tmiw

A lot of the problem is that third-party Watch apps actually run on the iPhone and stream the UI over Bluetooth. Some optimizations can be done but I don't know if they'll ever be as fast as something running natively on the watch.

WIRunner

If you look at a recent thread in the United forum by a UA rep you'll see that they're not quite sure what to do with the Watches. My thought is simple, make it like that Dominos order tracker on the Pebble watch. It is a companion app/watchface, but gets updates pushed over in fairly real time. You land, your phone gets data, the watchface app knows its landed and should check for updates, pulls the newest information down for the gate, starts a timer until boarding, and you go from there.

For a watch it needs to be dead simple. I get frustrated with my 360 having to swipe too much for simple things (like changing the audio track). There's something to say about how Pebble is doing things, a few buttons, and make it work within that. In the end it is a great strategy. Over complicate it and you'll turn away users.

tmiw

This. My iPhone/iPad app lets you inventory the food that you have at home and lets you know when stuff's about to expire. On the Watch, it only shows the list of items that are expiring or have already done so and only allows you to delete items. I'm envisioning the Watch version of the app being used more at the grocery store while you're purchasing replacements for the items that expired, so anything else would overcomplicate things.

nmenaker

I sold one of my SP sports for 950$ two days ago, having them in hand on day one was the top...there were a couple at 2000$ that day as well, with many in the 1000-1400 range.

Now, we're back to more reasonable 600$ or so till Space Grey supply comes in.

That said, I ordered one SG on the first day at 00:04:09, and THAT one still hasn't arrive. I ordered a 2nd one on Wednesday, THAT one arrived Friday.

I ordered a 42MM Sport Blue for my #1 1K GF, THAT one hasn't arrived, but the 38MM Sport Blue I ordered for her on 4/11 (saturday afternoon after trying them on) Arrived 09:30 4/24 (launch day) It all made no sense.

Still working out the UI usage, there are lot of inconsitencies in WHEN to use WHAT type of input. Touch, touch drag, press hard, swipe up, swipe down, swipe right, swipe left, tap, then swipe left, THEN swipe up. When to tap the crown, when to DOUBLE tap the crown. when to press and HOLD the crown. When to tap the button, when to press HOLD the button, when to DOUBLE tap the button, you get the point. What exactly does ONE haptic vibration mean, what does TWO mean, what does THREE mean, what does TWO bursts of THREE vibrations mean (this means turn left when walking using the mapping app)..it's a lot to decipher and there really isn't a good manual yet.

I think one poster above summed it up perfectly. If you can't get your printer or your VCR to work without guidance, you're not going to use this watch easily. I would NEVER buy it for a parent at this stage, we're still sadly re-working on things like attaching a photo to an iMessage.

things I like: not expected but the voice calling feature, or ability to answer call on the watch is actually more useful that I would have thought. One feature that really brings this point home is, that when the WATCH And the PHONE are on the same WLAN, they can be apart and out of BLUETOOTH range. The WATCH will still work fine as long as it hasn't been taken off the wrist, or you input the security PIN. If a call comes in, the watch will ring and you don't have to find your phone. you can answer on the WATCH (and the quality for both parties is VERY good IMHO, it's certainly using the facetime audio protocol) and you can find you phone if you want.

Neat trick, I was at the GYM yesterday, the phone was in my locker but it HAD BEEN connected to the GYM WLAN at one point. The WATCH assumes all the credentials for the WIFI networks and passwords that are stored in your phone.

So, I had the WATCH on during the workout, and it started to vibrate indicating there was a call. Sure enough, I could answer the call and tell people I would call them back. I could have easily DECLINED and sent a canned response SMS/Imessage from the phone. All because the two devices were on the same WLAN.

Battery seems to be OKAY, certainly buy another charger. They are ONLY 29$, but you'll want to have one at work, bedside, wherever. I've been seeing about 5% drain per hour, more like 7-8% when actually DOING an activity and trying to track it, running, walking, etc. Don't leave home for a run with less than 10% power.

Overall, fit and finish is much better than I expected it to be. It's a gen 1 novelty, prove concept, prove and track usage, develop future product to incorporate what was learned. I fully expect someone to come out with a better battery, but it seems that getting IN there and changing something is next to impossible - but someone WILL do it.

Now, I can't wait till ifixit gets the GOLD EDITION watch and tears it apart and melts down the gold to find out just how much GOLD is in the watch, that will be interesting to see.

WIRunner

Just as a heads up. Be careful where you are tapping. You might end up with something unexpected.

Hilarious Video: Man accidentally buys an Xbox One on the Apple Watch during live review

KRSW

NOT me... If a watch can't keep time for a full day on its own, what good is it? Even crappy, beat-to-hell Rolexes will go 48 hours between "charges".

stimpy

So now the Apple Watch won't work against tattooed skin. From now on tattoos in all beta tests!

http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/29/tech...oos/index.html

Surprising as I thought everyone under 30 in California had tattoos these days?

lighthand

I not sure if this should be called incredible or just plain sick....

http://digital.asiaone.com/digital/f...ple-watch-take

Most of the test are fine. But the cooking test has got to take the cake (pardon the pun).

BenA

Interestingly, my watch (38mm sport) has been consistently ending the day with well above 50% battery life. As of right now - midday on the west coast - my watch is actually reporting 89% battery. I don't think it would go a full 48 hours, but it certainly is making it a full day as long as I drop it on the charger every night alongside my phone.

I think the reports of poor battery performance may have been partly influenced by reviewers spending a higher-than-average amount of time interacting with it. With my ordinary usage patterns throughout the day (checking the time, responding to notifications, occasionally using an app for a few minutes), battery life hasn't been a problem.

Jimmie76

The fact that you can't have 3rd party watch apps that tell the time like a real watch was more of a shocker to me.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04...le_watch_apps/

planemechanic

For now, not for ever. Even the iPhone when it first came out was limited to Apple only apps. Imagine that!

ScottC

Been almost 2 weeks since a post here. Did none of you buy one, or are you still waiting on them? The first of mine showed up today (42mm white sport). The UPS tracking threw me off with a 3.4lb box - but dang, that is one insane packaging. Very, very nice.

My 42mm Milanese Loop version comes tomorrow, then I'll pick which one to keep.

tmiw

I've had mine for a bit. I feel like a magician when I pay with it (sadly it's still not that well accepted yet). I also feel like I need to fill in all three circles on the Activity app every day, so it's helping with keeping me active too. My Watch app also seems to not have any real performance problems, which was something I was really worried about considering all the stuff I read about third party apps; it probably also helps that there's not really anything in the way of heavy graphics effects on my app.

pseudoswede

Until Apple can display this watch face like this*, I'm not interested. Moto360 ftw.

* - Very NSFW language.

ScottC

Agreed. LOVE my 360. Wireless charging FTW too (that doesn't require a special Apple charger).