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Apple Watch has been out for over three weeks and I’ve been using mine now for most of that time, from the moment I wake up to just before bed each night. While my colleague Ben Lovejoy previously journaled his experience in his excellent “A skeptic’s Apple Watch diary” series, I’ve been sold on the appeal of Apple Watch since the first day I paired a Pebble smartwatch with my iPhone and discovered its potential…and potential pitfalls.
Apple Watch battery life was probably the biggest concern for everyone. We already have to charge our iPhones daily and sometimes throughout the day, and Apple Watch does a lot of iPhone-like stuff with a much smaller battery. The general consensus after several weeks, though, is that if you can get behind charging Apple Watch nightly, then battery life is fine. Apple probably went too conservative on some of Apple Watch’s energy saving behaviors if anything.
While battery life is surprisingly a non-issue, using Apple Watch purely as a watch to check the time has its limits.
Difficulty reading the display outdoors is easily my biggest complaint with the first version. Checking the time (or any information on the screen) in direct sunlight can be nearly impossible.
In one instance, I found it easier to check the time on my iPhone than with Apple Watch because of this issue. In another situation, I glanced at Apple Watch to check the time in the car, but found the dashboard clock easier to read. Under a cloudy sky or any amount of shade, though, the outdoor readability issue mostly goes away.
Apple Watch’s wrist detection is fine for standing or sitting positions, but it’s not ideal if you’re laying in bed and reading the watch upside down or in similar positions. Screen activation is quick enough that it’s not an issue when you want to read the time quickly, but it’s definitely a frustration when raising your wrist doesn’t wake up the display.
Tapping the display is the least obvious activation method, and it presents the least amount of friction. Personally, I’m more impressed by tapping the display to turn on the display than I am from the wrist detection. Wrist detection is the most natural, but tapping the display is a new habit I’m trying to form. (I completely missed that I could tap the display to wake it up for the first three or four days of use.)
I do wish there was a method (or even setting) that would allow the watch face to stay active for longer periods of time. Even the stop watch goes to sleep after 20 or so seconds without being engaged. Sometimes it’s handy if not necessary to be able to stare at your watch and see the time pass. To do this with Apple Watch, you need to tap the display or rotate the crown every 10 seconds or so.
As I mentioned at the top, battery life is surprisingly a non-issue and charging happens very quickly. Hopefully now that Apple Watch is out and the verdict is mostly in, Apple will loosen the constraints of on-screen time. My active usage was highest during week one when I was still checking out every corner of the features and functionality. I only hit Power Reserve once during that period at around 10 PM following a day of demoing and general tinkering. I’d willingly give the sometimes 30% battery left at the very end of the day in exchange for longer on-screen time when waking up the display.
I’ve been very impressed with Apple Watch band options, the swapping process, and the effect they have on the wearing experience. With my 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch, I bought Classic Buckle which feels like a traditional watch, black Leather Loop which feels a little more casual but still nice, and black Sport which is the most versatile option.
So far I’m frequently switching between a leather band and the fluoroelastomer band depending on the occasion. The Sport band is best for workouts or yard work and any time I’m testing the water resistance of Apple Watch; the Leather Loop band is my favorite in terms of comfort, style, and adjustability. The swapping process — holding down a button on the back and sliding the bands in and out — is simple enough that I’m changing between the two daily based on the activity.
Aside from making Apple Watch fit your personal style, which can vary widely from person to person, band swapping adds the effect of feeling like you’re actually wearing a different watch since it makes up so much of the overall hardware.
As a very casual watch wearer, Apple Watch does feel like a nice watch. The battery died a few years ago in my metal link bracelet watch, and I’d never wear my $15 digital watch to dinner. If you don’t wear a watch, you’ll be surprised at just how useful being able to check the time without using your iPhone is.
Of course Apple Watch isn’t just a watch, it’s an extension of the iPhone experience placed on the wrist with some features unique to it. While it’s hardly the first product to qualify as a smartwatch, Apple Watch is easily the best smartwatch for iPhone users, and probably the most capable watch for that matter.
I spent a year regularly using the then-$150 e-ink display Pebble smartwatch ($99) and liked a lot of what it had to offer, but it was clear from day one that Apple would need to open a lot more of iOS to developers for third-party smartwatches to go beyond a few limited functions.
I could read notifications without looking at my phone, but I couldn’t act on them. I could control currently playing audio, but I couldn’t pick the song or podcast from the watch. Apps came but were extremely limited and not memorable; current Apple Watch apps from third party developers are limited, but it’s nowhere near the same degree. iPhone features like Siri and Apple Pay would never be on a non-Apple device.
Aside from excellent visibility in direct sunlight and multi-day battery life, Apple Watch picks up where Pebble left off and goes light years ahead for me. (This is largely because Apple tightly controls iOS, only opening up pieces strategically, and the Pebble is a much cheaper product at $99 now while Apple Watch starts at $349.)
Apple Watch’s hardware is very impressive. The Digital Crown on the right side serves as a very natural scroll wheel and an effective way to navigate without obscuring the display with your finger. The display attracts fingerprints as much as the iPhone, so any chance to use the Digital Crown is appreciated.
Apple Watch’s display is phenomenal in all but extremely bright conditions. Black elements blend right into the bezel and simply disappear in dark environments; text and images pop just as you would expect from a Retina-class display. Open the Compass app on your iPhone and you can see the type of design elements that work well on Apple Watch: black backgrounds that disappear into the hardware, thin linear elements that highlight detail, and restrained use of color to your attention to activity. The shot above was taken in complete darkness. You cannot discern where the bezel begins in this environment.
