THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 TECHNOLOGY Fashion world split over new Fashionistas won’t wear smartwatch

CUPERTINO: Apple Inc’s newly unveiled bility and individualization.” With the excep- smartwatch on Tuesday split fashion arbiters tion of the bright colors and gold trim, he who may prove pivotal to its broad accept- added, it is “a very masculine watch.” ance. Many praised the “Apple Watch”, priced Some fashionistas may prove reluctant to from $349 when it debuts year, for its wear a smartwatch at all, said Sonny Vu, chief clean aesthetic, but some bloggers and edi- executive of Misfit Wearables, which makes tors said the watch had a masculine aura, an activity monitor that can be worn as a which would limit its allure to parts of the broach, on a necklace, or on a wrist band. style-conscious crowd. Others said the Some female consumers are concerned design, while pleasing, was less than revolu- about tan lines, for instance, and many might tionary. own a watch that has sentimental value, he The gadget, which must be paired with said. But other fashion critics were effusive. an iPhone, is shaped like a traditional time- “It is immaculate in terms of how function piece, with a small square display. A dial on meets design. The issue is really about how the side, reminiscent of the winding mecha- much people want to wear something so nism on a mechanical watch, can be spun or clearly, essentially an amazing gadget,” said pushed to manipulate what is on the touch Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue. screen. Apple will offer three different ver- sions-sport, standard, and a luxury edition, View from fashion week with finishes including stainless steel and The Watch is the closest the U.S. company gold plated. The display can be customized has come to selling a fashion accessory and to show the time in or a facsimile of marks its first foray into the personal luxury a watch with hands. goods market, although its and other Wrist bands range from leather and stain- gadgets have long been seen as fashion sym- less steel to sports models in hues from pink bols. In recent years, Apple has hired Patrick to blue. The Watch recognizes voice com- Pruniaux, former vice president of Tag Heuer’s mands and carries sensors that can track global sales and retail; , for- activity such as steps and heart rate. mer chief executive of Burberry Inc; and for- Roseanne Morrison, fashion director for The mer Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve Doneger Group, an industry consultant, said joined as vice president of special projects. the design fell short of her expectations. “It’s A first-time invitee to an Apple event, not pretty,” she told Reuters. “It’s very future Marie Claire tech editor Jenna Blaha, said she techno as opposed to feminine sexy.” was impressed with the Watch but would need to touch and feel the device before rec- Tough competition ommending it to readers. At Tuesday’s TOKYO: An Apple gadget fan queues outside of an for the iPhone 6’s release. —AFP Many contacted by Reuters agreed that launch in Cupertino, California, Apple dis- the device was better looking than existing played a gallery of watches but onlookers offerings from the likes of Samsung had to be content with tightly controlled Electronics and LG, which are judged to be demonstrations by Apple employees. Gwen Japanese fans set up chunkier. But rival tech giants like Google Inc Stefani, fashion designer and “No Doubt” and Intel Corp are increasingly competing singer, told Reuters even she wasn’t allowed with Apple in the emerging market for wear- to play with these watches. able devices. Based on tablet and PC adop- Many of the fashion experts agreed that watch for new iPhone tion rates, Citigroup expects the smartwatch the most compelling wearables haven’t hit market to reach about $10 billion by 2018 the market yet. Fashion editors were curious versus an estimated $1.4 billion to $1.8 bil- about an expected wearable accessory from lion in 2014. fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff; a high- TOKYO: It may still be several days before they store in glitzy Ginza on Saturday, and had to wait store, surrounded by camping equipment, suit- Eric Wilson, fashion news director for fashion smart bracelet from Intel; and a can even order a new iPhone and more than a until the small hours yesterday to hear about the cases and even a rubber mask. InStyle Magazine, said Apple also faces com- smart ring from Ringly. “This is just the begin- week until they can pick it up, but dedicated fans Apple Watch and the two new iPhone models. Kajigaya Takuya, a 30 year old comedian, arrived petition from luxury watch-makers like Rolex. ning. How long before there is a partnership in Japan have already begun queuing. In a coun- “The unveiling of the Apple Watch here was Tuesday to join the line. Swatch has said it’s exploring a watch with with Marc Jacobs and Valentino to do more try known for taking its hobbies extremely seri- very tense. Everyone said, ‘Yeah, they