While we've seen lots of Apple Watch apps revealed so far, we're just today getting our first look at what some of the world's most popular apps will look like on the device, including Twitter, Instagram and Uber. 9to5Mac has posted a fantastic gallery of Apple Watch app screenshots that show what some of the top apps around are doing to adapt themselves to your wrist.
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Apple Watch Will Be Available for Purchase at Select Boutique Stores on Friday
Several high-end fashion boutiques will be offering the watch for sale beginning Friday, according to a new report from The New York Times. Stores with stock will include Dover Street Market in Tokyo and London, Maxfield in Los Angeles, Colette in Paris, the Corner in Berlin, and 10 Corso Como in Milan.
All of these stores were previously unveiled as retail locations that would carry the Apple Watch, but it was not known that the stores would have stock for customers to purchase on launch day, given the Apple Watch supply constraints that Apple has highlighted. In a press release sent out on April 9, Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts said "strong customer demand" would exceed supply at launch.
Many of the stores have the Apple Watch displayed prominently on their websites, along with wording that says the device will be available in store as of Friday. As noted by The New York Times, all of the places that will have the Apple Watch in stock on Friday are high-end fashion-oriented boutiques known as "retail trendsetters."
It's not known exactly how much stock each of the stores will be given or of what type, but Dover Street Market did share some detail on its numbers. The store in Ginza, Tokyo will have 350 watches to sell, while the store in London will have 570. Neither store will offer the Apple Watch Edition, as it is backordered.
Apple initially declined to comment on its partner stores offering in-store Apple Watch stock while its own retail stores will not, but later reiterated its earlier comment on getting online orders out to customers earlier than expected. The first Apple Watch shipments will be arriving on the doorsteps of customers beginning on April 24, and as of today, many Apple Watch orders that had shipping estimates ranging into several weeks have seen their shipments advance into the "Preparing for Shipment" stage.
Posted in 2015 at 11:00PM, April 22
Marvel’s first Netflix show is already a hit
Marvel's first foray into the world of streaming TV was apparently a success, as the company announced late on Tuesday evening that Daredevil will be returning to Netflix for a second season next year.
Posted in 2015 at 10:45PM, April 22
Apple already has a fix for your ‘broken’ Retina MacBook
The Retina MacBook laptop is definitely a head-turner, sparking some controversy around some of Apple’s choices for its boldest notebook design yet. However, it appears that some of the 12-inch MacBook units already purchased have an unexpected Setup Assistant flaw that has nothing to do with regular Retina Macbook complaints. The error makes it look like the laptop lags all of a sudden and fails to respond.
It seems that this issue is serious enough that Apple has created a special help page on its support site to address it.
Posted in 2015 at 10:00PM, April 22
Here’s some potentially good news for everyone who preordered the Apple Watch
So you preordered the Apple Watch this month and you were told you shouldn't expect to get it until June. Don't get too panicked: It looks like some preorders that were slated for June are already being prepared for shipment. Some of 9to5Mac's readers this week wrote into confirm that their Apple Watch orders have seen their statuses updated to "preparing for shipment" even though their projected arrival dates are still listed as either May or June.
Posted in 2015 at 09:17PM, April 22
MLB 15 The Show review: Infield fly
Rounding first base when it should be heading home
When I elected to review MLB 14 The Show last year, I thought I might be in over my head. I hadn't played any of the recent entries in the series and I didn't think I would fare especially well within the game, regardless of how well put together it was. Thankfully, my worries were misplaced, and I found myself immersed in a sports game for the first time in years.
I was hoping to have a similar experience with MLB 15 The Show, but after spending hours with San Diego Studio's sequel, I have begun to see through the veneer of the improved visuals and have found a game that feels more like a step backwards than a home run.
Posted in 2015 at 08:32PM, April 22
Apple to Offer Band Only Exchanges for Apple Watch
A band swap, according to an internal employee training document, can potentially save the customer time as it eliminates the need to set up and sync an entirely new watch. Band swaps are available for the Apple Watch Sport and the stainless steel Apple Watch, but will not be available for the more expensive gold Apple Watch Edition.
There are several rules for band swaps:
- The new band must be within the same collection as the watch and must be an available band option for that watch face.Band swaps won't be done entirely in store. After an employee confirms that a customer is within their 14-day return window and wants a new band, the swap must be initiated through the Online Store call center. Customer support representatives will create a new band order, ship it out to the customer, and provide instructions on how to mail in an old band for a refund.
- The band swap is within 14 day return period.
- The watch must have been purchased at the Apple Online Store, Kiosk, or Apple Store App.
- You are not using band swaps as a way to configure a sellable product for a customer.
One interesting tidbit in the document suggests band swaps can't be done for watches purchased at other retailers for warranty reasons, such as those bought from select boutiques around the world where the Apple Watch will be sold, including Colette in Paris, Dover Street Market in London, The Corner in Berlin, and more.
If a customer wants to make a full watch return rather than just a band return, the band must be provided. Apple will not provide partial refunds -- bands that shipped with a watch cannot be returned for a refund and Apple Watches cannot be returned without their bands.
The document also outlines the full return guidelines for the Apple Watch Sport, the Apple Watch, and the gold Apple Watch Edition, with the latter requiring a "visual, mechanical, and micro-inspection" by a trained genius accompanied by a manager.
