The Apple Watch Nike+ is a running watch I might actually use
I’ve been wearing the original Apple Watch every day for the past eight months, but never as a running watch. As much as I enjoy the device for its notifications, slick Activity app and stylish design, I would never, ever trust it on a training run. My hangup, and many runners’ hangup, has been the lack of a GPS radio. Without that crucial bit of technology, the distance tracking is off — and no, running with your iPhone on your person to triangulate your location isn’t the same.
Needless to say, if your distance tracking is inaccurate, so will be your average pace, and to a runner, even a casual one, that is bad news indeed. So until now, I’ve been sticking with my trusty Garmin Forerunner watch, even as I continue to use the Apple Watch for everyday step tracking. With the newest-gen Apple Watch, though, I might be willing to reconsider.
The new device, called the Series 2, has a built-in GPS radio that comes standard. But I’m particularly intrigued by a version the company developed with Nike, called the Apple Watch Nike+. In addition to looking like a Nike Watch — it’s available in four sporty color combinations, all variations on black, gray, white and green — it comes loaded with Nike’s own running app. As you might be aware, though Nike itself has dabbled in hardware, including the FuelBand fitness tracker and a dedicated running watch, Nike’s real asset is its software — both its app and the community of runners that has grown up around it.
Upon closer inspection here at Apple’s iPhone 7 launch event in San Francisco, I learned that the watch features two faces, each of which has so-called “complications” that make it easy to start a run a quickly. Do that and the watch will start tracking every stat that a runner like me could hope for: pace, distance, calorie burn and heart rate. What I like, too, is that all of this information is displayed on a single screen, so that you don’t have to swipe or press a button to cycle through them, which is what you have to do on many competing running watches, not to mention the original Apple Watch. That’s especially impressive how small the display is: You’d think the UI would be cluttered, with all those stats crammed in, but they’re easy to parse, even at a glance.
It helps as well that Nike’s app design is just so slick. The whole “easily cramming lots of info onto one screen” thing is just one example. The black-and-gold color scheme is — ugh, I hate this word — sexy, and even after a quick demo here at the event, the app felt intuitive. It wouldn’t take long for any of you to master it either.
Meanwhile, Nike’s competition leaves a lot to be desired. Even Apple’s own Workout app (on the current version of watchOS) involves a lot of taps to start a workout, and further taps and swiping to either pause the workout or cycle through stats. You always had the choice of third-party running apps, but they obviously didn’t come pre-loaded on the Watch, and even after you went through the trouble of adding them, third-party apps weren’t always as fast or as capable on the Apple Watch. Garmin, though an expert at running hardware, has never had a memorable app, website or even watch interface. The fact that Nike’s app is good-looking and easy to use counts for a lot.
The one feature that I really want, and that the Apple Watch Nike+ doesn’t have, is interval training. I know many of you have heard me say this before, but I prefer run-walk intervals: They help me stave off injuries, and I actually achieve a faster overall time than I probably would have otherwise. The Apple Watch still doesn’t do that, at least the Nike+ app doesn’t, but I remain hopeful that a software update could fix that. And besides, I realize I’m not just writing this assessment for myself — I’m writing it for Engadget’s readers, many of whom, presumably, are runners. No doubt most of you don’t bother with walk intervals like your hobbling friend Dana anyway.
As a watch (read: not just a piece of software), the Apple Watch feels, well, like an Apple Watch. Same size, same shape. The rubbery band is made of the same soft elastomer as Apple’s other sport watches and is even slightly easier to fasten, in my humble opinion. What I can’t vouch for today — and this is important — is how accurate the GPS tracking is. That right there is a pretty big reason for me to withhold judgment. What if the biggest selling point turns out to fall short? I will indeed put this through its paces in a full review, but I do remain optimistic: I’ve never seen a GPS-enabled device whose distance tracking was terribly far off its rivals. Heart rate monitoring is another story — quite the mixed bag there.