did it!’” said He said despite difficulties sleeping through a intelligent digital features. “The Apple Watch sophisticated faces?” said Lea Goldman, fea- ously, Apple acolytes in Tokyo began bagging Tamura, an office worker who has taken time off chilly Tokyo night, he had been having fun so far. will be a status symbol to carry,” he said. But tures and special projects reporter for Marie “The staffs at the Apple Store are kind, they let us the design is “generic in the sense of its flexi- Claire. —Reuters charge our and iPhones, and we can use the toilet in the shop,” he said. Takuya said he enjoys the challenge of waiting outside to be among the first to touch the device, which is also available in gold. “Of course, you need patience, it’s like climb- ing a mountain-in the end you feel as if you’ve achieved something, I think it’s great,” he said. In China, which is not going to get the iPhone 6 until a week later, Internet users stayed up late to watch the live feed of the unveiling, with many joking about selling internal organs to fund a pur- chase. “Good morning everyone. I have two kid- neys. One is for urgent sale next week for the iPhone6 Plus. The other is to be sold in four months’ time for the Apple Watch. First come, first served,” quipped one. In 2012, a Chinese teenager had his kidney removed to fund the purchase of an iPhone and an iPad. That led to the arrest of members of an illegal organ trading group. Despite the furor over the launch, there was some doubt as to the real significance of the news to the technology sector, with many point- ing out that there was nothing very cutting edge about the new products. Japanese Twitter users TOKYO: This photo taken and supplied by twitter user “sinomoritsukasa” shows an questioned the originality of the phones’ con- “Apple Watch” carved from an apple. —AFP tactless cash feature, , pointing out that mobiles in Japan have had this feature for CUPERTINO: Apple CEO (left) greets the crowd with U2 singer their spots on the pavement days before the work to queue. He proudly told AFP he works years. And Twitter user @sinomoritsukasa could- Bono (2nd right) as The Edge (2nd left) and Larry Mullen Jr look on during world knew what the California tech giant had up weekends to build up credit, and spends it every n’t see what all the fuss was about, having made the Apple special event. —AFP its sleeve. Tetsuya Tamura, 45, and his 20-year-old year on his Apple vigil. Around a dozen pop-up his own Apple Watch, carved from an actual son set up camp outside the company’s flagship seats were lined up on the pavement outside the apple. —AFP iTunes to give away Apple Watch a boost for wireless charging U2 album for free SINGAPORE/SAN FRANCISCO: this, competition to set a global stan- of wireless charging in devices. vision remains compelling. “Look at Apple Inc’s embrace of wireless dard is getting in the way of delivery. There’s a good reason for that: three Star Trek,” says Geoff Gordon of the charging for its new Watch may be a It’s reminiscent of the Betamax vs standards for the same form of tech- Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), LOS ANGELES: Veteran Irish rockers U2 SoundScan because it was distributed for free. defining moment for a technology VHS videotape wars of three or four nology.” one of the three competing alliances. pulled off the largest album release in history The band will release “Songs of Innocence” that’s languished for years amid com- decades ago, or the more recent bat- While users clearly see wireless “They never talk about their batteries at Tuesday’s Apple Inc event to launch new and a deluxe version featuring four new tracks peting standards and consumer con- tle between Blu-ray and HD DVD for charging - where mobiles, tablets dying on any of their devices. If you products, after making its latest record avail- and acoustic performances to the rest of the fusion. Supporters of wireless charg- supremacy in high definition optical and other devices are charged by lay- look far enough into the future we’re able for free on Apple’s iTunes online stores to world on Oct. 14, its label Interscope Records, ing see a future where people no disc format. ing them on a mat or other surface - looking at a world where you don’t half a billion iTunes users. The Grammy said on Tuesday. longer worry about topping up their For now, there are three alliances, as a natural next step, some industry even think about power.” Award-winning band performed its latest sin- Billboard, which will include the album in gle “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)” at the chart listings only after its October release, said gadgets; are free from tangled power but not much to show. Last year, leaders have cautioned that having But to catch on, wireless charging Cupertino, California event, at which Apple on Tuesday that “Songs of Innocence” will also cords and low-battery warnings and fewer than 20 million phones were to still plug in the charging device has to work seamlessly. That means unveiled two