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Apple Watch App Store Opens With 3,000 Apps

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No big surprise with the first deliveries slated for tomorrow, but Apple has taken the wraps off the Watch App Store, which is part of the Watch iOS app. The Wall Street Journal reports that there are about 3,000 apps available. Ars Technica points out that there's no apparent way to search for a watch app, which is a bit odd. And Buzzfeed has a list of Apple's own app … [Read more...]

New Android Wear Functions Coming Soon

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Google is talking officially about an upcoming update to Android Wear, an update that will include several interesting improvements to the UI. Several of the improvements are designed to trim the number of times that using your watch becomes a two-handed operation. You'll soon be able to move your way through screens by flicking your wrist instead of touching the screen. … [Read more...]

Jawbone Announces UP4, including Amex NFC Payments

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Jawbone, which is just now getting its long-delayed UP3 fitness tracker to market, is already talking about the next version, the UP4. The major differenceis apparently the addition of an NFC chip that will link the device to your American Express card and use it for contactless credit card payments. Jawbone says the UP4 will be available this summer, but no pricing was … [Read more...]

Jawbone To Ship UP3 Fitness Tracker April 20, Not As Waterproof As Hoped

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Jawbone's UP3 fitness tracker was supposed to ship before the end of 2014. It didn't make it, and its web site had been citing delivery intervals of "6-7 weeks" since then. The company has now announced that initial shipment of back orders will start April 20, with the expectation that all pre-orders will be fulfilled by mid-May. No word about wider retail distribution. The … [Read more...]

NYTimes Apple Watch Review: Rough and Revolutionary

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We suspect that the New York Times jumped the gun this morning by publishing a full-on review of the Apple Watch, [UPDATE: other outlets have been publishing reviews today, too] even though Apple won't even start taking orders for it until Friday. On balance, though, we don't think Apple will complain too much. Tech columnist Farhad Manjoo pretty much ratified Apple's aims … [Read more...]

Diamond-Encrusted Apple Watches, In Case $17,000 Is Too Little To Spend

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Much as we'd like to, it seems impossible to write about anything this week that isn't related to the Apple Watch, so we offer this: You may know that there is actually a business of gold-plating iPhones. (Android phones too, but that's not what we're talking about right now.) One would think that a $17,000 18k gold Apple Watch would be the top of the market, but one would … [Read more...]

Wired Tells How the Apple Watch Was Built. Too Early, Maybe?

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Usually, an article like the one in Wired about the development of the Apple Watch doesn't run until the product in question actually ships. Long reads that focus on how a previously accomplished executive new to a challenging corporate culture overcame huge odds to produce a world-changing product are more effective if the product is in people's hands and is, in fact, … [Read more...]

The Apple Watch App Watch

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The flood of updates to iPhone apps to make them compatible with the Apple Watch has started. The first wave came late last week, and included the expected suspects: Evernote, Uber, Twitter, Expedia, American Airlines, Starwood, and others. (You can expect that the first wave of reviews will focus on those apps.) And today, Apple opened the gates to all comers, inviting all … [Read more...]