Slow apps, low battery life limit appeal of Apple Watch: reviewers

Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the Apple Watch during an Apple event in San Francisco, California March 9, 2015.

Reuters/Robert Galbraith

(Reuters) - Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) "beautiful" and "stylish" smartwatch could make life easier for people on the move, reviewers say, but the gadget gets poor marks for battery life and slow-loading apps.
 
The watch, the first new product to be launched by Apple under Chief Executive Tim Cook, will hit stores on April 24.
 
"For now, the Apple Watch is for pioneers," the Wall Street Journal's Geoffrey Fowler wrote. "I won't pay the $1,000 it would cost for the model I tested, only to see a significant improvement roll in before too long."
 
Reviews published on Wednesday made much of the device's relatively poor battery life - up to 18 hours, according to Apple - and said its apps will need upgrades to load more quickly.
 
"There's virtually nothing I can't do faster or better with access to a laptop or a phone except perhaps check the time," said Nilay Patel, who reviewed the watch for theverge.com.
 
Loading an app required the watch to pull tremendous amounts of data from iPhones, Patel said, adding that Apple had told him upcoming software updates would address performance issues.
 
"The maps app, surely the answer to wandering pedestrians' dreams, is so slow it makes me want to pull out my paper Rand McNally," the Journal's Fowler said.
 
Re/Code's Lauren Goode said the watch's battery life was not nearly as long-lasting as some other wearable devices. CNET's Scott Stein said the battery's recharge time was slow.
 
Paired with an iPhone, the watch allows users to check email, listen to music and make phone calls. It also tracks their health - for instance by monitoring heartbeats.
 
But the software is "initially complex" and not suited to tech novices - unusual for an Apple device, said Farhad Manjoo, who reviewed the watch for the New York Times.
 
Apple is among several companies, including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and Sony Corp (6758.T), that hope to jumpstart a market for wearable devices.
 
The Apple Watch Sport will start at $349, while the high-end "Edition" will be priced from $10,000.
 
"...If you can tolerate single-day battery life, half-baked apps and inevitable obsolescence, you can now wear the future on your wrist," Fowler said.
 
Analysts at Societe Generale said they expected Apple to sell 8 million watches in 2015, contributing about 1.7 percent or $4 billion to Apple's total sales.
 
Apple shares, which were flat on Wednesday, have risen about 24 percent since Apple Watch was announced on Sept. 9.              
 
~ Devika Krishna Kumar and Subrat Patnaik

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Apple Pay adoption sits at just six percent among iPhone 6 / 6 Plus owners, report claims

 

For years, experts argued that mobile payment systems wouldn’t really take off until Apple got involved. That finally happened late last year with Apple Pay, the company’s NFC-powered mobile payments platform. Early indications suggested the Cupertino-based company’s service was off to a solid start but a new report is painting a slightly different picture.
 
The report, titled “Apple Pay By The Numbers: Adoption And Behavior“ from InfoScout and PYMNTS.com, claims that just six percent of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners actively use Apple Pay while nine percent have at least tried it. Those figures are up from five percent and four percent in November, respectively.
 
Among those that had tried Apple Pay but weren’t consistent users, nearly a third (32 percent) said they simply forgot it was an option.
 
What this means is that there is a huge number of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users that have never tried Apple’s mobile payments solution. If true, it would appear as though Apple is also struggling with a major industry hurdle: awareness.
 

 

InfoScout co-founder and CEO Jared Schrieber said the company needs to be dead-focused on making sure there is a trigger that compels users to use Apple Pay instead of just whipping out the ole credit or debit card. Something is simply lacking in the habit-forming action at checkout, he added.
 
Elsewhere, 31 percent of respondents said they were unsure if a particular merchant accepted Apple Pay while another 20 percent said they simply prefer to pay for transactions using another method. Of those that regularly use the service, 79 percent said it was more convenient than other forms of payment with 77 percent noting it was faster, 73 percent claiming Apple Pay is easier to use than others methods and 70 percent believing it is more secure.
 