new iPhones, a smart watch and miss the Grammy awards eligibility period, where terms like “outlet” and shipped with wireless charging built may prove fiddly for some. “Having to a user can easily find a wireless a mobile payments system. which runs from Oct. 1 2013 to Sept. 30 this “plugged in” will be as anachronistic in, according to IHS - less than 2 per- create another device you have to charging zone and not have to worry U2 released its new 11-track “Songs of year, and only applies to “commercially as “dialing” a phone. cent of the billion smartphones plug into the wall is actually, for most whether their device is compatible Innocence” live on stage with Apple Chief released” records. In July 2013, rapper Jay Z Users seem to like the idea too: in shipped around the world. “There are situations, more complicated,” Apple or properly connected or even Executive Officer Tim Cook. The album imme- released his album “Magna Carta Holy Grail” for a recent survey by technology con- a lot of bees around the hive,” said senior vice president said secure from theft. Intel Corp, a mem- diately appeared in iTunes users’ free to a million users of Samsung smartphones sultancy IHS, 83 percent were inter- Omri Lachman, CEO of Humavox, an just two years ago. ber of A4WP along with the likes of libraries. However, the giveaway to more than via a special app. However, the 1 million copies ested in wireless charging; in China, Israeli start-up with its own wireless Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm 500 million iTunes users will not count toward were not eligible for Nielsen or Billboard’s week- the figure was 91 percent. But, while charging technology. “Up to now Beam me up Inc, says wireless charging is a lot like official music sales figures at Nielsen ly charts of best-selling albums. —Reuters the technology is largely there to do we’ve not seen a mass aggregation Maybe, but others say the wireless wireless computing. Just as the world has largely ditched network cables for wireless hotspots, so we will leave chargers and cables at home as we’ll never be far from a Microsoft to buy charging pad. But getting there, the chipmaker ‘Minecraft’ maker argues, will require someone with its clout to set the global standard for wireless technology. “History will tell LOS ANGELES: Microsoft is in talks to buy Swedish Phil Spencer saying Xbox’s success would you it’s what it takes to get main- game maker Mojang AB, behind the wildly popu- depend on bringing additional value to the com- stream lift-off,” said Intel’s Leighton lar “Minecraft” games, for $2 billion. Should the pany by remaining “committed to being a con- Phillips. Among the competing stan- deal occur, it would mark the largest acquisition for sumer-driven organization with the mission of dards, A4WP uses something called Satya Nadella since becoming CEO of Microsoft meeting the high expectations of a passionate magnetic resonance, while the earlier this year. “Minecraft,” which launched in fan base, to create the best games and to drive Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) - 2009, is an open-world game in which players cre- technical innovation.” which includes tech names such as ate environments and characters with digital With a potential purchase of “Minecraft’s” cre- Nokia and Philips - champions its Qi building blocks, similar to Legos. Mojang has sold ator, that clearly means go after more franchises. It standard using inductive charging, a over 54 million copies of the game across all plat- also would be a surprise should Mojang sell to method which is also used by the forms. It generated $128 million in profits in 2013. Microsoft, given that the company’s chief Power Matters Alliance (PMA). They As with Lego, Warner Bros. is developing a film Markkus “Notch” Persson has been critical of large are all variations of the same technol- based on the property. The Wall Street Journal first corporations. He opted not to work with Oculus ogy: a coil inside the device picks up reported the talks of the acquisition, which could to create a version of “Minecraft” for the virtual an electrical charge from a transmit- be completed this week. Stockholm-based reality device after Facebook purchased the com- ter coil in the charging surface. Apple, Mojang has around 40 employees. pany. However, “Minecraft” already has a relation- which sits outside the alliances, The games biz has been curious how Nadella ship with Microsoft, with the game available on UNITED STATES: Attendees record a display of the new Apple Watch during an Apple special appears to have used a version of will manage the Xbox brand since taking charge Xbox platforms since 2012. It debuted on Xbox event at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on September 9, 2014 in Cupertino, induction charging in its Watch, fur- of Microsoft. He pulled the plug on Microsoft One this month, and is also available on the California. —AFP ther muddying the waters. —Reuters Entertainment Studios in July, with Xbox chief PlayStation 4. —Reuters