Apple's March 9 event tipped to be Watch launch

Apple has sent US journalists invites to an event called "Spring Forward" on March 9.

The San Francisco event is widely tipped to be the official launch of the much-anticipated Apple Watch.

So far we only know a handful of details, courtesy of a brief demo by Apple CEO Tim Cook last September.

There will be three models, starting from $US349: the Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition with numerous designer cases for each. There will be a Retiina display touchscreen controled by fingerswipes and a "digital crown", support for Siri voice commands, and discreet vibrations to draw your attention to messages, calendar alerts and the liek.

While we wait to learn more, check out this exhaustive, 16,500-word New Yorker interview with Apple senior vice-president of design Jony Ive (or Sir Jonathan, as he's formally known these days).

Here are two excerpts from the article that struck me.

One:

 Ive’s position was that people were “O.K., or O.K. to a degree,” with carrying a phone that is identical to hundreds of millions of others, but they would not accept this in something that’s worn. The question, then, was “How do we create a huge range of products and still have a clear and singular opinion?” If variety was a perceived necessity, it was also an opportunity. “We could make aluminum, and stainless steel, and gold, and different alloys of gold,” Ive said. 

Smart boy. A watch is a fashion accessory and jewelry as much as a functional gadget. Apple's already ahead of the pack by offering multiple designs, materials and straps.

Two:

The Apple Watch is designed to remain dark until a wearer raises his or her arm. In the prototypes worn around the Cupertino campus at the end of last year, this feature was still glitchy. For Marc Newson, it took three attempts—an escalation of acting styles, from naturalism to melodrama—before his screen came to life. 

Argh. That really gives me the willies. It reminds me of my time with my Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which uses the same kind of sleep mode. It constantly took two or three practised flicks of the wrist to wake up.

But let's assume Apple sorted that wrist flick. Even then, US media are saying the battery life will be around one day. That would make the Apple Watch pretty typical. Hopefully it'll be more. I see short battery life as a real deal-breaker for smartwatches.

People are already fed up charging their smartphone every day, or even every half day. Yet another fast-run-down device, especially one you have to take off your wrist to charge, and which won't work properly when the iPhone its synching to is flat, might have a hard time finding acceptance. I hope Ive and his cohorts at Apple have a trick up their sleeves in that department.

ckeall@nbr.co.nz

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