Once you’ve tried on an Apple Watch you’re very likely to buy it

By Chris Smith 

The Apple Watch seems to be selling well so far, according to most estimates. Cowen and Company on Monday estimated Apple’s opening weekend Apple Watch sales may amount to 1 million units, AppleInsider reports, which puts it in line with a recent study from Slice Intelligence that also estimated opening-weekend sales of 1 million devices. However, Cowen went a step further and discovered Apple’s secret to making interested customers into buyers.

Cowen and Company talked to dozens of salespeople from all of Apple’s retail stores in the San Francisco Bay Area over the weekend and discovered that 85% to 90% of all the customers who tried on an Apple Watch in stores starting with Friday were turned into buyers.

Analyst Timothy Arcuri estimates Apple will sell some three million Apple Watch units in the June quarter, and up to seven million in the following period. In the first 12 months, Apple could sell 31 million units, according to Arcuri, which would make it Apple’s best product when it comes to first-year performance.

The initial average selling price for the Apple Watch is seen being around $449 and is expected to drop to $422 in the following quarter. The entry-level price for the watch is $349/$399 for the Apple Watch Sport model.

Credit: http://bgr.com/2015/04/13/apple-watch-preorder-try-on-reservation/

Finally, it's Apple Watch time

Pre-orders start Friday; sales (and deliveries) begin two weeks later

By Michael deAgonia

It's almost time.Apple Watch pre-orders begin at midnight tonight, Pacific time (that's 3 a.m. ET Friday), with the Watch arriving in stores and from the delivery man on April 24.

It also means that on Monday morning, April 27, a lot of early adopters -- having spent the weekend figuring out how their new wearable works -- will stroll into the office without waiting for approval from IT.

The good news: Given Apple's history and the fact that it kick-started the BYOD movement with the iPhone and iPad, embracing the Apple Watch shouldn't be a big deal. Sure, early reviewers complained this week that it can be confusing and sluggish -- even as they acknowledged that it represents a paradigm shift in how people relate to technology.

But that's how people relate to the Watch, not how it relates to the workplace. Though there's been some concern about yet another device walking into the workplace -- network issues, data privacy concerns -- there's nothing the Watch can do that an iPhone doesn't already do. Its raison d'etre is to streamline specific activities without requiring you to grab your phone. (Nervous IT support types should already be familiar with Apple security in iOS devices, which can be found here.)

As such, it's the apps that will be crucial to success. According to a company memo sent by Apple CEO Tim Cook, more than 1,000 Apple Watch-compatible apps were submitted in the first four days after Apple started accepting the apps. And, according to Cook, the "rate of submissions has only been climbing since then." Like the iPhone, there will be an app for nearly every need and every instance, and each Watch will be a personalized extension of its wearer.

There are already a few features and apps that will have a major affect on those that live on their mobile devices. For instance,customizable Watch faces will help play an important role in displaying relevant information at a glance, including upcoming meetings, events, weather info and other data. For people who constantly check their phones, the Watch will be a major win: It's much easier to glance at your wrist than pull a phone out of your pocket. I found this out first-hand after spending five months with the Microsoft Band, which offers phone notifications, but lacks the sophistication and details that can be shown on the Watch's much larger Retina display.

Some companies are responding by changing how information is delivered. The New York Times has said it plans to offer one-sentence articles, succinctly summing up news so that the marrow of a story can be digested on the go. For those that spend a lot of time staring at their phone, this is the beginning of a trend that accentuates what the Watch is great for: important data in bite-size bits.For businesses, there are already a variety of apps that deliver enterprise-worthy functionality: collaboration apps such as Slack and Redbooth will make it easier for groups to stay on top of things to do. Invoice2Go lets you track time spent on a site visit, using geofencing to start and stop the timeclock based on when you enter and leave the geofence. And if your company uses Salesforce, there a few apps on deck that should give you at-a-glance information on key metrics, alongside Salesforce Wear, an SDK that allows Salesforce customers to create their own watch-capable apps.

