Apple Watch Edition try on experience

Today I tried on an Apple Watch Edition. The 42mm Yellow Gold model, to be precise, with a black sport band.

Briefly, I wish to discuss the try-on experience…

I was greeted warmly by the Apple Store employee who would go on to be my Apple Watch expert. He lead me upstairs (middle level of a 3 level store), and not to some secret room as some other people have experienced. He took me casually to a table in the middle of the store, a part of the store where many customers pass through on their way to the Genius Bar or to One-to-One sessions. After filling out some details on his iPod touch communication tool, the employee spoke into his two-way radio and I heard him call for the model of watch I wanted to try on. About ten minutes passed in between this and the watch arriving, during which we made small talk about the Apple Watch, whereby he told me what he liked about his, explained just how much interest there really has been in the Edition model and finally his thoughts and opinions on Apple Music. Which, for the record, were as textbook as you’d expect from any Apple employee. It was apparent to me that he’d been well briefed on the features of Apple Music to point out to customers as he guided me through a discussion about the perks of Beats 1 and the usefulness of the Connect feature in Apple Music.

From a door which I presumes leads to the back of the store emerged another Apple staff member, carrying a small blue box - not unlike a fancy jewellery box. She headed towards the table where the employee and I were standing, and she was accompanied by a security guard. She gave the box to the employee I was with and walked off, while the security guard took his place about 5 meters behind me. Subtle and not hugely intimating, but his presence was still known to me.

The lid comes off the box, with the employee explaining to me how it doubles as a charging case. By this point I just wanted to try on the watch – come on, I’ve read enough about this thing to know you can also plug a lightning port into the back of it. And there it is, the seventeen thousand dollar Yellow Gold Apple Watch, in all of its glory…


So I tried it on and yada yada, it’s nice. Its beautiful. It makes me wish I had a spare $17,000, yet even then I don’t think I’d be crazy enough to spend it on a watch…

First impressions:

- Oh my, the gold

- Looks great

- IT’S GOLD

- Sport band is an appropriate fit… not too flashy, and very comfortable

- IT’S STILL GOLD!

- Noticeably heavier than the Sport and Steel models. In a nice way, it felt like a very premium watch.

After a few minutes with the watch on, it had run through the demo loop a few times, I felt the haptic feedback and heard a “ding” from a few demo notifications and I decided I was done with the try on. I’d seen everything I needed to.

I took the watch off, thanked the employee, and went on about my day. Overall, it was a pleasant experience, and one which was a lot more casual and laid back than I’d expected. There was no secret room guarded by 10 pin codes and 3 security guards. Just myself and an Apple employee at a table in the middle of a busy Apple Store, with the distant presence of a security guard.

I’ve seen, held and worn a $17,000 Apple Watch Edition. Is my life complete yet? Certainly not, but I suppose I’m one step closer to being able to say it is…

The New MacBook. In all of it’s golden - actually, Space Grey - glory!

I finally got around to looking at The New MacBook in store today, and I must say it’s rather impressive. Nothing really took me by surprise, although I was pleasantly surprised to find I like the new keyboard.

I need to say this… MARCO WAS WRONG!!! (If you have no idea what I’m taking about, read this: http://www.marco.org/2015/05/19/mistake-one)

I typed extensively on it, and there were a few typos here and there that I wouldn’t usually make, but after a while I got into a pleasant rhythm. I feel as though with a bit more time, I’d be significantly faster and more accurate typing on this thing that on the keyboard of my current MacBook Pro.

It’s still a “no buy” for me at the moment, for two primary reasons:
- A 12″ screen is just too small. There’s no two ways about it. Using a scaled resolution doesn’t help much either – it’s just too small. I’d be a lot more serious about a similar MacBook with a 13 or 14″ screen. But as it is, the 13″ screen on my current MacBook Pro does the job, albeit a little on the small side, and I certainly couldn’t move to anything smaller.
- It was noticeably slower than my current MacBook Pro. Not in a bad way and certainly not in a way that would be perceived as slow for most users, but coming from a computer with a powerful i7 processor, a 1.1GHz Core M chip just doesn’t cut it. Even adding an extra second or two onto the opening of most applications on the computer is enough of a performance loss for me not to be interested. And I didn’t even begin to compile code on it…

This is not to say the MacBook isn’t a good machine, because it is. It’s also not to say it won’t get better in future models over time, but at this point I don’t think the hits in screen real estate and performance are worth the benefit of a stunningly thin and light design.
There’s certainly a lot of potential for the MacBook – a computer that’s right for 80% of people, 80% of the time.

To Apple, Love Taylor

taylorswift:

But I say to Apple with all due respect, it’s not too late to change this policy and change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply and gravely affected by this. We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.

Taylor is a big deal for Apple and for the music industry. This letter is also a big deal. But will it be enough to force action? I’d say not. Only time will tell… 

I’m all for supporting artists, and Taylor’s letter has hit the nail right on the head. Best of luck to content creators in their push for greater royalties on their work. I’m behind them one hundred percent. 

