Apple has announced a new mobile payment solution and their first wearable at the Flint Center event, alongside the two new iPhones. In classic Apple fashion, they labelled everything as revolutionary, but the Apple Watch got a standing ovation from the crowd and CEO Tim Cook seemed really excited about the new wearable.
Apple Watch
The Apple Watch has been anticipated ever since talk of wearables started coming about in late 2013. Named the iWatch on all of the leaks, it was said Apple would bring a new standard to the smartwatch market, and knock Android Wear out of the water.
It certainly did that, but not in the way we expected. Apple has chosen a rectangular shaped watch, with a new user interface, called the digital crown. This comes alongside the small touchscreen on the device, the digital crown will be used for zooming in and out, along with a press, that gets users back to the home screen.
Apple Watch will come with a collection of apps that take advantage of the new social and fitness/health possibilities of the smartwatch. Apple has fitted four sensors on the back, to measure heart-rate, GPS, infrared and fit the magnetic wireless charger onto the back.
We didn’t get a lot of information about the specifications, battery life or connectivity. Apple will offering the watch in two sizes, three editions and six straps, starting at $349 and coming in early 2015.
Apple Pay
The payments industry is tough to tackle, Tim Cook made this clear on stage before announcing Apple Pay. The new payment service will work with the iPhone and Apple Watch, allowing users to press Touch ID and automatically send payment through to the cashier.
In the presentation, Eddy Cue spoke about three advantages Apple Pay brings: Ease, Security and Privacy. Apple will keep all payments inside the hardware, in a new Secure Elements chip. The payment service will use dynamic changes to the user’s information, in order to keep information secure and private.
Apple has over 500 million iTunes users and all of these people can use their cards instantly. Unfortunately, only people in the United States will be able to use Apple Pay at launch, and if iTunes Radio is any indicator, we might be waiting a while before it hits the UK.
Apple Pay has over 220,000 merchants with the ability to accept mobile payments and is partnering with plenty of big name stores, along with online payments in one click, to make the payment service the ultimate solution to the ageing credit card.