For road-warriors, the Watch will be even more useful. Apps like the one used by Starwood hotels and resorts will assign you a room so you can bypass the front desk and unlock your door with a wave of your wrist. Airline apps will store and display relevant flight and boarding data (as well as scanable barcodes that can be used to quickly get by security without fumbling for paperwork). If you travel for work, these kinds of changes will save you a lot of time.

That's true, too, when you're away from home and don't know exactly where you're going. Not only are you a tourist but youlook like a tourist, too, fumbling for directions on your phone. While the iPhone's map applications and GPS are extremely useful in navigating to destinations, the Watch will offer more discreet directions along the way to your destination.

Apple's Maps and third-party Watch apps like City Mapper both offer haptic feedback to directions in the form of taps on your wrist. This silent information lets you know exactly where you're going in strange cities, without the hassle of staring at your phone's screen. The City Mapper app even features mass transit data and will tap your wrist when it is time to get off at train, subway and bus stops without making it obvious.

If walking isn't your thing, the Uber app -- it was highlighted on stage during last month's Apple event -- allows you to book a car using your current location, also providing you information and a picture of your ride and driver, right on the wrist. And of course, you'll be able to pay for things using Apple Pay with a flick of the wrist.

The point is, all kinds of data will be available at a glance, and all of it can be personalized to your specific needs. Better yet, Apple execs are already looking beyond the upcoming launch and have promised that Watch software will improve, both in the short term and, more importantly, over the long haul with the introduction of fully native Apple Watch apps.

Because the Watch is aimed at the millions of people already using Apple products, especially the iPhone, it should just slip right into existing workflows and equipment, like a puzzle piece nobody knew was missing. Support for Handoff and Continuity is especially important: You can begin a phone call on the Watch and push it to the Phone with a button tap; start reading an email on the Watch, finish it on your Mac or iPhone. The level of sophisticated integration with products you're already using -- and with iOS 8's security -- is a major plus.

If Apple's reputation for easy-to-use first-generation products is any indicator, many new Watch owners should be able to get by with only a minimal amount of formal training. Most of it can be figured out by poking around the Watch and its apps themselves or by watching some of the Apple walk through videos -- which is, no doubt, just what a lot of Watch newbies will be doing in a couple of weeks.

So when they do walk into the office on the 27th, they can show you just what the Watch can do.

The Apple Watch Sport model is the least expensive, starting at $349.

Michael deAgonia — Contributing writer

Michael deAgonia, a contributing writer for Computerworld, is a computer consultant and technology geek who has been working on computers since 1993, with an emphasis on Macs, OS X, and iOS.

Credit: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2907995/finally-its-apple-watch-time.html

Xiaomi Mi4 Vs Xiaomi Mi Note: Specs, Features, Display, Hardware, Storage, Camera, Battery And Price Comparison

By Rachelle Well

Which smartphone you should purchase? The Xiaomi Mi4 and Xiaomi Mi Note are just a few of the smartphones you should take into consideration. Let's check the comparison of the two smartphones below.

Display

According to GSM Arena, the Xiaomi Mi4 has an IPS LCD display, with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 with ppi of 441. While the Xiaomi Mi Note has a full HD Retina display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and ppi of 386. The display comes with a 95% NTSC color gamut.

Hardware

Under the hood, the Xiaomi Mi Note runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5 GHz. In comparison, the Xiaomi Mi4 runs on a Qualcomm MSM974AC Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5 GHz.

Furthermore, the Xiaomi Mi4 has a 3GB of RAM and it has an Adreno 330 GPU. However, the Xiaomi Mi Note has a 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 330 GPU.

Storage

The Xiaomi Mi Note has 16GB and 32GB variants internal memory. On the other hand, the Xiaomi Mi4 has 16 and 64GB variant and its storage capacity could not be increased since it does not offer a memory expansion.

Camera

The Xiaomi Mi4 has a 13MP camera at the back and an 8MP camera on the front as well. The camera has LED flash, autofocus, geo tagging, HDR, smile detection and panorama.