The watch costs starts at $369 for the 38mm model, while the larger 42mm version will cost slightly more, at $399. (Those are the same starting prices as the non-Nike Series 2 watches.) You can order the Nike+ version starting this Friday, September 9th, and will ship in October — just in time for me to test it in some cool fall weather.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
Click here to catch all the latest news from Apple’s “See You” event.
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are all about subtle, powerful changes
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are here, and wouldn’t you know it — just about all those leaks were right. It goes without saying that we’re not looking at a massive redesign here, either. There are the new Black and Jet Black finishes, the camera humps have change, the antenna bands have been moved and they’re more subtly worked into the body. The list goes on, but ultimately we’re working with iPhones that look and feel quite a bit like last year’s models.
That’s sure to disappoint some of you — Apple’s seemingly regular timing for dramatic updates didn’t help — but after a bit of hands-on time, it’s clear that the changes Apple did make with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are more meaningful than you might think. Read on for our first impressions of Apple’s updated handiwork (in no particular order).
- In general, it’s really hard to get a sense of how snappy a new smartphone is when a company shows it off for the first time. Apple has said its new A10 Fusion processor is its fastest slice of mobile silicon ever, and it definitely felt very fast while I was thumbing through apps and trying to launch webpages. Then again, of course it would — these are brand new devices loaded up with mostly clean builds of iOS 10. What’s more important is how well this level of performance will persist over time, so we’ll have to see about that.
- The new 12-megapixel camera(s) seem to work really nicely — they’re quick to focus and captured some well-exposed, vividly colored photos in the thick of Apple’s press scrum. Then again, the room itself was well-lit, which is obviously the sort of environment smartphone cameras excel in anyway. Using the iPhone 7 Plus’s new dual-camera setup was slick, too, even if it feels a lot like what LG did with its G5 earlier this year. In fairness, Apple’s implementation feels a little more consistent since both sensors are the same resolution (the G5 had one 8-megapixel and one 16-megapixel sensor each), and tapping to switch between 1x and 2x modes was as dead-simple as you’d expect. Most importantly, it only felt like a gimmick for a few moments — after that, its flexibility felt valuable and obvious.
- Man, that new Home button is weird. iPhone newcomers won’t have any trouble adapting to the change, but it feels almost jarring to someone who has used iPhones pretty regularly since the 4’s launch in 2010. It works like force-pressing one of Apple’s new Macbook trackpads, but it doesn’t really feel like it — you’ll feel a blip from the phone’s Taptic Engine instead of feeling the button depress like you’re using a 3D Touch gesture on the screen.
- Apple can chalk it up to “courage” as much as they want, getting rid of the headphone jack makes things much trickier. I asked multiple Apple spokespeople whether or not you could somehow charge the iPhone 7 while the included EarPods were plugged in, which seemed like a straightforward, yes or no sort of question. I still haven’t gotten a straight answer, though I’ll update this post when I do.
- That Jet Black finish is beautiful, but it probably won’t stay that way for long. A spokeperson said Jet Black iPhones have an oleophobic coating meant to keep them from getting too oily, but it can only do so much — it took moments for my hands to reduce the phone to a smudgy mess. That said, it never felt like the phone was going to slip from between my fingers, which is saying something for a klutz like me. Apple also said that the Jet Black iPhones are more prone to scratches, but I still get the impression it’ll sell really well — though maybe not as well as the more conventional Black.
- Apple’s press pit was a madhouse, and as a result it was damned hear impossible to get a sense of the iPhone 7’s new stereo speakers. Still, I figured out a few things — while Apple’s on-stage imagery sort of made it look like there’s a another discrete speaker on top of the phone, the audio just comes out of the main earpiece speaker.
- The iPhone 7 Plus is only a few grams lighter than the 6s Plus that came before it, but that feels like a significant differences. I had to stop using the 6s Plus because its weight and width were enough to make my wrist hurt after a while. The 7 Plus, on the other hand, might be just light enough to mitigate some of those issues.
- I can’t wait to spill a drink on these things.
This is a developing story, stay tuned for more.
