Much-hyped Apple Watch finally ticks over into Irish hands

Today, Apple finally releases its biggest new product of 2015 into Irish shops. The smartwatch, which costs from €430 to €13,300, is one of the most hyped products of the year and is being touted as the next big thing in personal computing.

But with only a day's battery life, is it the device to suit your lifestyle? Could waiting for an updated model, possibly released next spring, make more sense?

The Apple Watch, which comes in two sizes, allows you to check messaging notifications, track your health and look for directions using mapping software. Its voice recognition software also works with some apps, such as daily schedules, and it has a limited ability to play music without being wirelessly connected to an iPhone. It is also a key item to pay for things using Apple Pay, an alternative to contactless payment card shopping which has yet to be launched in Ireland.

But some analysts think that an entirely new model could appear next spring as part of Apple's annual hardware upgrade cycle.

If that happens, a new watch could include a Facetime camera for selfies and video calls, more sensors to track health and activity, and even the ability to work independently of an iPhone.

It may even include slightly better battery life, one of the gadget's current limitations.

Like other colour-screen smart watches, the Apple Watch is limited to a single day's usage on a full battery charge, meaning you need to remember to charge it every night.

Despite this limitation, the device has been generally well received by those who have bought one since it went on sale in the US and some European countries earlier this year.

One advantage is its ability to dismiss notifications such as text messages or social networking alerts without having to remove and unlock a phone every few minutes.

And earlier this week, the gadget received an update in its operating system, called OS 2. The updated interface allows more watch faces and apps to be downloaded. It also allows the gadget to perform some online functions without being connected to an iPhone.

For those interested in the device, the decision to buy now or wait until a new model in a few months time will be a personal one.

The watch will likely have a trade-in value, like an iPhone. If you're a jogger or a gadget fan, it makes sense to get one. If not, maybe not.

iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus Tipped to Sport 2GB of RAM

Apple's new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were unveiled at an event on Wednesday in San Francisco. The company revealed details about the innards alongside prices; though as usual skipped finer details like battery capacity and RAM.

Now, a Reddit post claims that the new iPhone models feature 2GB of RAM, in line with several rumours. The post says, "The 6s has 2GB RAM," referring to the iPhone 6s and citing access to internal Apple documents. While the iPhone 6s Plus was not mentioned, both come with an almost identical set of innards.

Similar to previous years, we will have to wait for the handset's teardown to confirm the RAM value. Repair and teardown specialists iFixit had last year claimed that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus packed just 1GB of RAM.

A new Apple promo video on YouTube on Thursday hinted that the new iPhone 6s included a 1715mAh built-in lithium-ion battery. To recall, iPhone 6 came with an 1810mAh battery, a fact revealed only after a teardown of the smartphone. While the real world difference is just 95mAh; the company's on its product page capacity claims both iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s offer identical battery backup.

According to Apple, the iPhone 6s offers a talk time of up to 14 hours on 3G and up to 240 hours of standby time. Furthermore, the handset is listed to deliver an Internet usage time of up to 10 hours on 3G and up to 11 hours on Wi-Fi. The iPhone 6s can offer HD video playback time of up to 11 hours and audio playback of up to 50 hours. All the above claimed figures are same as the iPhone 6.

Separately on Thursday, Adobe in a blog post detailed its latest products for mobile devices including the name of the Project Rigel app - Photoshop Fix. In the post, the company had noted that the iPad Pro comes with 4GB RAM; though it soon pulled it down.

The price for the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus remain unchanged compared to their predecessors at launch. The iPhone 6s 16GB will be available at $649 (approximately Rs. 43,000); $749 (approximately Rs. 50,000) for the 64GB, and $849 (approximately Rs. 56,500) for 128GB model. The iPhone 6s Plus will be available at a starting price of $749 for the 16GB model, $849 for the 32GB model, and $949 (approximately Rs. 63,000)for the 128GB iPhone 6s Plus (all US prices).