The AppAdvice week in review: Apple is set to 'Spring Forward'
Not surprisingly, this week featured a lot of news about the Apple Watch. We also saw the launch of the next-generation Pebble watch, the Time. Here’s a look back at some of the stories we covered during the week that was.
It’s almost time to “Spring Forward”
On Sunday, March 8, Daylight Saving Time (DST) returns to most of the United States. One day later, Apple is holding their recently announced Apple Watch event, Spring Forward.
While much remains unknown about the Apple Watch, we have heard quite a lot about the third-party apps set to arrive on the wearable device, which arrives in stores next month.
Wareable.com recently previewed a number of new watch apps including Clear, Feed Wrangler, and more. The site also previews apps from Fitness Spades, Home Remote, OfficeTime, Infinitweet, Slopes, and others.
We’ve previously shown you watch apps from Eastwood, Todoist, MileWiz and MoneyWiz 2, and Nimblebit’s upcoming word game Letterpad.
Last week, a new report said that Apple is inviting a select number of developers to its Cupertino, California campus. Apple engineers are helping to finish watch apps and are giving the developers a first hand look at the device.
Originally announced back in September along with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the Apple Watch will start at $349 for the lower-end Sport model.
Apple will also be offering a mid-range Apple Watch version with a stainless steel case and sapphire display cover. The high-end Apple Watch Edition features an 18-karat gold case.
You’ll need an iPhone 5 or later to use the device.
See also: Swiss watchmakers unveil their own smartwatches.
The new Pebble Time watch smashes records
The Apple Watch isn’t the only wearable device in the news.
This week, the Pebble Time was introduced through a new Kickstarter campaign. The watch features color e-paper with up to seven days of battery life, and a new timeline interface that highlights what’s important in your day. Twenty percent thinner than the original Pebble watch, the Pebble Time is fully compatible with all 6,500+ existing Pebble apps and watch faces.
The Pebble Time is now the second most popular Kickstarter campaign in the history of the crowdfunding site. To date, $11.6 million has been raised for the project. This compares to the $10.2 million raised for the first-generation Pebble watch in 2012. The record, which is now in serious jeopardy of being surpassed, is the $13.3 million raised for the Coolest Cooler in 2014.
Pebble is accepting Kickstarter pledges for the Pebble Time through March 27.
Link roundup
Some of the other stories making news this week:
- Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says the net neutrality decision is a ‘victory for the people’
- Apple ordered to pay $532.9 million in patent infringement case
- Tapbots says major Tweetbot updates for the iPad and iPhone will hopefully arrive before June
- How to plan a date in under 5 minutes
- Simple automation – power to the people using IFTTT’s Do apps
- Apple is planning some major changes to Genius Bar appointments