Apple adds Earth Day fitness badge to Apple Watch

Just a couple of days after releasing its new NikeLab version of the Apple Watch, Apple is leveraging the device's reputation as a fitness tool to join in the Earth Day festivities.

Early Saturday, Apple CEO Tim Cook posted a photo of a new special edition achievement badge on the Apple Watch designed to get people outside and active. 

"Get outside, enjoy our planet and complete a 30-minute workout today," said Cook on Twitter. 

If you open the Apple Watch-associated Activity app, you'll now see a badge that comes with a message dedicated to Earth Day. 

"Get outside and celebrate Earth Day on April 22 and earn this award," reads the app message. "Go for a walk, run, cycle, wheelchair, or swim workout of 30 minutes or more in the Workout app in any third party app that writes these workouts to Health. You will also earn special stickers for Messages."

Awesome. 

But while I consider myself a fairly dedicated Apple Watch user, specifically for fitness, I just don't pay much attention to the badges. Yes, the badges are well-designed, and can often come as a nice surprise when you hit an activity milestone, but in reality, it took a while for me to even take the activity rings seriously as a indication of my workout progress. The badges? Barely ever notice them. 

Regardless, the badges remain a great marketing tool to pull non-Apple Watch owners into the Apple Watch ecosystem, even if they eventually forget about the badges. 

Oh, and the prominent Earth Day reminder is a good look for any company still struggling to clean up its own environmental profile. 

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Apple Watch band gives you worst of both worlds, adds traditional analog watch

The traditional, analog watch industry has been struggling to figure out how to deal with the rise of the smartwatch, led by the Apple Watch. 

Now one German company has presented what it thinks is one possible answer: a watch band that holds both your Apple Watch and an analog watch. 

Called the Dual Strap System, Sinn's watch band uses four shortened straps to put one of its own classic timepieces on one side of your wrist and the Apple Watch on the other side. 

Is this an absolutely silly idea? Of course it is. Will some Apple Watch users buy it? Based on the reception past wild Apple Watch band accessories have received, yes, probably. 

Offered in both 38mm and 42mm sizes, it can also be transformed into a single watch band that just holds your analog Sinn watch. 

IMAGE: SINN

An argument could be made that someone would use this strap to enjoy the refined look of analog timepieces without losing touch with the world of wearable notifications. But to most people, this will probably just look like you're someone who can't make up their damn mind. 

According to a report from ABlogToWatch, the band costs $120 when purchased with a Sinn watch and $210 when sold separately. A bargain, if you don't really like or need money. 

Apple Watch 2 could be thinner or have a larger battery

Apple's design philosophy is simple: Launch a beautiful product and then refine, refine, refine with every model after.

The Apple Watch is over a year old and rumors about what Apple will do to improve it on a second-generation model are sparse.

Still, the latest comes from DigiTimes, which has a rocky track record when it comes to leaking new information on unreleased Apple devices.

Citing Apple supplier TPK Holding, DigiTimes claims Apple will use thinner "One Glass Solution" OLED displays that could potentially help reduce the thickness of the Apple Watch 2.

If Apple doesn't put the Apple Watch 2 on a diet, though, the company could also use the saved space to include a larger battery or other components.

It's been previously rumored that the Apple Watch would gain standalone LTE cellular connectivity and maybe a built-in GPS, but there haven't been any firmer reports to give those reports any weight.

It's unclear when Apple plans to launch the Apple Watch 2. Early word suggests a release this fall, possibly alongside the release of watchOS 3, which was announced at Worldwide Developers Conference.

WatchOS 3 will give existing Apple Watches a huge speed boost and put apps front and center like they should have been at launch.

Report: Apple Watch sales have fallen 55% since launch, but don't panic

The Apple Watch is flopping big time, according to the latest report from market research and analysis firm IDC.

The firm's latest findings indicate Apple Watch sales were down 55 percent in Q2 of this year compared to the same period last year, when the smartwatch launched.

