#EXPECTATION #APPLE EVENT #MONDAY

What to Expect at Monday's Apple Watch Event — and Where to Watch It Live

Apple’s mysterious March 9 announcement is nigh, which means that approximately 200 thousand billion blogs have started rumors about what exactly the company plans to announce. 

Judging from the cheesy watch pun that accompanied Apple’s invites to the event, we know that there’ll be plenty of new details on the Apple Watch, including its much-anticipated spring release date. But does Tim Cook have anything else up his sleeve? We’ll be there, liveblogging the event for you bright and early on Monday at 10 a.m. PT. 

On Monday, join me, Rafe Needleman, and David Pogue for real-time updates on what Apple is announcing, as well as our live analysis and commentary. After Apple execs leave the stage, stick around in the liveblog to text chat with Pogue to get his take on the news. 

Apple Watch

(Via Yahoo Tech)

Ever since Apple unveiled the Apple Watch in September, it’s spent tons of time and resources hyping it up. In October, the watch was featured on the cover of Vogue China. Most recently, it’s graced the cover of Self Magazine and had a multipage spread in American Vogue. Top Apple brass will likely dedicate an unnecessary amount of time congratulating themselves for these not-quite-paid advertisements. And we should all expect a new signature Jony Ive vid because you can never have enough slo-mo footage of a spinning wrist computer. 

Eventually they’ll get to specific features of the wearable itself, many of which have recently leaked. On Friday afternoon, 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman, king of Apple scoops, revealed some of the key capabilities the watch will ship with. They include:

• A five-hour battery life: Gurman’s typically reliable sources say that the watch will be able to withstand five hours of heavy app usage, as opposed to the two and a half to four hours reported earlier in the year. As the New York Times reported earlier this week, the watch will also come with a number of “Power Reserve” modes that help it preserve battery life. The most basic one: When you want the thing on your wrist to just be a watch, it’ll cease any communication with your iPhone and just display the time — saving loads of juice. If your battery life sinks below a certain benchmark, it’ll also display subtle color-coded reminders on its “Glance” screen. (Glance, by the way, is Apple’s fancy word for things you can access quickly on your watch screen, as opposed to via a few taps into the interface.)
• Your heart rate at a glance: We already knew that the Apple Watch would be able to constantly measure your heart rate. But Gurman reveals that you can see the beats per minute on your phone with a quick tap to the face of your watch —a handy trick for when you need to subtly check your stress level in the middle of a work conference call.
• General access: “Glances” aren’t limited to the time of the day, battery life, and heart rate. You’ll also be able to quickly view basic health-related stats, the weather, what music you’re listening to, maps, your calendar, and basic settings. There will reportedly be a notification center, too, for updates from your Apple Watch apps.
• An iPhone Companion app: Apple has created a new iPhone app where you’ll be able to adjust and update the settings of your Apple Watch. From there you can do things like organize the apps on your watch face’s home screen, set up message dictation, or enable/disable the haptic feedback you get when using the watch’s maps feature. Gurman has a very detailed rundown of it all on 9to5Mac.
• Music: Apple has already confirmed that you’ll be able to store tunes on your watch that you can play, whether or not the watch is connected to your iPhone. Now Gurman reports that the wearable will have about 8GB of space for music. The watch will also be able to connect to and stream songs to Bluetooth speakers.
• Interacting with the watch face: You won’t be able to pinch your Apple Watch screen to zoom in or out. But you will be able to swipe up, down, left, and right. You’ll also be able to push down on the innovative screen like it’s a big button — a feature that Gurman’s sources call “Force Touch.” You can use the crown of the watch to quickly scroll through the options on your screen. Unlike poorly conceived wearables like Will.I.am’s PULS, you won’t, at any time, be forced to use a tiny keyboard.

Considering how little we knew after the event in September, Gurman’s report fills in some key details about the watch. Except, of course, the price of its higher-end models. As Apple announced in September, its cheapest model (assumed to be the Sport Watch), will start at $350. The prices of its two other models, the Apple Watch and the gold-plated Apple Watch Edition, have yet to be revealed. Though a recent estimate by respected tech writer John Gruber predicted the highest-priced watch will start $10,000, just right for CEOs and Saudi princes.

Music Streaming Service

Jimmy Iovine, Tim Cook, Dr. Dre, and Eddy Cue celebrating Apple’s acquisition of Beats last year (Via Twitter)

Since Apple bought Beats for a cool $3 billion last year, rumors have swirled that the company is working on a subscription-based streaming service similar to Spotify or Rdio. Once again, 9to5Mac’s Gurman was all over it, reporting in February that Apple planned to price its competing product at $8 a month ($2 less than Spotify or Rdio). Unfortunately, we likely won’t be able to reap the benefits of this discounted service yet. The company is reportedly saving the product’s debut until Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June. We may, however, get a better idea of how it’ll integrate with the Apple Watch on Monday.

Giant iPads

(Via BGR)

There’s long been buzz of a “business class” iPad Pro, equipped with a 12.9-inch screen and filled will all sorts of impressive guts to help people get things done in the workplace. But manufacturing issues related to the supply of display panels have delayed production until September, according to a report by Bloomberg. So, sorry all you productivity animals, the iPad Pro ain’t comin’ anytime soon.

Retina MacBook Airs

(Via Apple)

Ever since Apple introduced its MacBooks with retina (superhigh-resolution) display in June 2012, dedicated Mac enthusiasts have been waiting patiently for a MacBook Air with the same stunning display. Earlier this week, the Michael Report said it has received “highly credible” information that Apple will reveal the 12-inch Macbook Air with retina display on Monday. But take that rumor with a grain of salt: This particular rumor farm has been wrong in the past. 

Apple TV

(Via Apple)

Though it seems like Apple executives have been “excited” about a new and improved Apple TV set-top box for well over a year, numerous reports have indicated that the company has yet to finalize negotiations with content partners about streaming rights. Instead, we might have to wait until later this year, or even September.