Whereas, the Xiaomi Mi Note has a 13MP camera at the back and 4MP camera on the front. The camera has optical image stabilization, dual LED flash, f/2.0 aperture and six lenses on each other.

Battery

The Xiaomi Mi Note has a 3000 mAh, while the Xiaomi Mi4 has 3080 mAh.

Price

The Xiaomi Mi4 costs $380 on Xiaomi Shop, while Tech Crunch reported that Xiaomi Mi Note is priced at 3299 CNY (~$530) for a 64 bit model.

Credit: http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/165597/20150119/xiaomi-mi4-xioami-mi-note.htm

Xiaomi Mi4 review: "The Apple of China" Delivers The Goods

By: Damien McFerran

The Xiaomi Mi4 is one of the biggest handset releases in China this year, so we just couldn't resist testing one out

Rating: 

3.5

Typical Price: 

£240.00

Pros: 

Amazing build quality, Fast software, Excellent hardware

Cons: 

No Micro SD card slot, Design is a clear copy of the iPhone

Verdict: 

Incredible power and a gorgeous design make this one of the best phones of 2014, as long as you can put up with snatches of Chinese text

Xiaomi might not be a name that is instantly familiar to most western mobile users, but in its native China, the company sells more smartphones than Apple and Samsung. Despite being quite a young firm –– it was only established in 2010 –– Xiaomi is now the dominant force in its homeland and it has achieved this stunning success by emulating the world's most famous tech brand: Apple. 

In 2014 the company experienced unprecedented growth in its native China. Handset sales grew by 227% and cemented the company as one of the fastest growing handset manufacturers on the planet. And, in the spirit of striking while the iron is hot, Xiaomi has just completed its first round of funding in the US where it raised $1.1 billion and earned itself a market cap of $45 billion. Not bad a company that is just four years old. 

Xiaomi Mi Note AND Mi Note Pro Launched

If the Mi4 has got you all hot behind the collar for Xiaomi then you might want to check out its two latest handsets: the Xiaomi Mi Note and Xiaomi Note Pro. Designed as legit iPhone 6 Plus killers, the handsets really do have to be seen to be believed. Specs. Hardware. Looks. These things HAVE IT ALL. 

It’s not all sunshine and cider, though. In 2014 the company was also forced to stop selling its handsets in India until February 5 after a patent dispute with Ericsson. Xiaomi is being investigated by Hong King officials too, following claims the company sent user data without consent back to servers in mainland China. Still, company founder Xiaomi Lin Bin is very optimistic about the future –– and he has every right to be too.

Xiaomi's attempt to imitate Apple is almost slavish; the firm even holds Apple-like press conferences complete with a "Just one more thing" slide at their conclusion. Xiaomi's Android-based operating system MIUI has, in its latest iteration, blatantly ripped off the look of iOS 7 and 8. However, while Xiaomi clearly wears its inspiration on its sleeve, it hasn't tried to clone Apple's hardware –– until now, that is. 

Digsby

IM, Email, and Social Networks in one easy to use application!

http://digsby.com

Viewed from afar, the Xiaomi Mi4 looks like a massive iPhone 5s. It has the same chamfered metal edges, the same familiar front layout and an identical "Home" button symbol. This is brand worship taken to a hitherto unseen level, but the most amazing thing is that Xiaomi has actually pulled it off; the Mi4 is arguably one of the best-made Android handsets available right now. It also manages to combine amazing specs with excellent custom software and all at a price which is almost a third of the cost of an actual iPhone.

And all of this seems to be working for the Chinese company in its home country, as it is now listed as the third biggest mobile manufacturer on the planet behind Apple and Samsung, as noted by IDC's latest research: "Xiaomi jumped into the top 5 list for the first time at the number 3 position thanks to its focus on China and adjacent markets, which resulted in triple-digit year-over-year growth. Key to its success was the launch of its Mi4 smartphone in August, which was positioned as a high-end alternative to the status quo. What remains to be seen is how quickly the company can move beyond its home territories to drive volumes higher."

