Apple Watch: Servicing Questions

Today, we got some needed answers to the Apple Watch's battery replacement.  It's important not only from the standpoint that the Apple Watch is completely a computer and without a functioning battery, it's as good as a dead weight.  In the case of the Edition, a very expensive dead weight.  It's not like you can wind it to make it work again (maybe someday). 

But what about other forms of servicing?

What comes to mind is what good is a gold-encased digital watch if it's going to be obsolete two or three years down the line?  As an Apple fan, I like to know the answer to this question even though I'll never put down $10K for a regular watch much less one that will lose out in favor of newer ones. 

Don't get me wrong.  There will be folks who buy the Edition, costing up to $17K depending on the band.  And maybe the fact that there will be a limited number of Edition it itself value.  We'll just have to see how much value it holds up over the years and whether there is an appreciation over time like some watches do.

Steve Jobs Is Smiling: HBO on Apple TV

Yup, Steve is smiling his trademark smile with a bit of a smirk at the news of the standalone HBO service, HBO Now, with Apple as its exclusive launch partner (media reports Apple with a 3-month window exclusivity).  The success of this launch, which others and I have already called it, will put mucho pressure the current cable TV model.

According to Recode, HBO is hoping to gain leverage over the cable and satellite industry in generating more revenue.  For now, HBO will charge $15 a month.  With Apple and, 3 months later, other means by which HBO Now will be able to be watched, it will add a new market for the cable channel - cord-cutters who want HBO without paying for cable TV bundles that most do not want to watch.  HBO wants broadband service providers to sell this new standalone service. 

And of course, Apple is all the more willing help HBO out if it means wrestling control of the media content away from the traditional players and destroying the current TV model.  Already, Sling TV with its $20 a month service that includes EPSN, TNT, CNN, and the Disneyland (there are more channels) is finding many takers. 

As a Sling TV subscriber, I can tell you that I'm very happy.  It would be awesome to have a science bundle includying SYFY but I'm patient. 

In the coming months, we'll see more effort along this line:  wrestling control away from tradtional cable TV.  Apple will certainly be a major player.  Even now, Sling TV is not available on Apple TV.  Perhaps, Tim Cook has a few designs with a rumored upgrade to the current Apple TV model. 

The end of the Recode article spoke of a stand-off between content providers and the cable TV gatekeepers and what weapons are at their disposal.  As a consumer, as long as the stand-off also mean others like Disney, Paramount, and Sony also provide their content via the HBO and Sling routes and we get more choices with less bundles, I'm happy with that.

Apple To Frame Watch Success Based On Lives Saved, Improved Health, And Convenience

Apple Watch may well be a flop.  No one knows until it actually goes on sale and, even then, we will have to wait a couple of quarters at least to know if this is actually the case.  On top of that, should the Apple Watch add a mere $10 billion a year to Apple's bottom line, it's only a flop compared to other Apple launches.  Ask any of Apple's competitors and ask them if they would like to see an extra $10 billion to their revenue.

Still, this has not stopped headline grabbers from news outlets to "analysts" and other forms of pundits to come out and used the same tired argument about how Apple is doomed and/or how a device that will sell millions is a failure. 

Take this list of detractors via USA Today. One of the arguments made about the Apple Watch being a failure is that it only works with the iPhone.  Duh.  It's the iOS ecosystem.  As last I checkedly, it's limited to the iPhone and iPad. 

The success stories that Apple will be sharing will not be limited to how many Edition units it'll sell.  In fact, it's entirely possible that Apple will no share any data regarding how many units of specific Apple Watches it sells and the average prices for competitive reasons.  The stories will be about how the lives of Apple Watch users are enriched by the plethora of features like the health ones that many will beneit from. 

It'll be about Apple Pay and other conveniences the watch offers. 

And this is only the first one.

Apple Watch Details Leaked To Media To Build Growing Hype Or Really Bad Control At Apple

It's Friday afternoon here in the Pacific Standard Time.  The sun is up, the freeways will be clogged for another four hours, and the parties have even started yet.  And the rest of the world is well into their weekend.  So, it should be a slow news day, right?  Ordinarily, Friday afternoons are perfect time to unveil bad news that no one wants folks to pay attention to.

So, it's odd that there are plenty news on the Apple Watch that are somewhat positive - longer battery life than expected.  As in 25% longer with double the actual usage time (9to5Mac).  And this is news leaked to an Apple-centric blog and not to a major news outlet like Bloomberg or the WSJ. 