The convenience of having Siri on my wrist is one of the things I most appreciate about Apple Watch. Siri is great on the iPhone for a lot of tasks, but asking Siri to do a quick task like add an item to my shopping list is lightning fast on Apple Watch. Raise your wrist and say Hey Siri, then give the command completely hands-free. Pulling out my phone to do this isn’t a major task, but it’s potential for distraction. Oh, a lock screen full of notifications. What did I want to remind myself to remember? Silly but it happens.
Siri isn’t perfect on Apple Watch though. A lot of commands seem to require a tap to complete or actually picking up your iPhone to complete. Something like sending a message requires activating Siri each time you want to go a step forward, as Siri on Apple Watch is designed not to just listen for the next step. Maybe another one of those battery conservation decisions?
Siri also doesn’t provide audio feedback on Apple Watch without using the VoiceOver accessibility feature; this would be fine as a setting, but I would prefer the option to have a more engaging Siri experience on Apple Watch. Maybe not always, but sometimes.
As for the things that Siri can’t do on Apple Watch, you quickly learn the boundaries and don’t bother repeating anything that needs Handoff. Hey Siri, play The Beatles is an okay command, but Hey Siri, play iTunes Radio prompts you to complete the job on your iPhone. Hopefully this evolves over time.
Dictation is essentially the keyboard on Apple Watch. If you’re opposed to dictating text into a gadget, don’t expect to get much text input done on Apple Watch. You can make a few pre-canned text replies to messages you receive, but any unique response is speech-to-text. The good thing is that it works well if you speak clearly.
When replying to a text in Messages, Apple Watch lets you choose between a voice recording reply or the speech-to-text dictated response. The only hitch for me here is that my dictation voice is much more robotic than my natural speaking voice. If dictation goofs up my response, I probably don’t want to send the recorded version either.
You also can’t correct your dictation without just starting over; the iPhone is good about knowing which phrases are questionable and offering tap-to-correct options so we know how this could be better.
The ability to choose between 10 different watch faces is a great plus for Apple Watch. The combination of digital and analog style faces offers variety in the same way band swapping does, and the ability to add widget-like “complications” for weather, calendar, timers, and more is a win for customization and utility. In the three weeks I’ve been using Apple Watch, I don’t believe I’ve used the same watch face for more than a day as there’s so many ways to change them. I’m certain I’ll settle on a few favorites, but they’re all very well done.
A few watch faces like Solar and Astronomy do tricks to show time movement when you scroll the Digital Crown, though, which I wish could be turned off as I like these faces but don’t enjoy accidentally engaging that activity. The Chronograph face is the most compass-like with fine details that I appreciate, but it includes a stopwatch complication that I frequently accidentally tap and start when swiping down for notifications. The Mickey Mouse face is both fun and a terrific demo; kids really get it too. Look, it’s Mickey as you pose for a photo. Useful.
I’m settling on mostly using one of two versions of Utility as my analog option while the complication-heavy Modular is my go-to digital watch face. You can create and save more versions of the same watch face so you don’t have to toggle it too much.
I like using Utility with all the hours and even seconds turned on, no complications aside from the date, and whichever color matches my mood or clothing, but I also like how Utility looks with all the numbers removed for a cleaner look. In both cases, I prefer turning off all the complications.
Modular is loaded with data from complications so I use it when I want to process in my brain less and just see the time and other information. With the analog faces, I prefer actively using Glances rather than seeing all that data when I check the time.
Glances are card-like screens activated when swiping up from any watch face. Just like my preference for toning down watch face complications, I find that using an extremely limited number of Glances adds to their utility. You can add as many as 40 I believe, and Apple turns on more out of the box than I find useful.
My current Glances setup includes the Settings glance for toggling airplane mode, Do Not Disturb, mute, and pinging your iPhone (hold this down to also engage the iPhone flash), the Now Playing glance for controlling any audio playback as well as volume level, the Activity glance for following your daily move, stand, and workout goal progress, the Battery glance for seeing total charge and optionally engaging Power Reserve mode, and finally the Heart Rate glance for manually checking your heart’s beats per minute.
I think using a lot of Glances in place of always jumping into apps is a popular thing with a lot of Apple Watch users I’ve seen so far, but I don’t love swiping through multiple cards to find the one I’m looking for at any given time; I’d much rather jump into the app honeycomb, but maybe this will change as more capable Glances become available.
Customizing these currently means opening the Apple Watch app on the iPhone, but I don’t see anything keeping the Apple Watch itself from being able to manage these.
Managing your Friends list is the same story. You have access to your full list of contacts within the Phone app, but you have to add or remove friends on Apple Watch from the iPhone app unless someone uses Digital Touch with you and you have a spare slot for them. You can have as many as 12 friends at any given time, which sounds like plenty until you treat it like a Favorites list for quickly calling or messaging your family and need to use it to manage using Digital Touch with other Apple Watch users.
Aside from the wonky Friends setup process, Digital Touch has its own imperfections for now. Sometimes taps, sketches, and heartbeats don’t send and it’s unclear how to resolve any issues aside from trying again. There’s also latency between sending something using Digital Touch and the recipient being notified or seeing it. Sometimes this latency can be seconds, sometimes several minutes.
The lack of delivered and read receipts that we’re familiar with on iMessage makes this form of communication feel shaky at times, but even sketches disappear after seconds when viewed so it’s clearly not meant for any sort of very serious use.
Notifications on Apple Watch pick up where Pebble left off. Apps can feature actions in notifications like archiving an email from the Gmail app or starting playback for a new podcast on your iPhone as soon as the alert hits the watch. If the iPhone display is on, notifications route and alert there. If the iPhone display is off and you’re wearing a connected Apple Watch, that’s where the alerts will go.