If awareness is indeed the issue, it still has a shot at success once Apple Watch arrives. Simplifying the process even further by eliminating the iPhone from the transaction could very well do that. But first, Apple has to prove there’s a demand for its smartwatch which could be its biggest hurdle yet.
 
~ Shawn Knight

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Apple launches an ultra-thin MacBook and a glorious love-it-or-hate-it smartwatch

Few things are as polarizing as a brand-new Apple product category, and the new Apple Watch is no different.  

 

Besides perhaps politics, almost nothing can get comment threads and Twitter feeds rolling like a new product announcement from Apple. Those who love it are derided as fanboys, while those who don't care for whatever it is are simply haters.
 
The iPod, iPhone and iPad -- they all had their skeptics who complained about the price, features, and battery life. And, as it goes, the Apple Watch is getting the same treatment.
 
Many of the core features (timekeeping, person-to-person communication, fitness) have been known for half a year, but availability and pricing were only disclosed yesterday.
 
To start, the Apple Watch is very competitive on price at the entry level. Available in two sizes, the Sport version is $350 for the 38mm and $400 for the 40mm, with a fluoroelastomer (basically fancy rubber) band in one of several colors.
 
Unlike most of Apple's products, spending more money doesn't get you a faster processor, more memory, or better tech specs. Instead, spending more money is for appearances only. The most expensive Apple Watch costs $17,000 but doesn't have any more technical functionality than the base model.
 
Instead, it's all about fashion. The full list of watches, available on Apple's website, comprises some 38 different SKUs.
 
Pricing varies, with cost rising to $550 and $600 for the stainless steel models that include an ultra-durable sapphire crystal, plus additional charges for fancier watch bands. Solid 18K gold versions start at $10,000 and rise quickly from there. Many have criticized Apple for these prices, but they are very competitive with other solid gold timepieces. Truthfully, if one doesn't already own several watches in this price bracket, they aren't really the target audience.
 
During the media event, Apple also demonstrated a number of apps that are in development for the Watch, including one from American Airlines that shows flight status information and another from Starwood that allows wearers to check in to hotel rooms and even open their hotel room door from the Watch.
 
Some business-focused apps have already been announced, including one from SalesForce. It has Passbook support so wearers can, for instance, store a flight boarding pass on their Watch and even display QR codes to get through TSA checkpoints.
 
Many more apps, including ones from Instagram, MLB At Bat, OpenTable, Twitter and more will be available on the Apple Watch, with many more coming in the near future, I'm sure. It's likely that the app ecosystem will continue to grow, and we'll see apps for the Watch that couldn't even be imagined right now. I'm looking forward to it.
 
Aside from the Apple Watch, company executives also introduced a new, ultra-thin, ultra-light MacBook. I get asked by a lot of people which Apple notebook they should buy. For the past several years, I've recommended the 13" MacBook Air as the right computer for 90% of users -- especially the type of user who needs to ask which computer they should buy. If you need the high-end, top-of-the-line machine, you usually know it.
 
However, I won't be recommending the 13" Air anymore. The new MacBook is perfect. Weighing just two pounds, 13.1mm thick, 10 hours of battery life, and sporting a reportedly gorgeous 12" Retina display, this is the machine for almost everyone.
 
Yes, it's not the fastest thing on the planet (but it's fast enough), and the screen isn't the largest (but large enough) -- and some users will complain about the fact that Apple has removed all the USB and HDMI ports in their quest to make it as thin as possible. All these are valid concerns, but really, most folks would rather have a thinner, lighter machine with a couple of optional accessories. You can always add a dongle to connect an external hard drive (Apple sells one), but you can't easily make a computer lighter. Apple made the right choices here.
 