The Apple Watch is set to launch this Friday, with the first customers receiving their pre-orders at that time. Supplies are constrained, but Apple has been making efforts to get shipments out as fast as possible. Many Apple Watch bands are also in short supply with multi-week shipping estimates, so customers who do wish to exchange a band might have to wait awhile for their desired band to be available.
Posted in 2015 at 08:36PM, April 22
Tidal is such a bomb that Kanye has already deleted any tweets mentioning it
How badly has Tidal bombed? So badly that apparently Kanye West no longer wants anything to do with it. Digital Spy notices that West has not only changed the logo on his Twitter feed from the Tidal logo to the artwork on one of his old albums, but he's also deleted any tweets that mentioned the service.
Posted in 2015 at 08:12PM, April 22
Samsung shows us how simple it is to dump your iPhone for a Galaxy S6
We get hundreds of emails from readers each day who have a wide range of questions spanning numerous topics. If only we had time to answer them all. We often try to address most of the more common questions in our coverage here on the site, assembling how-to guides that walk everyone through processes that seem to stump people.
Now, it looks like Samsung has decided to do some of the heavy lifting for us by creating a simple guide that explains how to move all of your data from an iPhone to a Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 edge.
Posted in 2015 at 07:51PM, April 22
Google Debuts 'Project Fi' Wireless Service in Partnership With Sprint, T-Mobile
As rumored back in January, Google is teaming up with both Sprint and T-Mobile for Project Fi, and the two carriers will provide the cellular service for Google's initiative. With Project Fi service, customers will be able to connect to the fastest network at any given location, whether it's Sprint LTE, T-Mobile LTE, or a Wi-Fi hotspot.
We developed new technology that gives you better coverage by intelligently connecting you to the fastest available network at your location whether it's Wi-Fi or one of our two partner LTE networks. As you go about your day, Project Fi automatically connects you to more than a million free, open Wi-Fi hotspots we've verified as fast and reliable. Once you're connected, we help secure your data through encryption. When you're not on Wi-Fi, we move you between whichever of our partner networks is delivering the fastest speed, so you get 4G LTE in more places.By positioning itself as an MVNO or mobile virtual network operator partnered with existing carriers, Google is able to provide reliable cellular service and its own pricing tiers without needing to build out its own infrastructure. Other well-known MVNO's in the U.S. include Boost Mobile, FreedomPop, and Straight Talk.
Project Fi brings phone numbers to the cloud, letting users talk and text with their personal phone numbers on any phone, tablet, or computer, and it introduces a simplified pricing structure that's easier to understand than most carriers' complicated plans.
There's a single plan that costs $20 per month for talk, text, and Wi-Fi tethering, plus an extra $10 per GB for cellular data in the U.S. and abroad. So a plan with unlimited talk and text with 3GB of data would be priced at $50. Google's also only charging for data used, so customers who pay for 3GB and only use 1GB will get a refund.
Google is debuting a Project Fi early access program that's available to customers who have a Nexus 6. According to Google, this is the first smartphone that supports the hardware and software necessary to work with Project Fi. Nexus 6 users can in areas where coverage is available can request access.
Google is the first major technology company to introduce its own wireless service, and it's possible that other companies could follow in its footsteps. In the past, there were rumors suggesting Apple would take on the role of a mobile carrier, selling service directly to consumers, but in 2012, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple did not need to be a carrier and would be better off focusing its efforts on making great devices.
Posted in 2015 at 07:48PM, April 22
Video: iOS 9 concept reimagines one of the iPhone’s most important features
Apple will undoubtedly show off the future of iOS at WWDC in June, but until iOS 9 is unveiled in all its glory, creative designers will likely imagine all sorts of potential features for the upcoming operating system. Such is the case with a new video published on the ConceptsiPhone YouTube channel, which shows off a proposed new user interface for one of the most important features of a smartphone.
Posted in 2015 at 07:30PM, April 22
WatchAware Now Cataloging All 2,143 Approved Apps With Previews, Screenshots [iOS Blog]
It's the most comprehensive resource for Apple Watch app discovery, displaying all Apple Watch apps in a grid-like view. App screenshots and videos are positioned on top of Apple Watch casings to give a clear picture of what each app will look like on when it's actually being run on your wrist.
Apps on the site have varying levels of interactivity. Some apps just cycle through available App Store screenshots, but others include videos or more interactive elements that let you switch between the app itself, Glances, and Notifications, the three types of experiences developers can create on the watch.
WatchAware now organizes available apps into categories to make it easier to find the type of app you want to see, and deeper category lists are going to be implemented later today. A search tool will be added to the site this afternoon, and there are also curated lists that highlight some of the best available apps for the Apple Watch.
Each of WatchAware's Apple Watch listings have detail pages accessible with a click, offering more information on the app and tools for sharing on social networks. In this detail page for the new Apple Watch game Letterpad, for example, it includes screenshots, an app description, a download link, and sharing tools.
It's also possible to embed apps into blog posts with fully customizable options for choosing bands, casing materials, the amount of band shown, and the portion of the app that's displayed first.
We're just days away from the 4/24 Apple Watch launch date, which will see the first customers receiving their watches. Checking out WatchAware for a list of available apps could be a useful way to figure out what you might want to download when you have your watch in hand.
Posted in 2015 at 07:03PM, April 22
Revealed: This is what Twitter, Instagram and Uber will look like on the Apple Watch