The Mac and iPad, however, are ignored for now even though you can Handoff tasks from apps like Calendar and other apps to those devices sometimes. I see most of my relevant notifications on my Mac while I’m working, but muting Apple Watch means I’ll miss stand alerts and Digital Touch notifications. This Mac+Watch space needs more attention.
You can toggle sounds on or off, but you can’t customize tones for specific alerts. On my iPhone, I have a different tone if either my girlfriend or my mom texts me so I know I should read it soon. Apple Watch has the same tone and the same tap for all messages from all contacts. This is sort of a set back functionally for me, but hopefully this changes in future software updates.
The red dot to notify you of unread notifications is very useful as is the Clear All button for knocking out lists of alerts at once. The iPhone, iPad, and Mac would all benefit from a similar button. Haptic feedback driven by the Taptic Engine is also a big part of notifications on Apple Watch, although I’m convinced I’m a little numb to most taps or my motor is weaker than it should be.
If my Apple Watch is muted, it’s likely that I’ll see the red dot for notifications without having noticed a tap on my wrist. Tightening the band or turning on the setting for prominent taps can remedy this to a degree, but I think I’d be more sensitive to taps below my wrist rather than above. I’ve only used the rubber and leather bands so far, but I also imagine the metal bands may carry the vibration around the wrist more than the other materials do.
Overall, though, I much prefer keeping notifications on my wrist rather than in my pocket or elsewhere. I feel more connected, more tuned in, and less anxious about missing the big stuff that occasionally flies by. This sense of being further connected to my family is a big appeal of Apple Watch’s long term value. Perhaps more measurably important is Apple Watch’s fitness and activity tracking…
Apple Watch as a fitness tracker is like iPhone as a camera. Devices solely dedicated to tracking specific activity may be better for die hard athletes just like expensive DSLR cameras are appropriate for professional photographers, but Apple Watch’s fitness tracking features will make health tracking more accessible just like the iPhone’s ever-improving camera makes us all better and more frequent photographers.
Apple Watch wants you to move more throughout your day and uses activity tracking and notifications to help you achieve this. Your move goal helps you burn a set amount of calories each day. Your stand goal wants you to move around for at least one minute of twelve different hours in the day. The exercise goal recommends 30 minutes of activity at or above a brisk walk. My first thought is that the bar is set low enough that these goals are achievable, but as someone who writes for a living, each goal proves more challenging in practice.
The use of progress rings to visualize these goals is a terrific design, though, and the encouragement and progress alerts you can receive throughout the day are very effective. My only real complaint here is that Apple Watch far too often reminds me to stand up at 10 minutes before the end of the hour despite me having stood and moved during that hour.
Sometimes these alerts come while I’m standing which is most frustrating because it might mean an incomplete circle. Stand detection can improve, of course, but I’d also like to be able to respond to a stand reminder by overriding it and saying that I have stood, especially if I’m standing. It would be up to the user to use the honor system, but there’s little incentive to cheating…
That is unless you’re collecting achievements. These awards are fun and competitive and make a bit of a sport about activity tracking among Apple Watch users, especially between friends.
Wearing Apple Watch can also add new data points to the Health app on your iPhone. For example, you can see heart rate data, active calories burned, and workout data that previously required manually logging or other solutions. Resting calories, while tracked and viewable in the Activity app on iPhone, curiously aren’t shared with the Health app yet. I’m much more likely to be wearing Apple Watch throughout my whole day so it’s a much more ideal device for step tracking and enables passive heart rate tracking for me that was previously unavailable.
While apps are a thing on Apple Watch with some 3,500+ ones on the App Store at launch, they’ve mostly got a bad reputation for not being very useful so far. That’s partly because developers can’t do much with Apple Watch and have to rely on a parent iPhone app for most functionality. Apple says developers will be able to do more by creating native apps using tools it will release later this year. For now, though, only Apple can create apps that run on Apple Watch without a connected iPhone.
Still, some of Apple’s best apps are essentially remotes for the iPhone. The Camera app lets you use Apple Watch as a viewfinder while you can snap a photo from your wrist. The Remote app lest you navigate your Apple TV easily and conveniently with a remote you’ll never lose. Any audio app like Music or NPR One or Instapaper lets you playback audio from your iPhone with controls from Apple Watch, and you can even change audio playback to connected AirPlay speakers wirelessly by pressing firmly within the Music app’s Now Playing screen and selecting the desired speaker.
Apple’s Photos app lets you sync an album of photos on Apple Watch. They’re small but it’s a neat way to browse your favorite photos similar to carrying wallet shots.
Apple Pay on Apple Watch is another convenience. Paying with your iPhone enjoyed the period between September and April as being the easiest way to checkout, but paying with Apple Watch is really that much cooler and a little more discrete.
Passbook is also super handy on Apple Watch. If a pass is location sensitive, you’ll get a notification when you’re near the right place so you can quickly bring it up. Otherwise you can jump into the Passbook app and tap the right pass when you need it. Using the Walgreens Rewards pass has been a fun way to gauge responses to Apple Watch, or iWatch, or iPhone Watch… reactions are wide ranging of course.
There are some gems among the thousands of Apple Watch apps available so far if you explore what’s out there. I started by installing all of the available Apple Watch apps that had iPhone apps already on my phone, then scaled way back after evaluating each app during the first week. Shazam’s app is an easy recommendation with its song recognition and lyrics presentation abilities.
