Apple Offers Developers a Chance to Buy Apple Watch Sport With Guaranteed April 28 Delivery Date

Apple today began sending out emails to iOS developers, offering them a chance to purchase a 42mm Apple Watch Sport with a Blue Sport Band that has a guaranteed shipment date of April 28, 2015, in order to get them a device to begin testing apps on.

We want to help give Apple developers the opportunity to test their WatchKit apps on Apple Watch as soon as it is available. You have the chance to purchase one (1) Apple Watch Sport with 42mm Silver Aluminum Case and Blue Sport Band that's guaranteed to ship by April 28, 2015.

This opportunity is offered by random selection and quantities are limited. Register now though April 23 at 10 a.m. PDT. We'll let you know your status on April 23.

It's not known why Apple is offering that particular combination to developers, but it can be assumed that the 42mm Aluminum Apple Watch Sport may be one of the devices that the company has an ample supply of, along with the Blue Sport Band.

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Posted in 2015 at 05:57PM, April 21

Apple Watch Display Rumored to Be Going Up in High-End Parisian Department Store

Apple may be building a stand for the Apple Watch at Galeries Lafayette, a high-end department store located on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, according to a few news outlets based in France. Mac4Ever [Google Translate] reports that the stand would reside on the first floor of the department store, with possible expansion to other stores along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.




Image of the Galeries Lafayette via Mac4Ever


Mac4Ever claims the current construction on the stand, which began at the beginning of February, is hidden as workers finish it up ahead of the Apple Watch launch in April. They also report that Angela Ahrendts, Apple's new retail chief, oversaw the setting up of the display and general organizational duties concerning the project.



The fashion-focused FashionMag.com [Google Translate] added more details onto the rumor, and a slightly clearer picture of the ongoing construction of the possible Apple-leased space. The site reports that the project has taken the place of a small food court and a few lesser-known jewelry shops, and spans four balconies within the Galeries Lafayette. From what they could tell, it's located near the stores of Celine Saint Laurent and Miu Miu.




Image of white tarps covering rumored Apple Watch stand via FashionMag.com


As the Apple Watch nears its launch date, news and rumors on Apple's first wearable device have picked up steam. Most recently it was announced to be featured on the March cover of Self magazine on the wrist of model and Victoria's Secret Angel Candice Swanepoel.



Apple has also reportedly placed between 5 and 6 million orders for the initial run of the Watch, with the most expensive gold Apple Watch Edition expected to dominate the revenue of the wearable, despite having the least amount of orders placed compared to the lower tiers of the Watch.

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Posted in 2015 at 05:57PM, February 19

Apple Releases iOS 8.1.3 With Bug Fixes, Storage Size Reduction

Apple today released iOS 8.1.3 to the public, with a range of bug fixes including a fix for an issue that prevented some users from entering their Apple ID passwords for Messages and FaceTime, a bug that caused Spotlight to stop displaying app results, and a problem that prevented multitasking gestures from working on the iPad.



iOS 8.1.3 also reduces the amount of storage space required to perform an iOS update and adds new configuration options for education standardized testing.



iOS 8.1.3, much like iOS 8.1.2, was a minor release that was not seeded to developers before being released to the public. The software is available immediately as an over-the-air download.





The first hints of iOS 8.1.3 first appeared in early December after devices running the updated operating system began visiting the MacRumors website, and usage picked up last week after iOS 8.1.3 was seeded to Apple retail employees for testing purposes. Apple appears to be expanding its OS X employee testing program to iOS, and iOS 8.1.3 marks the first iOS beta that's been tested by retail workers.



iOS 8.1.3 is a minor update that includes only under-the-hood bug fixes, but Apple is also working on iOS 8.2, which will bring more drastic changes to the operating system as it contains both the WatchKit SDK and features that will allow the iPhone to integrate with the Apple Watch. It is not clear when Apple plans to release iOS 8.2, but it could come alongside the launch of the Apple Watch, which is currently rumored to be in March.

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Posted in 2015 at 05:57PM, January 27