a number of different methods.

But, again, to me this is something that should be a standard feature on such a device. The message app, for example, is just the same as on the iPhone, so this as a selling point of communications didn’t actually blow me away. One of the features that did impress me, however, was the ability to make and receive calls right from the face of the smartwatch. The technology used in this is very cool; with the speaker and the microphone you can make and receive calls on the device via either WiFi or a cellular network.

Another communications feature of the Apple Watch is Digital Touch. This allows you to connect an Apple watch to other Apple watches. You can make a drawing and send it to another Apple Watch and you also have the ability to tap to gain their attention. A bizarre feature is the ability to send your own heartbeat to another Apple Watch; apparently this is to ensure a closeness between people that cannot be rivalled?

The main selling point of the new device is that it is also a comprehensive health and fitness companion. The Apple Watch can track your daily movement, or lack of it. It can track your how long you are exercising or getting some form of brisk activity. Apple Watch can show your exercise data based on calorie estimates, and how much you’re sitting in a three-ring chart on the face of the device. It can also  remind you if you’ve been sitting for too long.

As you would expect from this new state of the art wearable, you can use Apple Watch with Siri just by using your voice in the same manner you can use the iPhone when it is plugged in and charging.

The Apple Watch works with the relatively new mobile payment system, Apple Pay. The Apple Pay feature of the smartwatch will open automatically when near to a NFC terminal. This is to enable swift transactions, as you only need to tap your Apple Watch to the terminal to pay for goods.

The new wearable is fully integrated with the Passbook app on the iPhone and for the frequent flyer, this is a bonus; you will be able to show your airline ticket, with scannable barcode, directly on your device.

Are all these features going to eat away at your battery life? Cook announced the Apple Watch will have an all day battery life of 18 hours, and will take a couple of hours to charge.

So, just how much is this all going to cost you? The Apple Watch comes in a few models; the Apple Watch Sport will starts at $349 (£299/AU$499), the smaller stainless steel Apple Watch starts at $549 (£479/AU$799) and the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition has a starting price of $10,000 (£8,000/AU$14,000).

If you are going to shell out 10K on a watch, then you better be quick as there are limited quantities of the Apple Watch Edition that are available. The Apple Watch Edition: is available at selected stores from Available April 24th, but pre-orders are available from April 10th.

I certainly will be waiting for a price drop on this, as £300 for a watch, even with a few neat features, is just too much. I’ll use my iPhone for all of the really difficult things I need to do, such as make phone calls, rather than pretend to be Dick Tracy.

[Image via i4u]