Other apps have purposes that are vague or nonexistent. Fandango’s Apple Watch app, for instance, served up movie quotes for me upon investigation. I’m a big fan of Lebowski and appreciated the image and quote, but without visiting the App Store listing, it’s utility wasn’t obvious. Remove the iPhone from the equation and most apps become even more useless. Not even a quote from The Dude, for example, when the iPhone is taken away and the Instagram app is launched on Apple Watch. How Apple Watch apps improve when Apple gives developers more tools will play a large role in Apple Watch’s growth going forward now that Apple has laid the foundation.
Apple Watch can do a million more things than anything I’ve mentioned so far. It’s an excellent speaker phone in a quiet environment and you can even record video on your iPhone during a call; this was surprisingly never possible before. You can ping Siri on Apple Watch without interrupting audio playback on the iPhone. The more time I spend with Apple Watch, the more of these minor but useful improvements to the iOS experience I discover, and I’m certain there are more to uncover. While the utility of Apple Watch may not be immediately obvious or applicable to everyone, I’m as enthusiastic about Apple Watch in practice as I was in theory before it arrived and became an actual tool in my life.
Apple Watch can improve with future versions by offering better outdoor usage and picking up GPS, but many of its drawbacks are decisions made in the software that can be remedied in the current version. Give Apple Watch permission to have longer screen-on time and use more of its battery. No one benefits from charging it at night and having 30 or 40% still left as you can’t make it through the next day with that, right? The real future of Apple Watch gaining new uses will come from third party developers creating experiences with Apple Watch apps; once Apple gives developers more access to use the hardware, this space should get even more interesting.
Anyone that stays connected to the iPhone — either by necessity or choice — should certainly consider Apple Watch; while it’s still a first-gen device, it benefits from sitting on top of a mature iPhone and iOS platform. As for model recommendations, the 38mm $349/42mm $399 Apple Watch Sport is fine for anyone wanting to get into the device; the extra $200+ for the stainless steel Apple Watch may prove to have a stronger display as it uses sapphire over Ion-X glass, but the decision is otherwise simply for the aesthetics as both have the same technology inside. I do appreciate the traditional watch look that the non-Sport bands provide, and paying more for nearly the same hardware is purely a personal decision.
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How To Reset And Unpair Apple Watch
Every now and then there comes a time when you need to reset your devices. It’s almost a law of nature — it happens with the best of laptops, desktops, and yes, even smartwatches. Maybe your Apple Watch feels slow or sluggish after years of use, maybe you want a clean slate, or maybe you’re selling it off and need to remove your personal information from it. So, if you’re unsure how to go about it, here is how to reset and unpair your Apple Watch.
Table of Contents Unpair and Reset Apple Watch Using iPhoneThe most fool-proof way to factory reset your Apple Watch is by using the ‘Watch’ app on your iPhone. Here’s what you need to do. This way you can also erase your Apple Watch data if that’s what you want to do.
In the Watch app on your iPhone, tap on your watch’s name. Next, tap on the “ⓘ” icon.
Tap on ‘Unpair Apple Watch‘ and confirm your choice.
You will now have to enter your Apple ID password in order to disable the Activation Lock from the Watch. Once you’ve entered the password, tap on ‘Unpair’ in the top-right of the screen.
That’s it. Once you’ve done that, your Apple Watch will start taking a backup of its data on your iPhone and then reset itself to factory settings. This entire process can take some time. Once the process is complete, you can re-pair the watch to your iPhone if you want, or you can sell it, or hand it down to someone.
Reset Apple Watch Directly from the WatchIf, you’re simply looking to get a fresh start with your Apple Watch and pair it again with your own iPhone, you don’t need to disable the Activation Lock since you’ll be using it with the same Apple ID. Here’s how to do that:
Open ‘Settings‘ on your Apple Watch and tap on ‘General‘.
Here, go to ‘Reset‘. Tap on ‘Erase All Contents and Settings’. You may need to enter your passcode.
Tap on ‘Erase All‘.
Your Apple Watch will now reset to factory settings and you can set it up with your iPhone again.
Unpair Apple Watch After ResetIf you’ve reset your Apple Watch directly from the watch itself, and you wish to give it away to someone else, you will need to disable the Activation Lock otherwise the watch will not pair with another iPhone. Here’s what you need to do:
Go to iCloud on your laptop or desktop computer and sign in with your Apple ID and password.
Under My Devices, select your Apple Watch.
You can now safely hand-over your Apple Watch to someone else.
How to Reset Apple Watch Without PasscodeIf you have forgotten your Apple Watch password, you can still do a hard reset. Here’s how to do that.
Tap on ‘Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings’ and confirm the action.
You may have to enter your Apple ID password in order to complete this action.
Your Apple Watch will now reset and erase all its contents. You can then set it up again and set a new passcode for your watch.
Earlier you could have done this via the watch itself. However, that requires a force touch interaction on the power off slider in Apple Watch. Unfortunately, with watchOS 7, Apple has removed Force Touch, so you can’t use that method. If a new method is discovered, we will update this article.
FAQs About Resetting an Apple WatchA. If your Apple Watch is prompting you to enter the password to someone else’s Apple ID, it’s because of Activation Lock. Unfortunately, you can’t get rid of this. You will have to ask the previous owner of the watch to input that information on your Apple Watch to get past that.
Q. How do I turn off Apple Watch activation lock without previous owner?
A. As mentioned in the previous answer, this is a security feature and can not be removed by you unless you have the previous owner’s Apple ID credentials. If you don’t, you will have to ask them to remove the activation lock.
