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Ty Horvath: Writer
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Natalia Nelson: Editor
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Deshna Venkatachalam: Photographer
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CUPERTINO, California [Sept. 9, 2014] — On Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled the first Apple Watch, a customizable smartwatch capable of tracking health and fitness, calling and texting, and receiving app notifications.  

The Apple Watch was announced to an enthusiastic audience at an event in Cupertino, California, at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts, which also debuted the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Cook left the stage as a video introducing the new smartwatch played, showcasing its innovative features that connect seamlessly with the iPhone. Soon after, Vice President of Apple Kevin Lynch walked on stage and demonstrated the watches’ capabilities. These included Siri and voice recognition, watch face personalization, digital touch communication, and the use of apps like Maps and Facebook. The Watch required an iPhone 5 or higher, which makes it already accessible to 200 million Americans.  

The Apple Watch debuted a stunning new feature with the ability to track users’ health and fitness. “An Apple Watch gives us the ability to motivate people to be more active and be more healthy,” Cook said. The activity app on the watch monitors all activity and movement throughout the day, including sensors that will detect heartbeat, steps, and distance traveled through GPS. The app also contains reminders to stand up at least once for 12 hours and allows users to set goals for steps and calories burned.

The app measures calories users have burned and is customized to the user’s body. It will also notify users when they’ve reached their goals for calories burned in a day. The exercise feature will trigger when doing anything more than a brisk walk, and users will receive a notification when they hit the worldwide recommendation of 30 minutes of daily exercise. The stand feature (stand ring) will track how long users stand up to take a break and will also track the time users sit during their days. 

The Apple Watch is also highly personalizable, allowing users to choose different watch faces. The three models set for release in early 2015 include the Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport, and Apple Watch Edition, with a variety of band colors and materials to match every lifestyle. “Apple Watch is the most personal device we have ever created,” Cook said. The Apple Watch is designed for the user and made to connect with a user on a new, intimate level and embrace individuality. This ranges from the way users can design and arrange the apps on their home screen to being able to customize the way they navigate through third-party apps. 

Apple Watch also includes many third-party apps, among them Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Apple Developers created WatchKit, an app that allows third parties to seamlessly integrate their software into the Apple Watch. This enables them to allow rich, actionable notifications just like one would receive on their iPhone. Users can receive a Twitter notification on the watch, click on it, and find customizable actions such as favoriting, retweeting, and liking, all from the comfort of their wrist. WatchKit also allows users to have and arrange third-party apps on their home screens. “These are just some of the examples of the great apps that are already underway for Apple Watch, that we just can’t wait to see what developers are going to create on this great new platform,” Apple Vice President Kevin Lynch said. 

The Apple Watch is easily navigable using the Digital Crown on the side of the watch, as well as its highly sensitive retina display that can differentiate between a user’s press and tap. Its notification systems allow the use of discreet alerts that can be felt on the wrist. Additional features include Smart Reply, which suggests responses to text messages, and Digital Touch, which allows users to send quick drawings and audio messages to their friends with a few simple taps. The Apple Watch starts at $349 to release in early 2015. It will connect seamlessly with the iPhone 5 and up. 

Kevin Lynch, the project manager for the Apple Watch, describes how the Watchkit app can be used by developers. Watchkit allows apps to be programmed to integrate seamlessly into the Apple Watch.

Jay Blahnik, Apple’s Director of Fitness and Health Technologies, explains the fitness feature of the new Apple Watch. Set to release in early 2015, the Apple Watch can track its user’s heartbeat, body movement, and daily steps.

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