Submitted by Jon Reed on
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) enthusiasts finally started receiving their orders of the highly anticipated Apple Watch last Friday, two weeks after the company started taking pre-orders for it. The watch is currently available for purchase online, but most models are backordered for several months. You won't find any at Apple's brick-and-mortar stores (though you can go in and try one on by appointment), but select high end boutiques in Europe, Asia and the U.S. have some of the more expensive models available for walk-in purchase. Apple is offering one-on-one online setup sessions to help new Watch owners navigate the device.
In preparation for the launch, Apple launched the Apple Watch App Store on Thursday. It currently has about 3,000 apps, and Apple has suggested a few in the "Get Started" section including Twitter, Nike+ Running, NY Times, Instagram, Yelp and Citymapper among others.
Along with the Watch App Store, Apple has made the User Guide available and has posted a number of guided tours that explain how to use various functions of the Watch, including Messaging, Faces, Siri, Maps, Phone Calls, Digital Touch, Apple Pay, Workout, Music and Activity.
Among the non-Watch news, on Wednesday, which was Earth Day, the results of a survey of 36,000 Americans placed Apple among the top 50 environmentally-friendly brands. In celebration of Earth Day, Apple changed its logo, tinting the leaf green for the occasion. In the days leading up to Earth Day, Apple touted its eco-consciousness, adding a green app section to iTunes and releasing its annual Environmental Responsibility Report. The document highlights the company's environmental efforts, including its use of renewable energy and green materials.On Wednesday and Thursday Apple posted several job listings that suggest it is looking to improve Siri. The listings included a platform development manager, a developer tools engineer, two pattern recognition engineers and five positions for software engineers in the company's Natural Languages Group.
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A critical vulnerability was discovered last week that may affect as many as 25,000 iOS apps. The bug resides in AFNetworking, an open source library used by developers to add networking capabilities to their apps, and can allow hackers to bypass HTTPS protections.
Rumors of an upgraded 4 inch iPhone have been flying about for several months now, but KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo doesn't think Apple will release it any time soon. In a note to investors he said that due to continuing strong iPhone 5s sales, he doubts Apple will release a revamped 4 inch model this year, but believes a low end model (5s will be the low end, as he believes the 5c will go to end of life by the end of 2015) will come out in early 2016. The upgraded handset will contain an NFC chip, allowing it to use Apple Pay for point-of-sale purchases.