Q. Can you bypass activation lock on Apple Watch? Can activation lock be removed?
Q. How to Clear RAM in Apple Watch?
If your apps are getting stuck and you are thinking about resetting your watch because of that, you should first try to clear RAM and force restart apps. To do this, just press and hold the side button until the power off slider comes up. Now press and hold the digital crown. That’s it.
Reset Your Apple Watch and Get a Fresh StartPersonally, I have reset my Apple Watch only twice — once because I had filled it too much with third party apps and I didn’t want to go through the pain of uninstalling them all, and the other time for this article to take the required screenshots. So yeah, there will be times when you might want to reset your Apple Watch, and now you know how you can go about it. Just keep in mind that if you don’t want to lose your Apple Watch data, you should always unpair it using your iPhone. Otherwise your data will not be backed up.
The Best Iot Platform As A Service Solution
IoT platforms: What are They?
The Internet of Things platform is a multi-layer technology that controls and automates linked devices. In other terms, it is a service that enables you to deliver tangible goods digitally. You can use the services offered by this platform to link gadgets for machine-to-machine communication.
The Internet of Things (IoT) software connects edge devices, access points, and data networks to the other end, which is typically the end-user application.
Platforms for the Internet of ThingsIoT platforms are available to address every area while creating an IoT product.
For the creation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, hardware development platforms include physical development boards that include microcontrollers, microprocessors, systems on chip (SoC), and systems on module (SoM).
Platforms for developing apps act as an integrated development environment (IDE) with tools and functionalities.
Platforms for connectivity offer the communication tools needed to send information between physical items and data centers (on-premise or in the cloud). MQTT, DDS, AMQP, Bluetooth, ZigBee, WiFi, cellular, LoRaWAN, and other prevalent connection protocols and standards for the Internet of Things are just a few examples.
Analytics platforms use sophisticated algorithms to analyze collected data and transform it into customer-actionable insights.
All facets of IoT goods, from creation and communication to data administration and visualization, are covered by end-to-end IoT platforms.
Amazon Web Services IOT platformIn the consumer cloud industry, Amazon is king. In 2004, they were the first to genuinely make cloud computing a commodity. Since then, they have worked hard to innovate and add capabilities, and they now likely have the complete set of tools on the market. It is a very scalable platform, promising to handle trillions of interactions between billions of devices. The cost is determined by how many communications AWS IoT sends and receives. Every IoT interaction can be considered a conversation between a server and a device. Amazon assesses a fee per million messages sent or received between the endpoints. You won’t be charged for messages sent to the following AWS accounts because there are no minimum fees.
S3 Amazon
DynamoDB by Amazon
Lambda on AWS
Google Kinesis
NS Amazon
Google SQS
They also offer a software development kit (SDK) for building and running apps on AWS, which developers can use.
Blynk IoT platformWith the Blynk IoT platform, linked electrical devices may be built and managed at any scale using an integrated suite of low-code software. The only platform that provides native mobile apps for your devices and a complete IoT development infrastructure allows for an easy transition to production-grade solutions that support complicated enterprise use cases and quick prototyping with IoT capabilities that are ready to use.
Native mobile app builder with low-code Apps may be distributed to shops under a white label.
A wide range of hardware compatibility runs on over 400 hardware modules and allows connections to many different libraries.
WiFi, Ethernet, Cellular, Serial, USB, and Bluetooth connectivity protocols are all supported (BETA).
Strong web console with an intuitive and tidy user interface.
Reliable cloud infrastructure for the creation of IoT products of any size.
Management, analytics, data, and logical visualization.
Ready-to-use widgets have many helpful features and come with simple configuration instructions.
Salesforce IoT CloudSalesforce focuses on customer relationship management and expertly uses IoT technology to improve this market.
The Salesforce IoT Cloud platform collects important data from connected devices to provide clients with personalized experiences and foster deeper relationships. Salesforce CRM is used in conjunction with it; data from linked assets are supplied straight to the CRM platform, where context-based actions are started immediately.
For instance, if sensors identify a problem with a windmill’s performance, the CRM dashboard immediately displays the information. The system can either automatically adjust the settings or generate a service ticket.
The Salesforce IoT Cloud’s primary attributes are −
Complete CRM, customer, and product integration
Proactive response to client requirements
OREGA IOTOracle offers endpoint data management and real-time IoT data analysis to assist businesses in making crucial decisions. Utilizing the Oracle IoT cloud platform has additional benefits, such as quick device data analytics and device visualization.
Oracle IoT pricing is determined per device. Each device is limited to a certain number of messages each month, and there is an extra fee if you send more than that.
ParticleParticle provides hardware solutions, including development kits, production modules, asset tracking devices, and an IoT edge-to-cloud platform for managing devices and enabling worldwide connectivity. You can build your product from conception to manufacturing with the help of Particle’s team of IoT specialists, who offer end-to-end professional services.
The Particle platform’s main characteristics are −
REST API integration with outside services
cloud with firewall protection
the ability to work with data from Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud
There is no requirement for technical knowledge to use the platform.
ConclusionIoT clouds from Salesforce and Particle are both simples to use. Due to the flexibility cloud infrastructures bring to corporate operations, businesses rely on them more and more. Hosting, running, and maintaining hardware and software components is no longer your responsibility, nor is it that of your technical staff.
Elephone W2 Smart Watch Review
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
The Elephone W2 Smart Watch offers decent design and build quality for the price – it’s something of a bargain with the current Gearbest offer on this front. It also offers excellent battery life due to being an analogue watch with smart functions. However, beyond activity tracking and call alerts those functions don’t work properly – or at all – leaving us pretty disappointed. The Martian Notifier is a better option for this type of smartwatch.
