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Gear to help you along - Mark McNamee looks at Wearable Technology - part 3 of 1 2 3

by Mike McNamee Published 01/08/2015

Cool features to impress your mates
There's a few gimmicks already built in, but it's pretty flexible and extensible. So far we've managed to link it into an Automated Home system, allowing lights and devices to be turned on and off directly from your wrist. This is more useful than it sounds, honest!

We've also tried out the Microsoft Powerpoint remote app. This sounds more promising than it currently is though. It allows you to control a slideshow, but only running on your iPhone, not your laptop. If they could make the latter work it would be the ultimate slideshow clicker!

Apple's much lauded 'Digital Touch' is a bit gimmicky, allowing you to send a series of taps or badly drawn pictures to a fellow Apple Watch-wearing friend; anyone creating something more impressive than a very wobbly stickman is an artist indeed. The other feature of sending your heartbeat is presumably mostly aimed at couples, which has the effect of doubling the price of your Apple Watch. It is a nice way to remind someone you love that you're thinking of them, so if you're an old romantic you might have this on your essential list.

Apple Pay
Coming to the UK in July, Apple Pay is a contactless payments system allowing you to register your debit/credit cards into your iPhone 6 or Apple Watch. Rumours suggest that the majority of retailers that already accept contactless payment cards will also accept Apple Pay, so it could become genuinely popular.

Telling the time
So many other great features, and it's easy to forget this crucial element. The clock automatically sets itself once paired to the iPhone, and you never have to adjust it. Accuracy (checked against our local atomic clock) was close enough even for physicists! One nice touch for the habitually late; you can choose to set a time offset, so what you see on the watch face is a certain amount ahead of the true time. Calendar alerts, alarms, etc, all happen at the correct time, so it's there purely to fool you into thinking you're already late!

Water resistance
Officially, it's only water resistant, not waterproof; rated at IP67. Based upon accidental showering and some online reviews we've seen, it should cope fine with British weather, washing up and everyday eventualities; wouldn't recommend swimming in it though!
Conclusion
Overall, it's an impressive piece of kit and a great first foray into a new area for Apple. It's true, version 2 will inevitably be 22% thinner, 34% lighter, and 'still with all-day battery life'. However, the future is here now, and early-adopter Apple fans with deep pockets won't be disappointed!

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1st Published 01/08/2015
last update 09/12/2022 14:54:37

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