Apple Targeting March for Apple Watch Launch, Retail Training Begins Next Month
While Apple has yet to publicly announce a specific launch date for the Apple Watch beyond "Early 2015", sources speaking to 9to5Mac say the company is currently planning for a March debut in the initial wave of countries. Sources in the retail segment indicate that select store employees will undergo centralized Apple Watch training the week of February 9, with those employees in turn training others at their individual stores in the days leading up to the device's launch.
One or two representatives from many Apple Stores in the United States, depending on store and market size, will be sent to Apple offices in either Cupertino, California or Austin, Texas to learn first-hand about the Watch. These training programs will take place between February 9th and February 16th.
The report indicates Apple has been continuing to refine various aspects of the Apple Watch since its September unveiling, focusing mostly on software but also tweaking such components as the inductive charging mechanism.
Developers are currently working with Apple's WatchKit tools and iOS 8.2 betas to build apps for Apple Watch, starting with lightweight Glances, actionable notifications, and iPhone-based apps that project portions of their interfaces to the watch. More powerful apps running directly on the Apple Watch will be possible later this year.
Popular Stories
iOS 18 is just days away, with Apple set to unveil the software update during its WWDC keynote on June 10. Many new features and changes are expected for the iPhone, with more details outlined in our rumor recap below. The first beta of iOS 18 should be made available to members of the Apple Developer Program immediately after the WWDC keynote, and a public beta will likely follow in July....
There appears to be an outage with at least one U.S. cellular carrier, with customers unable to place or receive calls. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon customers have been complaining about the issue on social networks, and there are also reports of outages on the Down Detector website. According to a statement from AT&T, the outage is affecting calls between carriers in the United States. All...
This year, Apple is set to increase the size of its premium iPhones, and it will be the first size update we've had in several years. While we've known for some time that the iPhone 16 Pro will measure in at 6.3 inches (up from 6.1) and the Pro Max will measure in at 6.9 inches (up from 6.7), we have not had a complete picture of every dimension, until now. Despite being bigger phones, one...
Apple is planning a major AI overhaul in iOS 18, but some new features are unlikely to work on older iPhones, even if they do appear on the new operating system's device compatibility list. Apple's initial AI roadmap for iOS 18 is said to come in two parts: Basic AI features that will be processed on-device, and more advanced capabilities that will require communication with Apple's servers. ...
Folium has become the first Nintendo 3DS emulator for the iPhone available in the App Store, although there are some caveats to be aware of. Foremost, this is the first Nintendo emulator on the App Store that costs money. Folium developer Jarrod Norwell is charging $4.99 for the app, which is a bold choice given that Nintendo recently sued the developers of Yuzu, a Nintendo Switch emulator...
Popular Mac app Bartender appears to have been quietly sold approximately two months ago, with neither the prior owner nor the current owner providing customers or potential customers with information on the sale. The transaction came to light after some Reddit users saw a warning from MacUpdater letting them know that the company behind Bartender had been silently replaced. MacUpdater...