Meanwhile, smartwatch sales from competing companies like Samsung and Lenovo grew by 51 percent and 75 percent, respectively, during the same Q2 2015 to Q2 2016 year period. 

Though the report paints a dire picture for the Apple Watch, Apple still owns the lion's share of the smartwatch market, with 47 percent. Samsung is in second place with 16 percent and Lenovo in third place with 9 percent market share.

The steep sales drop suggests the Apple Watch has not become the must-have product Apple made it out to be.

The hardware itself is beautiful, but anyone who's used one (I've been wearing an Apple Watch for a year now) will tell you it's expensive and slow. Really damn slow.

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Karissa Bell 

✔@karissabe

New dock in watchOS #WWDC2016

10:15 PM - 13 Jun 2016 · San Francisco, CA, United States

 
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In March, Apple took the first step toward making the Apple Watch more popular by dropping the starting price of the 38mm model from $349 to $299.

This fall, Apple will address the second frustration with watchOS 3, a new version of the Apple Watch's software. WatchOS 3 rethinks most of the device's shortcomings. It dramatically speeds up apps with a new quick-launch dock, adds Control Center for toggling settings just like on the iPhone and features smart replies. New features also include Scribble, which lets you write out words, and better watch faces that show more useful data from apps.

We're still in the very early days of the Apple Watch and the smartwatch market as a whole

Though Samsung effectively kicked off the modern smartwatch industry in 2013 with its Galaxy Gearsmartwatch, the company has only found real success with the Gear S2, which it released last year.

Lenovo's Moto 360 also isn't too shabby, but there's more that can be done to make Android Wear work better on the wrist. Android 2.0, which launches this fall, will bring many improvements to Google's smartwatch platform.

A second-generation Apple Watch would also help boost sales. The Apple Watch 2 is rumored to be launching this fall with a faster processor and, possibly, built-in cellular capabilities to make it a more capable standalone device that's less reliant on an iPhone connection.

IDC expects the market to "return to growth in 2017". "Continued platform development, cellular connectivity, and an increasing number of applications all point to a smartwatch market that will be constantly changing," wrote Ramon T. Llamas, IDC's wearables team research manager. "These will appeal to a broader market, ultimately leading to a growing market."

Apple celebrates Pride weekend with rainbow Apple Watch bands for employees

As Tim Cook and others from Apple prepared to join in Sunday's annual Pride parade in San Francisco, the company gave employees a special, limited-edition rainbow-colored watch band to commemorate the event. 

As pointed out by 9to5Mac, a Reddit user posted an image of the watch band along with a letter from the company marking its 30th year in association with Pride and calling the watch band, "a symbol of our commitment to equality."

Images of the watch band also started popping up on social media.

View image on Twitter

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Alex Rigaud @dxb_ALEX

Thanks so much for this amazing #Pride surprise @tim_cook#ApplePride #OneLove #OneApple  #AppleWatch

1:16 AM - 27 Jun 2016 · San Francisco, CA, United States

 
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my new favorite watch band 😱😍 thanks, #applepride !!pic.twitter.com/Bs5aX0jFuy

— Bri Chapman (@iluvcompsci) June 26, 2016

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Bastian Varence @BastianVarence

Petit cadeau pour les participants #ApplePride #AppleWatch#Bracellet #Band #SanFrancisco 

10:55 PM - 26 Jun 2016 · San Francisco, CA, United States

 
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Cook, who has been open about his life as a gay man, and how his decision to come out could positively affect others, also posted about Sunday's parade as a large contingent of Apple employees marched in the event. 

View image on Twitter

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Tim Cook 

✔@tim_cook

Happy Pride to everyone who turned out this weekend to celebrate! #applepride #pride2016

3:06 AM - 27 Jun 2016

 
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Bryan Ritchie @tronwrldfms

TC and my Social fam - #applepride

1:38 AM - 27 Jun 2016

 
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Stephen Dunk @StephenDunk1

Literally 1000s of #apple employees supporting #pride #gaypride#sanfrancisco #lgbt @tim_cook

11:54 PM - 26 Jun 2016

 
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