Pebble Time - First impressions!

So… about two hours ago my Pebble Time arrived! It’s an early-bird Kickstarter model, and I’m thrilled.

I hope to write up a full blog post / review of it in the coming weeks once I’ve spent more time with it, but here are my first impressions:

- Noticeably smaller than the original Pebble

- It feels heavier (it might not be, maybe it’s just more dense) 

- It looks nice. Yes, you can argue that the original Pebble looked awkwardly large and clunky, but this is certainly not the case with Pebble Time. It’s slimmer, with a curved ergonomic design which makes it not only look nice but feel comfortable on the wrist. 

- The watch strap/band is amazing. Seriously. It’s night and day between the original Pebble band and this… it’s super soft and smooth. It rivals the Apple Watch Sport band for comfort.

- Finally, the colour screen is nice. It does look a bit washed out when the backlight is on and you’re viewing it indoors but for what it is (a colour, e-paper display) it exceeds my expectations. Not to mention that even though the screen is technically the same DPI, it looks a lot sharper due to the colour. I didn’t expect this, so it was a nice surprise. 

A three month gap between ordering it and it arriving seems awfully lengthy, but I won’t go on about that now. I’m happy with it so far- it looks and feels good. I will write further with thoughts on the new hardware, software and features, as well as everything else Pebble Time has to offer. 

Bye for now.  


Below are some more photos of the Pebble Time:

Apple combines iOS and Mac developer programs into single Apple Developer Program

Caught up in the noise of WWDC week, I think this initiative from Apple is one which has flown under the radar. I see it as a move of huge significance, and as the beginning of a renewed focus toward the Mac App Store. There have been complaints recently about the profitability and sustainability of developing for the Mac, so the incentive to sign up for a $99 developer licence to write apps for a mediocre store just isn’t there. But by now making it free to millions of existing iOS developers, we could see a surge and push towards more Mac “companion” or even standalone apps from these developers, which would be a huge boost for both the store and platform. 

I know for myself it has got me thinking about experimenting with a Mac app – something which I would never have done a week ago. 



We’ll only see where this leads, but I think it’s the start of something new … possibly Mac App Store 2.0.

iPhone 6 is too big.

You read that right. No, I don’t mean iPhone 6 Plus. Yep, iPhone 6 is too big.

It’s now been over 8 months since a brand new and shiny iPhone 6 arrived at my doorstep, and ever since then I’ve battled with the question “Is this thing too big?” Last week, I decided the answer to that question is unequivocally yes. 

Note: Your milage may vary, I’m not saying it’s too big for everyone. It’s just too big for me and I’ll explain why over the course of this post.

It doesn’t fit in pockets, it can’t be carried as easily, it’s more difficult to balance when holding it with only one hand… the list goes on. For me, my phone is meant to be a portable computer. Emphasis on portable. Something I can slide in and out of a pocket, something I can hold and use discretely. I lost both of those characteristics when upgrading to the iPhone 6. I use my phone primarily for messaging, browsing Twitter, quickly looking up info on the web, for music and of course for listening to a tonne of podcasts. None of those things benefit from me having a physically larger phone. For any serious web browsing or computing, I have a MacBook Pro which does the job perfectly. 

There’s no doubt that iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are the two best and most advanced smart phones ever released by Apple. From their camera, to Touch ID, to the processing power, even to the physical design and shape of the phones, they beat out every previous generation hands down. But iPhone 6 is just too big. For me. 

My decision was confirmed the other day when I put my iPhone 6 in an armband to go running with. The result? A phone thicker than my arm. I don’t want my phone to be this large. This is when I realised it’s gone beyond the point of portability – it’s a liability to carry. 

The design is amazing, it feels so nice and soft in the hand, yet iPhone 6 is still too big. Unnecessarily so. The ONLY benefit of having a larger phone is that typically larger phone’s have bigger batteries and hence get better battery life. iPhone 6 wins out by a considerable margin over my old iPhone 5s when it comes to battery, there’s no question there. But is the tradeoff worth it? I’ve decided it isn’t. 

So, my next phone? I won’t be buying another iPhone with a 4.7″ screen. Hopefully a 4″ (iPhone 5 & 5s sized) iPhone. That’s if Apple ever go back to that sized flagship again. In an ideal world they’ll have a 4″ flagship phone variant which sits alongside its 4.7″ & 5.5″ offerings, but I can only hope…

June

The month of June is here - we’re two days in, in fact - and I’m excited. It’s grown to become one of my favourite months. 

As much as I usually won’t say “x is my favourite y” or “I like orange more than black,” I’ve grown a certain fondness for the month of June. Here in Australia the weather begins to cool right down and as someone who enjoys the cold, I’m happy with that. Typically June is a period where I have very little work to do for school, this year notwithstanding as it’s HSC year. 

There are always a few parties towards the end of the month, as birthdays start to roll around – including plenty of big eighteenths this year. 