We’ve seen a few smartphones from Chinese brand, Elephone, but not a smartwatch. The W2 offers an analogue watch combined with smart features like activity tracking and a three month battery life to take on Android Wear rivals. Here’s our Elephone W2 Smart Watch review.
See also: Best smartwatches 2023.
Elephone W2 Smart Watch review: Price and availabilityIf you go and buy the Elephone W2 from the official store, you’re looking at £52 (or $79), which is very cheap for a smartwatch. However, at the time of writing, it’s available for a crazy low price of just £33 on Gearbest which offers free worldwide shipping. The deal technically ends in a few days but we doubt the price is going to shoot up too much.
If you don’t fancy shipping one across the globe, it’s available from Amazon if you’re happy to pay a little more at £59.
At this price, the Elephone W2 is one of the cheapest smartwatches we’ve ever tested and although it’s not packed with features like some, it certainly makes it worth consideration.
Read: Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear will make all kinds of wearable devices better.
Elephone W2 Smart Watch review: Design and buildThe Elephone W2 Smart Watch is a smartwatch without a battery draining touchscreen. Instead it combines a traditional analogue watch with LEDs and sensors to provide smart features. We’ll explore them properly later but there’s one light above the logo to let you know which mode you’re in and a set of 10 lower down the face for displaying information. We’ve seen some similar devices like the Martian Notifier.
The watch itself is fairly think, but no more so than the Moto 360, and it comes in a normal Silver colour or a more bling-centric Gold option. We took a look at the more understated silver option and we’re impressed with the design and build quality of the W2.
It certainly doesn’t feel as premium compared to many rivals in the smartwatch market, like the Withings Activité, but it cost a lot less so were expecting it to feel cheap and nasty. With the main body made from stainless steel and glass, this is far from the case.
Although the strap is genuine leather, we’re not overly impressed with the texture and how comfortable it is. Even after a few weeks of wearing the W2, the strap didn’t soften up as much as we’re used to. It’s a standard 22mm quick release design so you can change it easily.
Two buttons straddle the traditional crown and are easy to use. A surprise it that the Elephone W2 is waterproof to 30m. The worrying thing is that you can take the back off to get access to the battery, so make sure you put it back properly before taking the plunge.
Elephone says the watch hands are made from ‘top-notch Swiss luminous material’ and the effect can last up to eight hours but we haven’t really noticed this feature unless we deliberately hold the watch under a light to give it charge. There’s no backlight so that’s a shame.
Elephone W2 Smart Watch review: Hardware, specs and featuresThere aren’t many specs to mention for the W2 since the device is namely a ‘Swiss Ronda Movement’ analogue watch. The smart bit comes in the form of Bluetooth 4.0 which means you can connect it to your phone.
Once you’ve downloaded the Elephone W2 app (compatible with iOS 7.0+ or Android 4.3+ but we can’t find the iPhone app) and connected the watch to your phone, the smart functions are available. The wearable can track activity, sleep, alert you to incoming calls, be used as a silent alarm and more.
The main feature is activity tracking and you can press the bottom button to check your progress. You’ll see how you’re doing based on how many LEDs light up – each one represents 10 percent and they light up from right to left oddly. That’s a basic amount of information but the app gives more detail such as the exact amount of steps, distance and calories burned. You can view figures for days, weeks, months or the entire year.
You can also track your sleep if you don’t mind wearing the watch in bed with info on length of deep sleep, light sleep and hours awake. However, you have to switch manually between sleeping and exercise modes holding down the top button. Tapping it once will show you which you’re in via the LED above the logo – green is for exercise, blue is for sleeping and red means low battery.
Within the app you can choose which other smart functions you want to use. Call alert is arguably the most useful and makes the 100 percent LED at the bottom flash and the watch vibrates. However, this is set to eight seconds by default which is simply too long so you’ll want to change it to three (the minimum).
Other optional features include a ‘Find Phone’ option, which we can’t figure out how to use (there’s no mention of it in the supplied instructions), the silent alarm, a sedentary alert if you want to be prompted to move around after say 30 minutes of inactivity, and a camera which you have to load via the app.
While most smartwatches only last a day or two, the Elephone W2 will last up to three months. This is because it runs on a traditional button battery which you’ll need to replace once it dies. To do this, you’ll need to remove four tiny screws and take the back off. It’s fiddly but not too much of a problem. Elephone kindly supplied the screwdriver and two spare batteries so you’re good for around nine months without need to pop down the shops.
Without using Bluetooth, the watch can supposedly run for three years but that’s not the idea here so three months is the figure. We’re going with official numbers since we’ve only had the W2 for a few weeks – oddly the app still reports 100 percent battery.
Specs Elephone W2 Smart Watch: Specs
Android 4.3+ compatible
Rhonda 762 analogue watch
Stainless steel & Sapphire Crystal glass
Bluetooth 4.0
210mAh Maxcell 203 battery
30m waterproof rating
Apple Officially Unveils Its New ‘Apple Watch’ Wearable
Apple just unveiled its much rumored wearable product live on stage during its press event this morning giving us a first look at its entrance into the smartwatch market. The device is officially called Apple Watch, pairs with iPhone, and sports an all-new user interface that is quite a departure from anything we’ve seen on other iOS devices.
