Apple Watch to begin shipping in April

Apple’s first wearable, the Apple Watch, will begin shipping in April, Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this morning at the company’s earnings announcement. Cook also revealed that the “development for Apple Watch is right on schedule.”

Unveiled at an event in September, the Watch was previously said to ship in “early 2015.” A report from earlier this month had claimed that the company will be releasing its first wearable by the end of March.

The Apple Watch is the first major new category for the company since the iPad in 2010. It is also the first new product under Cook’s watch. On Tuesday, Cook said that his expectations “are very high” for Apple Watch. “I’m using it every day and love it and can’t live without it,” he said. “I see that we’re making great progress on the development of it.”

Furthermore, Cook also added that the number of developers making apps for Apple Watch is “impressive.” “Number of developers that are writing apps for it are impressive. Seeing some incredible innovation coming out there,” he said.

Apple Watch has a number of challenges it will have to overcome to become a blockbuster hit. The battery life is one of them. According to a report from earlier this month, the company the Watch can only deliver up to 2.5 hours of life on “heavy” usage, and 3.5 hours on standard usage.

Apple will be selling three variants of the Watch — Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport, and Apple Watch Edition. While it has revealed that the most basic version of Apple Watch will be priced at $349, it hasn’t offered specific pricing information for the rest of the versions. Recent leaks, however claim that the stainless steel variant could be priced around $500 while the gold variant will be priced between $4,000 and $5,000.

SOURCE:-BGRindia