Apple Watch unveiled at $349; to hit India in June-July

NEW DELHI: Tech giant Apple finally showcased its much-awaited Apple Watch, which is priced at $349 and will be available in nine countries, excluding India, from April 24.

The Apple Watch has been launched in a number of variants and two sizes, including a gold model with a price tag of $17,000.

At an event in San Francisco, Apple also made two key announcements: a revamped MacBook range and a health-focused initiative called ResearchKit.

According to reports, the watch is expected to hit the India market in June or July this year. Apple Watch on its arrival in India is not expected to cost less than Rs 30,000 for the base model of 38 mm in Sport range.

The smartwatch will be available in two sizes (38 and 42 mm) and three variants: Apple Watch, Apple Watch Edition and Apple Watch Sport. The first two come with sapphire crystal to protect the screen from cracking, whereas the sports version has a strengthened Ion-X glass on the display.

Apple claims its smartwatch delivers up to 18-hour battery life and comes with a unique charging solution that combines its MagSafe technology with inductive charging for a quick connection.

The first smartwatch has some distinguishing hardware features, such as a digital crown that can be turned to scroll or zoom on the screen; one can press on this crown to return to the previous page.

The touchscreen has two-step touch-sensitivity that can understand the difference between a tap and press. It even has a built-in mic and speaker using which one can complete a conversation as long as the iPhone is connected via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Apple has used an all-new microprocessor named S1 in the watch, which it calls an entire computer architecture on a single chip. Among the key features of Apple Watch are always-on Siri, tracking users' fitness, third-party app support and it receives phone calls as well as iMessages and SMSs.

It can act as a walkie-talkie and operate the iPhone camera as well as Apple TV. Apple Watch uses an actuator called Taptic Engine to let the users know of all notifications and alerts. There is no camera but the iPhone's photos can be seen on Apple Watch.

The new Apple Watch is, however, compatible only with iPhone 5, 5S, 6 and 6 Plus and can be used to authenticate mobile payments via Apple Pay. Apple has already released iOS 8.2 which features the Apple Watch app that lets users connect the smartwatch to their iPhones.