Xiaomi Mi4 Review: Design & Display 

Ever since the iPhone launched, rival tech firms have taken large amounts of inspiration from Apple, but the Mi4 really does take things to an entirely new level. It's a shameless copy of the iPhone 4 and 5's design, with a metal chassis fronted by a Gorilla Glass screen and backed with a plastic rear panel. Along the bottom you'll find a single speaker –– again looking like the one seen on the iPhone 5 –– and a rather odd USB port. The phone uses MicroUSB-B, whereas every other mobile on the planet (aside from the iPhone, of course) uses MicroUSB-A. The USB-B connection will still fit, however, but there's the added danger of inserting it upside down here. 

Digsby

IM, Email, and Social Networks in one easy to use application!

http://digsby.com

Once you've got over how similar the phone is to Apple's world-famous handset, you slowly but surely begin to fall in love with the Mi4. The build quality is fantastic, and the use of metal elevates this to a standard with isn't usually seen in the Android arena (outside of HTC's all-metal devices, of course).

The 5in IPS display is also striking and very impressive, sporting a full HD 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution and rock-solid viewing angles. It's also easy to see in direct sunlight, and boasts the kind of colour replication you'd expect from a top of the line handset. There's no corner-cutting going on here; this is a premium screen without a shadow of a doubt.

Xiaomi Mi4 Review: Hardware and Performance 

While the Xiaomi Mi4's price may be well below what you'd pay for an iPhone 6 or Galaxy S5 –– in China, it retails for less than £200 –– it's rocking some fearsome specifications, including a quad-core Snapdragon 801 chipset clocked at 2.5GHz. That's backed by 3GB of RAM, all of which provides a silky-smooth user experience and amazing performance when playing 3D games.

Digsby

IM, Email, and Social Networks in one easy to use application!

http://digsby.com

The unit we reviewed only has 3G-access and came with 16GB of storage, but a 4G variant –– armed with 64 lovely gigabytes –– is expected any day now, for a slight premium. There's no way to add in more storage using Micro SD cards, so you'll have to choose wisely if you like downloading lots of content. NFC is also missing, which is a shame when you consider that the tech is likely to take off in a big way now that Apple is officially supporting it with its new iPhone models. According to Xiaomi, such a small number of Mi3 owners made use of the feature that it was deemed an unnecessary extravagance in this sequel device. 

Xiaomi Mi4 Review: Software & User Experience

Xiaomi's MIUI (pronounced, “Me-You-Eye”, in case you were struggling) is based on Android. In the case of MIUI 5, which ships with the Mi4, it's built on Android 4.3. However, unlike other manufacturers (Sony and Samsung, for instance) Xiaomi has been quite aggressive with its UI skin. To a western user, one of the most obvious differences is that no Google apps are included whatsoever; Android phones sold in China rarely come with such software pre-installed, although it is relatively easy to overcome this issue. For example, inside Xiaomi's very own Mi Market, there's a Google Installer application which allows you to load up everything you need, from Gmail to Google Play.

While MIUI 5 was the OS that shipped with our review unit, we've since upgraded to MIUI 6 (based on Android 4.4), which isn't officially available as yet but can easily be flashed to the phone using a dedicated application. As we stated before, MIUI 6 is heavily inspired by iOS 7 –– and, more recently, iOS 8 –– and takes the whole iPhone clone thing a step further. Gone are the shaded app icons and skeuomorphic imagery, and in their place you'll find a "flatter" design just like Jony Ive’s iOS 7. 

Digsby

IM, Email, and Social Networks in one easy to use application!

http://digsby.com

Another feature of MIUI that makes it feel like iOS is the lack of an app drawer. This isn't new to MIUI 6, and seasoned Android fans may find it hard to get used to. You can still use widgets as normal, but all of your apps are dumped on your home screens. Whether or not this works for you is a matter of personal taste, but we found that having the apps front and center all of the time was a mixed blessing; it reduces the amount of time it takes to launch something, but we did miss having everything stored away neatly in a different part of the UI.

