Google has announced version 1.3 update to Android Wear that brings support for interactive watch faces and adds a new feature called Translate that will let users speak to their watch and let it translate it on the fly to any of 44 available languages. The new update is rolling out to Android Wear watches around the world as we speak.
Apple is undeniably placing a lot of emphasis on the Apple Watch, and rightly so. Early indications suggest that the first iteration of the company's "most personal product yet" has made an immediate impact with consumers, something which can only get better with the public release of watchOS 2 in the coming weeks. Like its other products, such as the iPhone and iPad, Apple prefers to maintain a certain level of control over what is and isn't possible with its watch. Now, thanks to some internal tinkering by developer Hamza Sood, one of those Apple imposed limitations has been removed; that is the ability to add custom watch faces to the device.
Waterproof iPhone case maker Catalyst has announced its first Apple Watch cases, giving the device additional water and drop protection.
Parallels Access app for iOS has just been updated to version 3.0, bringing with it a bunch of improvements, most notably the experimental support for playing PC games on your iPhone or iPad, support for the Apple Watch, and file sharing for both Android and iOS devices.
It's fair to say that Microsoft has fully embraced the existence of the Apple Watch from initial launch. Owners of Apple's precise and beautiful timepiece have been able to interact with a number of Microsoft apps pretty much from day one. The software giant has now shown its clearest indication yet that it will continue to develop cutting-edge software that's compatible with the Apple Watch by releasing an upgrade to its popular Microsoft Outlook email app which brings extended compatibility for the wrist-worn gadget.
Apple has today released an updated version of TestFlight, meaning developers can finally start testing iOS 9 and watchOS 2 apps on real hardware. While the update stops just short of allowing developers to publish apps to external beta testers, today's update is a welcome addition, and one that is a sign that Apple is edging ever nearer to iOS 9 and watchOS 2 releases.
In an attempt to build on the early success of the Apple Watch the Cupertino based fruit company is in the process of making the precise timepiece available outside of its own physical and digital stores. As part of a strategic retailing partnership, Best Buy, one of the largest physical and online retailers in the United States, will start to ship the Apple Watch this coming August with availability in over 100 stores.
Are those low-price cheap third-party Apple Watch bands worth getting? We tried one out ourselves, here's what we think about it. Check out the full review.
Every other Tuesday Apple releases a whole bunch of new betas, and today is one of those days. We already told you about the new, fourth beta release of iOS 9 and Apple has now also pushed new releases of OS X 10.11 El Capitan and watchOS 2 out to developers. Accessible via either the Developer Portal or the App Store if you are installing El Capitan, the new betas are available to download right now.
If you happen to be the adventurous do-it-yourself (DIY) orientated type of individual who likes to sink their teeth into an exciting technology based challenge then this one could be for you. Marc Jensen, James Squires, and Shawn Roske from Make: have produced a walkthrough video that shows how you can "automatically" open doors at home or work by simply tapping on the display of an Apple Watch.