Why now?  At the start of this post, I had wanted to make you, the readers, decide whether this is more controlled leaks from Apple to build hype through the weekend or Apple had somehow lost control of the flow of information.  Only yesterday, Bloomberg shared juicy bits about a few fortunate developers like Facebook giving special access to a secret lab to work on their Apple Watch apps. 

More and more, I'm beginning to believe that Apple really is behind anything and everything, both rumors that are true and fantastic, and they carefully laid out detailed plans of what to leak out, who to leak it out to, and when these leaks come out. 

I'm not naieve here.  I know Apple is fully capable of manipulating the press.  It plays favorites much of the time.  I'm only saying now that the operation is much bigger.  And while the Internet has opened up many new outlets for flow of information, it has allowed a skilled company like Apple to also control how information flows. 

Amazon Brings Former Exclusive Games To iOS As Fire Device Sales Collapse, And What Of Minecraft

Source:  The Verge.

Amazon bought some game studios a couple of years ago in hopes of launching exclusives that it hope would stimulate sales of its own Android-forked OS devices, the Kindle Fire tablets and its ill-advised foray into the mobile phone market, the pretty much dead and Fire Phone.  It's like Fire tablets are not doing too well giving it has been many quarters since Amazon crowed about how many millions it has sold without actually giving the public a number.

This is pretty much the reason why Amazon is bring more of its game over to iOS.  One title, Tales from Deep Space, has been giving good reviews and the newer games should be pretty decent.  As an iOS gamer, I'm pretty happy with this. 

From a competitive stand point, there are two takeaways from this.  First, exclusives are not working out too well for developers unless it's on iOS.  Second, Amazon with its bad bet on the Fire Phone may have killed off its mobile hardware business while it tries its damn best to keep a small foothold in the living room. 

I'm personally glad that Apple has not gone down this route and it does not look like it will either.  This is a strategy that console makers like Microsoft and Sony often employed to entice gamers to jump into the Xbox or Playstation camps. 

And what of Minecraft?  Perhaps, Microsoft actually see a profitable business in the Minecraft universe.  However, I hope MC fans on non-Xbox platforms and non-Windows devices should expect Microsoft to prepare exclusives for its own platforms or cut back the perks of or at least cripple the game somewhat for non-Microsoft devices.

CarPlay At Heart of Why Apple Is Making a Car, Auto Industry To Be Blamed

When it came down to it, the iPod was just a MP3 player.  Plain and simple.  But as with anything Apple is involved with, the iPod has an unusual and unique take on how we listened to music and interact with it.  Click-wheel and gigabytes of storage in forms of a hard drive and, later, flash memories.  It will be the came for Apple's car.  But here's the thing, Apple has been prefectly willing to let someone else make the cars as long as their dashboard work seemlessly well with CarPlay.

And with delays after delays, I think at some point, Apple got fed up and decided it was better off making a car running its own unique interface. 

And while it's not set in stone, should Apple truly unveil its own car, the auto industry has no one else to blame but itself.  Take Toyota for instance.  It is not only dragging its feet on CarPlay and Android's take on the car, it supposed believe that its proprietary take is better for Toyota going forward.  Sure.  For Toyota but not necessarily for its customers who likely owns an iPhone or Android device. 

Had Apple's CarPlay been wholeheartedly embraced by the auto industry, it's likely Apple would have been content with letting someone else making the cars.

Wearable War: It's Apple Watch Versus Others

Source:  9to5Mac.

The Swiss watchmakers are not just rolling over for the potential Apple Watch jugganaut.  In fact, Swatch among others will debut smart watches at Baselworld next month, weeks after Apple's March 9th event.  It'll be interesting to see if Apple Watch lives up to hype and whether Apple has a couple of more surprises up its sleeve.

Then the tech and watch world will have to see if the traditional watchmakers have what it takes to upstage Apple. 

Designs and features aside, there is one very important aspect with Apple and non-Apple watches:  only the Apple Watch has full integration with Apple's ecosystem and iOS devices.  Furthermore, Android watches have full integration with most Android devices but not necessarily all.  It'll be interesting to see what a Swatch smart phone will feature and how it'll work along side a smartphone market dominated by Android and iOS.

One very important thing to consider here.  The Apple Watch will compete in the mid to high end segment of the wearable tech. And with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus dominating the high-end market, it stands to reason that many of the watch makers will try to compete with Apple Watch there as well.  With Apple's closed ecosystem, will iPhone owners have uses for non-Apple Watches?

Alternatively, these high-end smart watches will end up competing for high-end Android users which Samsung, LG, and Motorola will try to integrate their watches with their phones.  So where does that really leave these traditional watchmakers?