Apple today announced Apple Watch Series 5, debuting an Always-On Retina display that never sleeps, so it’s easy to see the time and other important information, without raising or tapping the display.

New location features, from a built-in compass to current elevation, help users better navigate their day. Combined with the power of watchOS 6, users are empowered to take charge of their health and fitness with new features like Cycle Tracking, the Noise app and Activity Trends.

“We’ve seen Apple Watch have a meaningful impact on our customers’ lives and we’re excited to deliver even more capabilities with Apple Watch Series 5 and watchOS 6,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “The seamless integration of new hardware and software delivers an enhanced experience that makes it even easier to stay active and connected to the people and information you care about.”

Starting today, Apple Watch Series 5 (GPS) is available to order in 41 countries and regions and Apple Watch Series 5 (GPS + Cellular) is available to order in 22 countries and regions. Both models will be available in stores beginning Friday, 20 September 2019.

Apple Watch Series 5 features an innovative new display that allows the time and important information to remain visible at all times. Each watch face has been carefully optimised for the new display and to preserve battery life, the screen intelligently dims when a user’s wrist is down and returns to full brightness with a raise or a tap.

Several advanced technologies work together to deliver this new feature, including the industry’s only low-temperature polysilicone and oxide display (LTPO), ultra-low power display driver, efficient power management integrated circuit and new ambient light sensor. This combination of hardware innovation and incredible software design allows Apple Watch Series 5 to offer all-day 18-hour battery life.

Updated location features on Apple Watch Series 5 provide customers with greater navigation tools to use throughout the day. The new built-in compass and updated Maps app allow users to see which way they are facing. With Apple Watch Series 5, customers can use the new Compass app to see heading, incline, latitude, longitude and current elevation. Users can even add one of three new Compass complications to their watch face to see direction at a glance.

Additional health and fitness features come with watchOS 6, including the new Cycle Tracking app, which gives customers the ability to log important information related to their menstrual cycles, and see predicted timing for their next period and fertile windows using the convenience of Apple Watch.(2) The Noise app helps users understand the ambient sound levels in environments such as concerts and sporting events that could negatively impact hearing, and Activity Trends on iPhone provides a long-term view of their activity patterns to help them understand their progress. watchOS 6 also brings dynamic new watch faces, including Meridian, Modular Compact and Solar Dial, which can be easily customised for quicker access to favourite apps.

For the first time, Apple Watch customers can enjoy a more personalised experience when purchasing Apple Watch Series 5 from apple.com/nz and in the Apple Store app.

Exclusively at Apple, the new Apple Watch Studio gives customers the opportunity to pick their preferred case and band combination to create a look that is uniquely their own.

The aluminium case in silver, gold and space grey is now made for the first time from 100 percent recycled 7000 series aluminium. This spring, a new sport loop and a wide range of great new band colours are also available, which work with any generation of Apple Watch.

Apple Watch Nike features a new watch face inspired by the classic Nike Windrunner jacket design, accompanied by new colours of the Nike Sport Band and reflective Nike Sport Loop.

Apple Watch Series 5 (GPS) starts at RRP NZ$729 inc. GST. The popular Series 3 (GPS), with built-in GPS, optical heart rate sensor and water resistance, starts at a new low price of RRP NZ$349 inc. GST.

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Apple today previewed watchOS 6, which empowers Apple Watch users to better manage their health and fitness, and gives access to dynamic new watch faces and the App Store directly on Apple Watch.

“Apple Watch has become an indispensable part of our customers’ everyday lives, from helping users stay connected to the people and information they care about, to inspiring them to live a better and more active day,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “watchOS 6 extends our commitment to helping users better manage their health and fitness with powerful and personal new tools.”

The new Cycle Tracking app gives women the ability to log important information related to their menstrual cycles and see predicted timing for their next period and fertile window using the convenience of Apple Watch. The daily log function enables the quick addition of information related to the menstrual cycle, including current period, flow, symptoms, results from ovulation prediction kits and other elements of fertility tracking. The new Cycle Tracking feature is also available on iPhone with iOS 13.

Maintenance of hearing health positively impacts the quality of life and studies have shown that hearing loss has been associated with cognitive decline. With the optimal position of Apple Watch on the wrist, the Noise app helps users understand the sound levels in environments such as concerts and sporting events that could negatively impact hearing. As the sound levels change, the app’s decibel meter moves in real time. The watch can send a notification if the decibel level reaches 90 decibels, which can begin to impact hearing after four hours per week of exposure at this level, according to the World Health Organisation.

Customers are passionate about closing their Activity rings and the new Trends tab in the Activity app on iPhone now gives users a long-term view of their activity behaviour to help them understand their progress. At a glance, the tab shows whether the trends are up or down for key metrics such as active kilojoules, exercise minutes, walking pace and others. If the last 90 days of activity shows a downward trend relative to the last 365 days, the Activity app offers coaching to help the user get back on track.

For the first time, watchOS 6 brings the App Store directly to Apple Watch. Users can easily install third-party apps, search for apps using Siri, Dictation or Scribble and view app product pages designed for the watch screen right from the wrist. Developers can build Apple Watch-only apps, created to work independently on Apple Watch without an iOS app.

All Apple Watch features are designed to protect user privacy. None of the audio or sounds in the environment are saved by the Noise app or sent to Apple — only the decibel level is sampled. The information from Apple Watch health features, including the new Cycle Tracking app, will be visible within the redesigned Health app on iOS 13. All data is encrypted on-device and if iCloud back up is selected by the user, data is encrypted in iCloud.

New colours of the Sport Band and Sport Loop in Canary Yellow, Dragon Fruit and Cornflower are available beginning today, along with a new Pride Edition Sport Loop with a donation being made to the following LGBTQ advocacy organisations: Encircle, Gender Spectrum, GLSEN, ILGA, PFLAG, the National Center for Transgender Equality and The Trevor Project.

The developer preview of watchOS 6 is available to Apple Developer Program members at developer.apple.com starting today. New software features will be available this spring as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 1 or later paired with iPhone 6s or later running iOS 13 or later. For more information, visit apple.com/watchos-preview. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all regions or all languages.

New Apple Watch band colours are available to order on Apple’s Official Website and in the Apple Store app, and will be available later this week at Apple Stores, as well as select Apple Authorised Resellers. 

The post watchOS 6 Advances Health and Fitness appeared first on Shane the Gamer.