Pokémon Go coming to Apple Watch, phone still required to catch ’em all
It was the question every Pokémon trainer with an Apple Watch asked on day one: “Why isn’t this game on my wrist?” Well, now it is — before the end of the year, Pokémon Go will have Apple Watch support. Trainers will be able to track their steps, egg-hatching progress and collect items from Pokéstops directly from their wrist. The watch app will even notify you when you come across a wild pocket monster. Unfortunately, you’ll still need to take your iPhone out of your pocket to actually catch it.
So, basically, Pokémon Go for Apple Watch can do everything except actually catch Pokémon. That’s a small disappointment, but it’s not a surprise: Nintendo built a $35 wearable for the exclusive right to catch monsters without your phone. If the Apple Watch did it for free, it could potentially undercut sales of the app’s hardware component. Still, between this and Nintendo’s announcement of Super Mario Run for iOS, it’s a good time to be an Apple-loving Nintendo fan.
Click here to catch all the latest news from Apple’s “See You” event.
Apple brings WatchOS 3 to your wrist on September 13th
You won’t have to pick up Apple Watch Series 2 to see a tangible improvement to your wristwear — Apple has revealed that its WatchOS 3 update will reach original Apple Watch models on September 13th. As promised, speed is the focus. The new WatchOS holds favorite apps in memory to shrink loading times, and the side button now gives you fast access to those faves instead of bringing up the (frankly, seldom used) contact wheel. And if you’ll recall, this is just the start. There are quite a few interface and fitness tweaks that should make your first-run smartwatch feel fresh.
On top of the Dock, you can write on-screen with the Scribble mode for those moments when voice dictation and canned replies won’t cut it. A Control Center gives you fast access to common settings, and smart replies are available right in notifications. And if you’re a fitness maven, you can share activities to compete with your friends, see more activity details at once, and get optional reminders to breathe deeply whenever you’re stressed out.
There’s more, such as a Home app to control your (HomeKit-compatible) smart household devices, iMessage additions like stickers and full-screen effects, emergency calls and support for Apple Pay in third-party apps. No, WatchOS 3’s improvements won’t make you forget about Series 2. If you already have an Apple Watch, though, it might reduce the pressure to splurge on upgraded gear.
Click here to catch all the latest news from Apple’s “See You” event.
Snapchat reportedly drops Local Stories for cities
For a while, Snapchat has run Local Stories, or daily summaries of what’s happening in your city based on videos from users in the area. However, you may have to go without them before long. Bloomberg sources understand that Snapchat is dropping the feature and shifting its focus to “live moments” and special events, such as holidays or major sporting matches. Reportedly, Local Stories just weren’t that popular — Snapchat is more interested in deals for video series and other content that bolsters its bottom line.
Snapchat tells us only that it cut a “small number” of jobs (Bloomberg says 15) in Los Angeles and New York City due to “changes to our Local Story coverage.” You can read the full statement below. Having said this, it makes sense that the company would focus more on special occasions. The social service has to show that it has a viable business model if it’s going to attract investors to an eventual public stock offering, and that means cutting features that cost money but don’t either attract more users or rake in additional cash. Unfortunately, that means losing some of Snapchat’s local flavor.
Source: Bloomberg
Amazon and Apple out new iPhone 7 ahead of announcement
Looks like Amazon jumped the gun and accidentally posted its iPhone 7 accessories landing page ahead of Apple’s actual event. While we can’t guarantee that the page has the correct information about the yet-to-be-announced iPhone, it does look like at least Amazon and Speck are expecting to see the end of the headphone jack on the device. So many Bluetooth headphones. It also looks like the dual camera cases are only for the 7 Plus.
Update: Looks like Apple is getting in on the fun of outing its hardware before the official announcement. The company’s Twitter account just dropped tweets about the new iPhone 7 being water resistant, having stereo speakers and a longer battery life. Plus you can pre-order the new phone on September 16.
Update: Looks like Apple pulled the offending tweets. So here are some screenshots.
New cameras. Water-resistant. Stereo speakers. Longer battery life. This is 7. Learn more. https://t.co/yhSolSpN7J pic.twitter.com/fHHJTnaFEp
— Apple (@Apple) September 7, 2016
iPhone 7. The best iPhone ever, in every way that matters. Pre-order now. Available 9/16. https://t.co/x7ssUQ99p3 pic.twitter.com/jK5y3cpzpr
— Apple (@Apple) September 7, 2016
Click here to catch all the latest news from Apple’s “See You” event.
