Apple's iWatch may not be the most hyped gadget ever, but it's definitely one of the most anticipated products of recent years. Now it's here, and Apple's simply calling it Apple Watch, available on the market next year, CNET and Mashable reported Tuesday.
The device, available in two sizes and in an array of different styles, allows users to receive and send text messages, answer calls and monitor your health and fitness throughout the day, all from your wrist, Mashable reported.
The price is $349 for the device, which will go on sale early next year. It will also work with smartphones as far back as the iPhone 5.
Several other mobile companies have already released or announced their own smartwatches, including Sony's SmartWatch 2, Motorola's Moto 360, Samsung's Gear Live and Gear S and LG's G Watch and G Watch R. But those devices have struggled to catch on with mainstream users. Part of the reason for that is a killer app for the category has failed to emerge. It also hasn't helped that the world has been waiting to see what Apple would unveil to market.
Abstaining from an iWatch app store would have some benefits for Apple. The company could probably use a lighter-weight computing platform like the kind it used on the iPod Nano and extend battery life, perhaps the supreme challenge for smartwatches.
As with the TV, it's not yet clear what the potential is for smartwatch apps and app stores. Perhaps the most mature retail effort, the Pebble store, includes variations on things Apple could or would likely build in - calendars, watch faces and remotes (integrated with the HomeKit smart-home software due with iOS 8).
Google's new Android Wear has brought the power of a rich app ecosystem to a smartwatch, but so far the apps have focused on extensions to Google Now, with perhaps a few extensions to the smartphone apps with which they are distributed.
