Apple’s
“beautiful” and “stylish” smartwatch could make life easier for people
on the move, reviewers say, but the gadget gets poor marks for battery
life and slow-loading apps.
The watch, the first new product to be launched by Apple under Chief Executive Tim Cook, will hit stores on April 24.
“For
now, the Apple Watch is for pioneers,” the Wall Street Journal’s
Geoffrey Fowler wrote. “I won’t pay the $1,000 it would cost for the
model I tested, only to see a significant improvement roll in before too
long.”
Reviews
published on Wednesday made much of the device’s relatively poor
battery life – up to 18 hours, according to Apple – and said its apps
will need upgrades to load more quickly.
“There’s
virtually nothing I can’t do faster or better with access to a laptop
or a phone except perhaps check the time,” said Nilay Patel, who
reviewed the watch for theverge.com.
Loading
an app required the watch to pull tremendous amounts of data from
iPhones, Patel said, adding that Apple had told him upcoming software
updates would address performance issues.
“The
maps app, surely the answer to wandering pedestrians’ dreams, is so
slow it makes me want to pull out my paper Rand McNally,” the Journal’s
Fowler said.
Re/Code’s
Lauren Goode said the watch’s battery life was not nearly as
long-lasting as some other wearable devices. CNET’s Scott Stein said the
battery’s recharge time was slow.
Paired
with an iPhone, the watch allows users to check email, listen to music
and make phone calls. It also tracks their health – for instance by
monitoring heartbeats.
But
the software is “initially complex” and not suited to tech novices –
unusual for an Apple device, said Farhad Manjoo, who reviewed the watch
for the New York Times.
Apple
is among several companies, including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and
Sony Corp, that hope to jumpstart a market for wearable devices.
The Apple Watch Sport will start at $349, while the high-end “Edition” will be priced from $10,000.
“…If
you can tolerate single-day battery life, half-baked apps and
inevitable obsolescence, you can now wear the future on your wrist,”
Fowler said.
Analysts
at Societe Generale said they expected Apple to sell 8 million watches
in 2015, contributing about 1.7 percent or $4 billion to Apple’s total
sales.
Apple shares, which were flat on Wednesday, have risen about 24 percent since Apple Watch was announced on Sept. 9.
Posted by : Gizmeon
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