Android has always been praised for its robust notification system, which is why the stripped-down version witnessed in MIUI is perhaps a bit jarring. The notification bar at the top of the screen no longer displays any icons, and instead you have to slide down the notification panel to see what messages you have. It's a minor change but one which can be very disorientating if you've used Android in the past; we found we often missed notifications or ignored them purely because they didn't flash up in the bar. To compensate, notifications now pop up at the top of the screen no matter what activity you're involved in –– just like they do in iOS. 

Overall though, the additions and enhancements in MIUI 6 are very welcome. It has a "Do Not Disturb" option built into the OS itself, and there are little customizations to play around with, including a menu which allows you to control the colour temperature of the screen. 

Most of all though, MIUI is fast; perhaps not as swift as stock Android on a Nexus 5, but certainly very nippy. MIUI 6 is still in beta but Xiaomi is unique in that it releases weekly updates for the software that deal with various bugs and add new functions. Considering that it's not the final product just yet, it's very polished indeed. 

Xiaomi Mi4 Review: Battery and Camera 

The Mi4 has a large 3080mAh battery, which is bigger than the one seen in the Galaxy S5. However, the increased size can't entirely take credit for the phone's incredible stamina; there's clearly a bit of work going on behind the scenes to ensure that the Mi4 lasts longer than most of its big-screen rivals.

We were able to get almost three entire days out of the phone during the review period, something which hasn't happened on an Android phone in quite some time. While it's possible to select from different battery profiles, we stuck with the "Balanced" mode that left most features running and intact, presumably dialing down the Snapdragon 801 chipset in order to save on the juice. Regardless of what tactics Xiaomi is adopting to preserve battery life, the Mi4's stamina is remarkable. 

The phone's Sony-made 13MP camera is equally impressive, offering excellent picture quality and fast focus times. The usual issues with shooting in low-light remain, but when you've got a well-lit environment the Mi4 is capable of producing some spectacular images,  even if it does occasionally struggle with high-contrast areas. 

Digsby

IM, Email, and Social Networks in one easy to use application!

http://digsby.com

Digsby

IM, Email, and Social Networks in one easy to use application!

http://digsby.com

Xiaomi Mi4 review: Conclusion 

Xiaomi's almost overbearing desire to ape Apple might leave a bad taste in the mouths of some tech consumers, but if you're an Android user who has long admired the talents of Jony Ive and his team at Cupertino, then this could provide the perfect solution. The Mi4 combines Apple's design philosophy with the software flexibility of Android, making for what some will regard as the perfect mobile union. 

Digsby

IM, Email, and Social Networks in one easy to use application!

http://digsby.com

There are drawbacks –– no Micro SD card slot being possibly the most obvious –– and the lack of 4G in this launch model is also an issue. Not including NFC seems very shortsighted, even if the tech hasn't taken off in China over the past few years. All such concerns dissolve away when you take a look at the price. Nothing else comes close to the Mi4 in this regard. NOTHING. For instance, even if you order from the Far East and incur a price hike and custom charges (as we did), you're still only looking at around £260 (UK-based resellers are offering units for over £300 on auction sites). That's quite a price jump from the Chinese RRP, but still well below what you'd normally pay for a phone of this power and build quality.

The phone's origins might prove to be more of a stumbling block for prospective buyers; although the OS supports multiple languages, it's still clearly aimed at consumers on the Chinese mainland. Even when using the English language option parts of the UI remain in Chinese, and core elements such as the Mi Market and video services follow suit. Xiaomi is currently testing an international version of MIUI 6, which reinstates the Google apps and removes the China-only elements, but in its default setting, it's pretty clear that this is a Chinese handset aimed at the Chinese market. Whether or not you're comfortable with this situation is very much down to personal taste, but it's worth putting up with it just to own one of the fastest and most aesthetically pleasing Android handsets we've ever seen.

Credit:http://www.knowyourmobile.com/mobile-phones/xiaomi-mi-4/22717/xiaomi-mi4-review-apple-china-delivers-goods