Apple Watch Tidbits: Supports Left-Handers, Water Resistant and More [u]

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During Apple’s special event keynote today, CEO Tim Cook said they didn’t have enough time to touch on all the features of their Apple Watch, one of the biggest surprises from the event. Cook did close out to say the Apple Watch can control an Apple TV and also act as a viewfinder for an iPhone’s camera.

Journalist David Pogue with Yahoo (formerly from the New York Times), has detailed some Apple Watch tidbits he was able to extract from Apple’s demo area, such as the following:

  • Apple Watch is water resistant (think: sweat, rain, washing hands, cooking), but not waterproof
  • Watch vibrations have various intensities of vibrations
  • A speaker and microphone on the watch can allow you to make and take calls (can’t wait to see this in public in ‘early 2015’)
  • Watch has a ‘Ping my Phone’ button to make your iPhone beep to help locate it
  • Gold edition comes with a jewellery box that doubles as a charger within; back of box has Lightning connector which powers the magnetic charger pad
What we don’t know about the Apple Watch:
  • No tech specs: no details on CPU, RAM, internal storage (we know it can hold MP3s, apps, etc)
  • Battery life: Cook did say ‘all day and night’; expectations it would require nightly charging like an iPhone
  • Other functions of the button below the crown, aside from going to the friends menu or Apple Pay
  • How to delete apps, change settings? Possibly through an iOS app on the iPhone. Apple’s website shows settings for AirPlane Mode, Bluetooth and Do Not Disturb mode.
  • No pricing details of the entire lineup, watch bands, interchangeability

As for the call-making feature, Apple says you can just silence incoming calls by covering Apple Watch with your hand, which is pretty neat.

As for those left-handers out there, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber says all you have to do is turn the watch upside down and swap the straps, and “it’ll just work”. The crown dial would switch spots though:

So if you are left-handed, have no fear, the Apple Watch will support you too.

The Apple Watch will start at $349 USD and debut sometime in “early 2015”.

Update: If you’re a left and still want extra confirmation, Apple tells The Daily Telegraph the Apple Watch supports left handers, as prompted by the initial device setup:

According to officials, the Apple Watch offers you the option to set the device up for either a left-handed or right-handed user when you first switch it on.

There you go, nothing to worry about now.

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