Apple aims at its first new product category since 2010 with its wearable technology smart watch with a strong emphasis on health and fitness of the users.
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has revealed little about the sophisticated the watch but said that he can’t live without it.Apple intends to start shipping in April.
Apple has entered a market that already has a number of players Samsung, LG, Sony, Pebble ,Motorola and Huawei introduced its version at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month.
Analysts expect Apple to lift the market by integrating the watch with the iPhone and its software ecosystem, and its range of apps and sensors for health and fitness.How Apple creates a cohesive value proposition integrating hardware with software and services is as always the key says one analyst.The three main areas of wellness data and services, Apple Pay and creating an intelligent and differentiated relationship between the watch and the smartphone must be the foundations of the Apple Watch proposition.
Apple intends the introductory price would be $349 in the US with two different sizes would be available in three collections, including the “Apple Watch Edition,” featuring 18-karat gold cases in yellow or rose, sapphire crystal and finely crafted bands and closures.
The watch is also expected to include map software that guides people to destinations with gentle “taps” on the wrist.
Fitness apps on the Apple Watch and its rivals could create trouble for manufacturers of fitness bands.
One researcher Jan Dawson at said Apple must find a fine balance for the new device — giving people alerts and notifications when they need them without bombarding them.
“One of the criticisms of some of the other watches out there is that notifications are something of an all-or-nothing phenomenon: either you get utterly bombarded with notifications or you get none, but its been tough to get granular control,” Dawson has said.
Apple reportedly had to scale back health tracking features on the watch after some of the sensors were found not properly responding to the challenge.