Via: Gizmodo
Live from Apple’s iPhone 7 launch!
It’s September and Apple is hosting an event. That can only mean one thing: New iPhones are afoot. You may have heard that the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are rumored to ditch the headphone jack, but we’re also hearing talk of larger (maybe even dual) cameras, a pressure-sensitive home button, increased base storage and possible new color options. Even if the no-headphone-jack thing ends up feeling unsurprising, though, we’ll still be curious to hear how Apple justifies the move to would-be buyers, who are likely pretty set in their ways.
Also at today’s keynote we expect to get release dates for the latest versions of iOS, macOS and watchOS, and maybe even a look at the long-awaited second-gen Apple Watch. As for other hardware, reports point to an upcoming Mac refresh, but don’t necessarily expect to see the new models today. Then again, we could be totally wrong there. There’s only one way to find out: Tune in to Engadget at 1PM Eastern today as we liveblog the event from start to finish.
Click here to catch all the latest news from Apple’s “See You” event.
Mario is coming to the iPhone and iPad
Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto showed up on the Apple stage today to reveal Super Mario Run, an iOS game starring everyone’s favorite red-hatted plumber. Super Mario Run is the first Nintendo title to launch as a standalone smartphone game, aside from the social-focused app Miitomo. It’s due to hit iOS in December. The iTunes listing for Super Mario Run says it’s a free game with in-app purchases.
Super Mario Run stars Mario as he leaps across familiar brick-lined landscapes and platforming levels. Tap to make Mario jump; the longer you hold your finger down, the higher he flies. In later levels, players are able to change Mario’s direction as well. The goal is to grab as many coins as possible and reach the flagpole before time runs out. There’s also a battle mode called “Toad Rally” where players attempt to beat other people’s high scores.
Developing …
Android Pay hits the web via Chrome
Android Pay is about to work in many, many more places. As promised, Google is bringing Android Pay to the web. If you use Chrome to shop at online stores like 1-800-Flowers and Groupon, you can soon rely on Android’s official mobile payment system to check out faster and more securely than usual (it doesn’t share account info with stores, for one thing). Also, you may want to get in the habit of using Android Pay if you’re fond of ridesharing. It’s the first mobile wallet to tie into Uber’s Payment Rewards program, giving you discounts when you use Android Pay. Uber is marking the occasion with a US promo that gives travelers half of 10 of their rides when they use Android Pay with the service.
This latest expansion also adds some much-needed support for major banks. Americans can finally use Chase’s numerous Visa cards with Android Pay, while British users will get to add Santander or TSB cards in the “coming weeks.” Google’s tap-to-pay tech still has a limited reach at this stage (just ask anyone outside of the US and UK), but it’s definitely growing.
Source: Android Official Blog, Uber
Project Ara’s death is bad news for the weird side of Google
Last week, Google announced that it was killing Project Ara, the company’s modular smartphone initiative. Ara was easily one of the coolest and strangest things Google was working on, but the project always felt like a bit of a longshot. In this world of carefully-built, sealed-up iPhones and Galaxy devices, it didn’t feel like there was much room for Ara’s intriguing but bizarre swappable hardware modules. But Ara was one of the best examples out there of “Weird Google,” and Ara’s death is the latest clue that the experimental side of the company might be in trouble.
To fully understand this weird side of the company, let’s step back to Google I/O 2013. Larry Page made one of the more bizarre speeches you might hear from a CEO of one of the world’s biggest organizations. Page (now CEO of Google parent company Alphabet) advocated setting aside part of the world for unregulated experimentation. “There are many exciting things you could do that are illegal or not allowed by regulation,” Page said. “And that’s good, we don’t want to change the world. But maybe we can set aside a part of the world.” That pretty much sums up what I think of when I talk about what makes Google (pleasantly) weird.