It’s driven Apple from the beginning. This compulsion to take incredibly powerful technology, and make it accessible, relevant, and ultimately, personal.”– Jony Ive
Perhaps the biggest surprise on the Apple Watch is that Apple is using a traditional watch dial on the side of the device as an input mechanism for navigating the device. That “Digital Crown” allows you to scroll, zoom, and navigate through the device without obscuring the display like a touchscreen smartwatch. The crown also acts as the device’s Home button. While Apple is focusing on using the Digital Crown dial for navigation, the device is capable of detecting touch input on the display and includes haptic feedback capabilities with a “Taptic Engine” feature. In addition, Apple Watch detects when users lift their wrists to activate the display. Here’s a look at the Apple Watch home screen:
The screen is a Retina display that Apple notes is “laminated to a single crystal of sapphire, the hardest transparent material after diamond.” Other specs in Apple Watch include a gyroscope and accelerometer, while GPS functionality comes from a wirelessly-connected iPhone. Apple also said it’s including infrared and visible-light LEDs, along with photosensors that will detect pulse rate and other data. Apple didn’t go over specifics for battery life but did note it’s using an inductive wireless charging solution pictured in the gallery below.
Apple showed off a few of Apple Watch’s stock apps during the event including things you’d expect, like music control for a connected iOS device or Mac, notifications (with haptic feedback), and the ability to swap out watch faces. Haptic feedback plays into interesting new messaging features that let users tap and draw to communicate. For instance, the feature lets users capture and send their heartbeat to one another.
It also showed off integration with iOS devices and Mac to curate content that appears on the device, for example, favoriting photos on other devices make them available to view on Apple Watch. Apple also demoed navigation on the device with walking directions that use haptic feedback to notify users for turn-by-turn directions:
As expected, fitness is also a big part of the Apple Watch software with dedicated Fitness and Workout apps that include features for tracking fitness metrics and sharing that data with the Health app in iOS 8. The device also works with the company’s new Apple Pay payment solution.
Apple is making the device open to third-party developers as well (many of which have already created experiences) through an SDK for developers. Apple noted a few apps today including BMW, Pinterest, Facebook, MLB, Honeywell, Nike, and others that are already developing apps for Apple Watch.
Apple Watch will arrive in three models– Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport, and Apple Watch Edition– with various sizing options and unique features for each. For instance, the Apple Watch Sport models feature a plastic band and aluminum body, while the Apple Watch Edition features high-end materials like 18k gold. The standard Apple Watch features stainless steel with plastic, leather, or steel bands. Apple Watch works with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, and iPhone 5.
Apple Watch will start at $350. Full details on pricing and availability are here.
Apple Unveils Apple Watch—Apple’s Most Personal Device Ever“Apple introduced the world to several category-defining products, the Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “And once again Apple is poised to captivate the world with a revolutionary product that can enrich people’s lives. It’s the most personal product we’ve ever made.”
“With Apple Watch, we’ve developed multiple technologies and an entirely new user interface specifically for a device that’s designed to be worn. It blurs the boundary between physical object and user interface,” said Jony Ive, Apple’s senior vice president of Design. “We’ve created an entire range of products that enable unparalleled personalization.”
Apple Watch introduces a revolutionary design and iOS-based user interface created specifically for a smaller device. Apple Watch features the Digital Crown, an innovative way to scroll, zoom and navigate fluidly, without obstructing the display. The Digital Crown also serves as the Home button and a convenient way to access Siri®. The Retina® display on Apple Watch features Force Touch, a technology that senses the difference between a tap and a press, providing a new way to quickly and easily access controls within apps. Apple Watch introduces the Taptic Engine and a built-in speaker that together discreetly enable an entirely new vocabulary of alerts and notifications you can both hear and feel. Apple custom-designed its own S1 SiP (System in Package) to miniaturize an entire computer architecture onto a single chip. Apple Watch also features Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 4.0 to pair seamlessly with your iPhone.
Apple Watch comes in three distinct collections—Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition—available in two different sizes, 38 mm and 42 mm. The beautifully designed and durable enclosures are crafted from custom alloys of polished or space black stainless steel, space gray or silver anodized aluminum and 18-karat rose or yellow gold. Apple also created an entire range of watch straps: the high-performance elastomer Sport Band; the Milanese Loop in a flexible magnetic stainless steel mesh; the Leather Loop in soft, quilted leather that conceals magnets for quick fastening and adjustment; the leather Modern Buckle, which closes with a solid metal clasp; the leather Classic Buckle; and the stainless steel Link Bracelet. Apple Watch comes with a unique charging system that combines Apple’s MagSafe® technology with inductive charging for a quick connection that snaps into place.
Apple Watch is an extremely accurate timepiece that’s also customizable for personal expression. Apple Watch comes with 11 watch faces ranging from traditional analog faces to new faces like the dynamic Timelapse face; the Astronomy face with its interactive, real-time 3D model of the earth, sun, moon and planets; and the Solar face, a contemporary sundial. Apple Watch can be personalized in appearance and capability with additional information such as upcoming events, moonphases or your activity level, enabling millions of possible configurations.
Apple Watch includes a groundbreaking Activity app designed to help motivate you to be more active throughout the day, and an all-new Workout app designed to provide the metrics you need during dedicated workout sessions. Apple Watch uses the accelerometer, a built-in heart rate sensor, GPS and Wi-Fi from your iPhone to provide a comprehensive picture of your daily activity. The Activity app measures three separate aspects of movement: calories burned, brisk activity and how often you stand up during the day. The Workout app provides goal-setting and pacing during popular session-based workouts, such as running and cycling. The companion Fitness app on iPhone collects your activity data so you can see your activity history in greater detail. Apple Watch uses this history to suggest personal, realistic goals, reward fitness milestones and keep you motivated.
Apple introduces WatchKit, providing new tools and APIs for developers to create unique experiences designed for the wrist. With Apple Watch, developers can create WatchKit apps with actionable notifications and Glances that provide timely information. Starting later next year, developers will be able to create fully native apps for Apple Watch.