It’s the time of the year where teams begin to cement their place for the year on the NRL ladder. My team, the mighty Dragons, have begun this month in top spot - a position I hope they can keep right through to the end of the season with the potential reward of a premiership win. But more on that later. There’s also at least one and sometimes two State of Origin matches throughout June – Up the NSW Blues! Furthermore, there tends to be a few decent movies which are released in June as a result of the Northern Hemisphere, in particular the United States, beginning their Summer holiday period. 

Lastly, and possibly the most exciting event of June, is one which I’ve only cared about for the last four years and that is Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). One year I hope to be able to attend, but that’s not the focus of today’s post. WWDC is exciting to me for many reasons, but mainly because I simply loving seeing the cool stuff announced by Apple at the event. I’ve come to expect the announcement of new features for major operating systems - mainly iOS and OS X - and I find the temptation of new betas exciting, even though I won’t always install them. The announcement of new API’s for me as a developer is always fascinating, and last year in particular was exciting as I got to work immediately on a “Today View” widget for my app Daily Steps. Following the progression of Apple’s software development from June through September/October is always an interesting journey. Not to mention the excitement around reading Tweets, blog posts and listening to Podcasts recorded live from WWDC, which are the result of the collaboration of many of the people I respect most in the technology reporting and journalism industry. 

As the excitement builds for WWDC, you can sure bet I’ll be awakening shortly before 3 am next Tuesday morning to watch the WWDC Keynote live from my chilly bedroom and I’ll be filled to the brim with kiddish excitement. Sorry, I just can’t help it! 


So begins June of 2015. It’s going to be a great month. 

Samsung - originality and creativity

Oh Samsung. Unsurprisingly, you’ve managed to stuff up again. This time it’s with regards to your latest flagship device - Galaxy S6. 

Reading this report, I began to realise something. Samsung are becoming more conservative and more “Apple-like” with their flagship handsets. Take the Galaxy S6, for example. With this phone, Samsung have backtracked on a lot of features which defined them in previous versions, and have opted instead to make a phone which is much more similar to the iPhone 6, particular in its physical design. With its aluminium and glass body, visual antenna breaks/gaps and a bottom which is almost indistinguishable from that of iPhone 6, Samsung have lost their flair. 

What happened to the Samsung who threw everything at the wall in the hope it would stick? What happened to the makers of the Galaxy S4, with its crazy eye-tracking software which scrolled the page for you as you read, and which allowed you to answer a call without actually touching the device. Where are the minds behind the Galaxy S5 hiding? Those folks made a flagship device waterproof, while hiding a phone inside weird band-aid like casing. You can criticise those things as much as you want for being gimmicks, but they were original and cool. Instead the Galaxy S6 is just as boring as the iPhone 6. Don’t get me wrong - I love my iPhone. But I love it for the unique offerings it has, and not for the features that are already offered by others.

The Samsung of 2013 would’ve released one flagship model to their Galaxy lineup this year - the Galaxy S6 Edge. Instead they didn’t back themselves enough on their innovative new design, and clearly didn’t feel as though they could sell it well enough to have just one model of phone. They played it safe, and didn’t take much of a risk. I think the curved Edge is cool although I cannot see much use for it. However, I know people with the phone and they seem to like it. I’m very open minded about a new feature such as that and would’ve loved to see Samsung back themselves more, and really try to give this product the hard sell. The Samsung I know releases a single flagship device: The Galaxy S6 Edge. The Galaxy S6 stays in the lab. I like Samsung for their crazy ideas. They were amongst the first with larger-screen phones, phones with LTE radios, phones with curved screens/edges. I want to see them continue this trend and not have a “fallback” phone in case things go wrong. Where’s the fun in that?

So please, Samsung, stick to being that crazy uncle we all know and love. People who continue to want premium-feeling phones with an OS that is simple, stable and “just works” will buy an iPhone, and people who want the latest and greatest, the coolest new innovation right from the get-go will buy a Samsung mobile phone. Wacky, yet cool, features in phones are what I want to remember Samsung for - and not as a copycat of Apple. 

And oh, if you’re going to copy the iPhone, at least do it right. Be shameless and relentless with your copy-cat attitude. Otherwise, this is the result.

50k

Today is the day that my flagship app, Daily Steps, surpassed 50,000 downloads.

I don’t usually share my app download numbers, but I’m especially proud of this one. Not only is it my most downloaded app, but the surge in downloads over the last 6 months is due to something so simple. I don’t market my app(s) other than the occasional Tweet and a lot of discovery comes from Google searches as well as organic searches on the App Store. But my decision to make a simple “Today” view Widget for Daily Steps was probably the best decision I’ve made for that app. It has since more than doubled the average daily downloads of the app.

While 50,000 overall downloads would be seen as small for some developers, it’s a proud achievement for me. I don’t develop full time. It’s a hobby and an interest which gets short spans of attention whenever I can find the time.

I’m very happy to have passed this milestone- it’s been a while in the making. Onwards to 100k!

Thank you to my users. You’re all awesome!


Daily Steps is available for download on the App Store here: https://itunes.apple.com/app/daily-steps/id720629415?mt=8

Sometimes I write stuff over on my blog. Check it out.