Available for $1300 with 256 GB of speedy flash storage ($1600 buys you a faster processor and 512 GB of storage), the new MacBook is the ideal laptop for just about everyone. It's available in silver, space gray, and gold, and will begin shipping April 10, 2015.
 
What did you think of Apple's new products? Let us know your thoughts in the discussion thread below.
 
~ Jordan Golson

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Advertisers to get a glimpse of Apple Watch promise, challenge

The new Apple Watch is pictured during an Apple event at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts in Cupertino, California, September 9, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Stephen Lam

 

(Reuters) - Apple’s forthcoming smartwatch poses a conundrum for advertisers: How to tap the enticing possibilities of the tiny gadget without overwhelming consumers with messages.
 
At this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, mobile-marketing firm TapSense plans to release an Apple Watch ad-buying service. The service will provide a first glimpse of how businesses can serve up ads on the watch, even though the gadget will not be available until later this year. 
 
At issue: the same qualities that render the watch exciting to Madison Avenue, such as the ability to detect customers approaching a store and to zap an ad directly to their wrists, also risk alienating those customers. 
 
Apple declined to comment on the use of its watch by advertisers, and will not attend CES officially. But many companies that make devices and services based around Apple products will be there, including several that are working with WatchKit, a software-development tool Apple released in November that allows developers to build watch-tailored applications. 
 
Using that tool, developers are devising Apple Watch ad formats including interactive wallpapers on the watch dial with brand logos and personalized clock faces, said TapSense's chief executive Ash Kumar. His product helps developers insert ads, bought and sold instantaneously, in those apps. 
 
The watch’s main screen allows the display of several tiny icons, including for email, weather, time, and potentially a few favorite service and retail apps. 
 
Businesses could use those apps to notify customers of special deals, but only within already-opened apps, Kumar said. Otherwise, the vendor risks annoying consumers by introducing an ad that is out of sync with whatever they are doing.
 
If a consumer is using a transit app on the watch to monitor delays, for example, an advertiser could insert a marketing offer that would light up on the watch face for a ride-sharing service or a deal at a coffee shop nearby, Kumar said.
 
SMARTWATCH SPAM BOX?
  
But moderation is key. Push notifications and banner ads on smartphones can be turn-offs. Some marketers advise avoiding showing ads to users who typically click out of them or delivering the same ad too many times to any one user.
 
"If it feels like your smartwatch is turning into a spam box, you will take it off," said Padden Guy Murphy, who heads business development and public policy at car-sharing service Getaround. 
 
The startup is exploring using Apple Watch's location-based features to target new customers. Apple has not added global positioning on the Apple Watch, but apps can track location as the device is tethered to a smartphone. 
 
If a consumer shows interest in an ad, such as raising the wrist for a better look, WatchKit allows for notifications that expand and take up more room on the screen. Conversely, a disinterested consumer could tap an "X" mark to exit the ad, TapSense's Kumar said. 
 
Communicating through buzzing or vibrations is currently only available on Apple's own apps on its wearable device. 


 
FORCE PUSH
 
     Whether Apple scores a hit with its upcoming Apple Watch and creates a new mass-market category remains unclear. Venture capitalist Fred Wilson caused a stir last week by predicting the watch “will not be the home run product that iPod, iPhone, and iPad have been.”
 
But advertisers see potential. They particularly like a watch feature that Apple calls "Force Push" that activates when a user taps the screen with extra pressure, opening up a menu with up to four actions. They envision coupons that when tapped can show directions to a store, for example.
 
Ad executives hope that the watch can overcome challenges that have prevented location-based ads from succeeding on mobile phones. Unlike on phones, says Jeff Malmad, North American mobile director at media agency Mindshare, users will not need to dig into a bag or pocket to see the ad. They will be right on a user’s wrist, in sight at all times. 
 
But to keep them effective, he says, consumers will need to opt for them, much as many consumers opt to receive email messages from various retailers.                
 
~ Malathi Nayak

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