Apple Watch will be available in three collections. Apple Watch, with a polished or space black stainless steel case and a choice of straps; Apple Watch Sport, with a space gray or silver anodized aluminum case and Sport Band; and Apple Watch Edition, with an 18-karat rose or yellow gold case and a choice of straps exclusive to this collection. Apple Watch straps include the Sport Band in black, blue, green, pink and white; the Classic Buckle in black and midnight blue; the Leather Loop in bright blue, light brown and stone; the Modern Buckle in midnight blue, brown, soft pink, rose gray and bright red; the Milanese Loop in stainless steel; and the Link Bracelet in brushed stainless steel and polished space black. Apple Watch will be available in early 2023 starting at $349 (US). Apple Watch is compatible with iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus running the latest version of iOS 8.
* Apple Pay is only available in the US.
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Apple Watch And Android Wear: Same Destination, Different Paths
The more we learn about the Apple Watch, the less it seems like a revolutionary departure from the existing wearable market.
In particular, it has a lot of overlap with Android Wear, Google’s own wearable platform.
That much became clear last week, when Apple released its design guidelines for third-party apps. Parsing the guidelines alongside those for Android Wear reveals two like-minded approaches: quick, contextual interactions are paired with data collection from sensors.
The two companies even use similar language at times:
“A Watch app complements your iOS app; it does not replace it,” Apple writes. “If you measure interactions with your iOS app in minutes, you can expect interactions with your Watch app to be measured in seconds. So interactions need to be brief and interfaces need to be simple.”
“A classic wrist watch is designed to let you see the time in a split second and get on with what you were doing,” Google writes. “Designing for Android Wear is no different. The less time it takes to use your software, the more time the user can be present in whatever they are doing. Android wear is fast, sharp, and immediate.”
This isn’t to say Android Wear and the Apple Watch are exactly the same. Even if they’re trying to arrive at the same place, they manage to head down diverging paths along the way.
Behold: The Apple Watch “Digital Crown.”
Glances and notificationsOn a basic level, the Apple Watch and Android Wear are both driven by actionable notifications—such as the ability to delete an email or respond to a message straight from the watch—as well as information cards that you can quickly glance at. The primary difference appears to be in the way everything’s laid out.
Android Wear’s interface is like a big spinal cord, with glanceable cards, actionable notifications and even music playback controls mashed up into a single, vertical menu. Swiping to the right of any notification brings up potential actions (such as delete and reply buttons for email). In some cases you can launch a proper watch app from its corresponding notification.
Notifications on the Apple Watch are more fleeting, popping up with only minimal information at first. If you tap the screen or keep your wrist raised, more information and possible actions appear. Otherwise, the notification disappears.
Android Wear and Apple Watch interface flows, visualized.
There are pros and cons to both approaches. Android Wear’s single stack of cards seems simpler to navigate, and it allows apps to push out glanceable information only when it’s going to be helpful (such as when a sports score changes). On the other hand, Apple gives users more control over what they’re looking at and more privacy for incoming notifications. Apple’s interface also prevents users from having a big pileup of unaddressed notifications to wade through.
Both systems tackle the same overarching concepts in slightly different ways.
Launching apps: Incidental vs. intentionalThe two platforms diverge even more dramatically in the way you’re asked to launch deeper apps, such as to-do lists, music players and fitness trackers. The Apple Watch has a traditional home screen for this purpose, accessed by tapping the “Digital Crown” on the right side the watch.
Android Wear has an app launcher as well, but it obfuscated by design. To access it, you have to tap the screen from the main watch face, then swipe all the way down to the bottom of a list of options. It’s possible to launch apps with a voice command, but Google’s guidelines make clear that most apps should jump into the notification stack automatically, presenting themselves at just the right moment based on context signals such as time, location or physical activity.
Apps on Android Wear and the Apple Watch will also have a more fundamental difference, at least at launch: On the Apple Watch, third-party apps will require a paired smartphone to operate until Apple allows for fully native apps later in 2023. (It’s not clear which of Apple’s own apps, if any, will be subject to these restrictions.) By offloading computational tasks and storage to the phone, Apple Watch apps can run smoother with less drain on battery life.
Apple Watch’s app launcher, Glances and actionable notifications.
Android Wear apps can be loaded directly on the watch, and while most apps require a phone connection to be useful, the system already allows for the independent operation of basic utilities (such as calculators and checklists) and offline music playback. Android Wear watches with GPS on board can also keep track of your location, speed and distance traveled without a paired smartphone.
It seems likely that the differences in these approaches will become less pronounced over time. A future update for Android Wear is rumored to make launching apps easier, and Apple Watch apps may not need to rely so much on a paired phone as Apple’s hardware becomes faster and more efficient.
Hardware departuresSeveral other factors set Android Wear and Apple Watch apart. The most obvious difference is the hardware itself, with Apple focusing on a single device (in two sizes) and Google working with hardware partners on a wide variety of shapes, sizes and prices. By controlling the hardware, Apple is placing a bigger bet on new interaction models, such as the Digital Crown for non-touch controls and Force Touch for pressure-sensitive touch commands.
Jon Phillips
The manly looks of LG’s G Watch R isn’t for everyone, but Android Wear isn’t bound to one style.
But despite all these differences, the Apple Watch and Android Wear don’t seem fundamentally different. They both, in essence, try to save us the trouble of using our phones by delivering quick bursts of information, and acting as collectors of data (fitness data in particular) to help us live richer lives. In doing so, they ensure that the Apple-Google rivalry will be just as fierce on wearables as it has been on smartphones.
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