Or I should say weird Alphabet. Most of the company’s more radical initiatives are now technically under the parent company rather than Google itself. But, just about all of the curious things came out when it was all known as Google. Sure, the company’s traditional products — Search, Android, Maps, Gmail and the massive ad business that pays for everything — are both extremely successful and exciting to see develop. But it was always the off-beat side of the company where a lot of fascinating projects were born — and it feels like that part of Alphabet and Google is going away.
Project Ara’s shutdown came after a year of back-and-forth about the initiative’s future. Last year’s pilot launch in Puerto Rico was cancelled, and rumors swirled about the project’s future for a while after that. Despite that, just three months, Ara made a surprise appearance ago at Google I/O. Staff showed off working phones and said that a developer model would be ready by the end of 2016. It even said a consumer-ready product would be on sale in 2017.
But eventually Google switched course, and there’s a lot to read into about Ara’s demise. The reason that this particular death is so significant to the weird Google trend is what it says about the Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group where Ara was born. The modular phone initiative was its most visible and potentially useful concept project. Especially now that the augmented reality Project Tango is in products shipping to consumers soon. Without Ara, it’s easy to feel like ATAP is a bit adrift. Sure, that Project Jacquard Levi’s jacket with sensor fabric is cool, but it’s not exactly a mainstream product just yet.
Further reinforcing the issue is the loss of ATAP head Regina Dugan, who recently left the group for the relatively safe and stable confines of Facebook. Dugan came to Google from DARPA, a secretive research department in the Pentagon, and quickly became a huge advocate for the ATAP group — under her direction, the group publicly proclaimed they were a “band of pirates trying to do epic shit,” and they lived up to that promise with ideas like Ara and Tango.
But now Dugan’s gone, Ara is dead, and a number of Google’s more experimental high-profile projects are struggling. Recode reported a few weeks ago that Alphabet’s secretive “moonshot” X lab was struggling to get products out of the experimental phase and out the door, with the Google / Alphabet reorganization imposing more red tape and difficulties on the team.
Google Fiber, the company’s superfast home internet initiative, is having trouble launching in cities where it has promised to deliver — and Page reportedly wants to cut the size of the team in half. Page and fellow Google co-founder Sergey Brin are both said to be concerned about the costs associated with deploying the fiber-optic internet networks, and another report claims the company is forgoing fiber and using wireless to deliver internet when it launches in Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas.
Image credit: Reuters/George Frey
There’s also the departure of Nest CEO Tony Fadell, which came after reports of infighting between Fadell and Dropcam CEO Greg Duffy — who came on board when Google bought the security camera company. Fadell claimed some members of the Dropcam team were “not as good as we’d hoped” in an interview with The Information; Duffy then publicly challenged Fadell to release Nest’s financials and show just how the division was doing. Oh, and this all happened before Fadell even left Nest.
Speaking of Nest, Google Glass ended up part of the same division after the original pilot program unceremoniously shut down in January of 2015. We’ve heard basically nothing substantive about the project since. And Google also sold off Niantic, the company first responsible for the augmented reality game Ingress that has now built a little title you may have heard of: Pokémon Go.
Image credit: Sait Serkan Gurbuz/Reuters
Of course, turmoil and difficulty is to be expected when you’re working on wild projects, many of them right out in the public eye. Companies like Apple would never put something like Ara or Glass through what amounts to very pubic alpha and beta test programs, so it’s not surprising that things need to be rethought or shuttered entirely. There’s still Alphabet’s fascinating self-driving cars, Project Loon’s internet-via-balloon program and the super-cheap Project Fi cell phone service to be excited about, to name just a few of Alphabet’s more disruptive plans. And the company’s huge ad business still pays for nearly everything happening at Alphabet, allowing for this sort of experimentation.
But from a business perspective, the Google division continues to earn money hand over fist while Alphabet hasn’t found any other area that can reliably make a profit yet. Perhaps the turmoil of the last year or so has been to refocus on the experimental bets that are most likely to pay off in the long run. The strategy could end up proving itself to be a smart one — but that doesn’t mean we won’t miss Project Ara and the other initiatives that used to be the hallmark of Weird Google.
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