The Apple Watch has been on my radar ever since the hype began. I was online in the pre-order queue within two minutes of it opening. The big question for me: would it live up to the hype and offer new ways of working, or would it just be a flashy piece of arm candy
As you would expect from Apple, first impressions were superb. Before Id so much as turned the watch on, two clever things came to my attention.
Firstly, the strap with just one push you can change it completely. Secondly, the plug has foldable pins, making packing it for travel much easier.
The quality of the materials are excellent, the screen is bright and clear, and the watch is smaller and lighter than I had expected.
A business tool
Apps built by Apple such as calendar reminders and messages work well (although there is no keyboard so this is limited to preset messages or Siri). As I worked, the watch notified me of emails, tweets and calendar appointments.
The watch alerts you to new emails and shows the message, however, it cannot display anything web content-related (HTML format shows as plain text). There is no ability to reply to an email, only flag, delete or mark as unread/read.
Im a big fan of RSS newsfeeds, preferring that to the Twitter route for my trusted sources of news. Feedly has now launched on Apple Watch and took input from users on their blog before releasing the app. It still needs some improvements, but having my main news article to skim through on my watch really helps with my business day.
Rather than just marking the emails as read, it would be cool to be able to compile a to read list and have it emailed to you.
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If your average business day consists of the usual mix of meetings, calls and emails, then the Apple Watch can be useful for checking notifications during a meeting less intrusive than checking a phone or laptop, but not massively impactful.
It all started to make sense when I had to attend a meeting across town navigating to an unfamiliar location using the Maps app is achieved via the subtle taps on the wrist for next turn approaching and a quick check of the wrist to see the instruction. The navigation feature seems to be most useful to me at the moment.
As a regular presenter, I have also discovered that if you AirPlay your PowerPoint slides to a TV (from your phone), you can then move between slides with the watch. I found that very useful for me while rehearsing for various upcoming speaking slots at home and in hotels.
On the next page, check out feedback on the battery, general usage, improvement areas and a final verdict.
Battery life
The battery life is better than I expected the watch is designed to conserve charge. When it is not being used, it sleeps and then wakes again when it detects movement like raising your arm to check the time, emails or tweets. Battery life easily lasts a leisure or work day and it is often still on 40-50 per cent when I put it on charge back at home.
Siri
If you are familiar with Siri already, you have an advantage, because to get the most out of the watch, you really need to get on with her not something I was used to. Sending tweets or iMessages require you to speak into your wrist. You can of course answer the phone in this way too, but Im not sure this is something I would do in public…
General Usage
Over the weekend I gave the fitness applications my attention over two hours of mountain biking and half an hour of football with my son, totaling over 1,000 calories burnt.
My heart rate across the day ranged from a relaxing 42bpm to 178 (given I am 42 years old that is bang on the recommended 220 age workout max). As is the case with most fitness bands, being able to compare results each day is where the value is rather than total accuracy.
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Room for improvement
As expected, many of the version one apps have performance and/or stability bugs. These will, of course, get addressed over time and were something I had expected. It is very much a content consumption device, a similar feeling experienced when the iPad first came out. So I imagine the Apple Watch app ecosystem will also evolve.
There are a few things you either cannot seem to do (Im still learning!) or that I havent tried out yet:
1. Inability to check your iPhones status. It would be useful to see the iPhones signal strength/3G (which you need for most of the features that run on the watch) and the iPhones battery.
2. Siri can be used to answer the phone and reply to text, but not emails.
3. There is only a weekly view on the calendar.
4. Id like a Sonos controller app on the watch so that I can manage my music around the house from my wrist.
Verdict
Im generally impressed I am using it during the working day and I expect it to evolve to become more focused around business as updates arrive and the app ecosystem develops.
But the greatest test for the Apple Watch had to be my wifes verdict would this be another pointless gadget or something she would want too
The verdict is in a 38mm Apple Watch Sport has been ordered!
Kevin Linsell is director of strategy & architecture at storage firm Adapt
