Sales are fun, aren’t they? I like seeking out bargains – buying iOS games can be an expensive sport – but I enjoy it doubly when the games don’t go completely free because while I might occasionally run out of money for games, I still want to help the developers of games I enjoy. So, without further ado, let’s go enjoy a good day in the land of cheap iOS games.
Alto's Adventure, $4.99 – Review – This is the best game of the bunch not so much for its gameplay (since the game is an entertaining, if somewhat basic, take on an endless runner) but rather for its excellent visual style that achieves so much with so little. The dynamic day/night cycles and the weather effects really make this game stand out. You won’t play this one for the challenge, you’ll play it for the experience.
Bean Dreams, $2.99 – Review – This is a fantastic platformer by Kumobius (and the sequel to the great Bean’s Quest) which in our review we praised for streamlining the original’s concept into a tight and concise experiment. This time around, Kumobius gave us smaller levels that offered much tighter challenges than the original game and, therefore, made the game much more accessible.
Breath of Light : Relaxing Puzzler, $1.99 – Review – If you, like me, occasionally long for games that offer relaxing and meditative experiences rather than frantic challenge, you’ll enjoy this game a lot. In our review, we talked about how easy it is to get lost playing this game because of its beautiful graphics and alluring sound track.
FOTONICA, $4.99 – Review – If you liked Mirror’s Edge or simply enjoy endless runners that actually try to provide a different experience, you should give Fotonica a try. The game is a one-touch runner, but instead of tapping to jump, you tap and hold to force your character to descend to the ground and pick up speed; letting go makes the character jump. This simple change to the runner recipe makes Fotonica one to try even if you’ve had your fill of endless runners.
FRAMED, $3.99 – Review – What a beautiful game this one is. Framed looks like an old detective comic book with wonderful silhouetted art and vibrant colors. In this game you rearrange the on-screen panels to change the outcome of each encounter in order to help your protagonist escape the police. Even though the novelty wears thin after a while, the game is still an enjoyable one.
Shadowmatic, $3.99 – Review – This game was our pick for Game of the Week when it came out back in January. In this game you get to manipulate abstract objects in an attempt to make their shadows on the wall create a known object. If you’ve ever cast the shadow of a dog’s head on a wall using your hands, you know how this game plays. In addition to its clever gameplay, this game is also gorgeous with incredible lighting and shadows.
Duet Game, $2.99 – Review – Last, but definitely not least, Duet is on sale. I could just stop here, and you would know why you should go pick this one up if you don’t already own it. Still, let me convince you a bit more. As we wrote earlier today, Duet just got new free content, an “Endless Encore" mode and a “Speed Run" mode. So, go get it cheap while you still can.
These are all the great sales for today. We’ll continue to keep an eye on the App Store, and we’ll keep you informed if any other good deals pop up.
What kind of fool makes a watch that dependant on their phone. That was a hug,Eh stupid mistake. The phone isn't any different then the Samsung or other such ones. They should tried to make a phone replacement on the wrist.with a Bluetooth headset you could click to answer... It's possible... That woulda been something I was interested In expcially since you can't be on your phone when you drive anymore.
Oh yeah!!!! When you sit I your vehicle it pairs to your stereo anyway, you have the Bluetooth head set, you can have canned texts or type em in if not moving. Yeah man, an indie pendant watch that replaced the phone mighta been spectacular. This is just what Samsung did but with more hype. Dropped the ball on this one....
I miss Jobs.... Total visionary and artist and robbing enough of an idea that he could put it all together to create something of his that was brilliant... He showed how infallible he really was when he thought coconut butter and not kemo could stop cancer.... For such a brilliant man he was mighty stupid.,.
Would you really want a phone on your wrist that works with speaker phone only? Would you really give up a regular phone for a watch? The watch is good (I have one) but I couldn't see completely giving up my phone since it has so many functions. I wouldn't want to try to surf the web on a watch and I wouldn't want it as my only means of communication. It's really good and works well, but personally I don't have any issues without working with my phone.
Rather the wrist phone than this watch. Considering price and functionality
I think you're missing the point of Watch.
It's an accessory, not a replacement standalone device.
It was never designed as a replacement, instead it serves to complement other products in the lineup and reduce the constant need people have to always have their phone in their hand replying to this that and whatever even while in a social environment where constantly eyeing ones phone or taking it in and out of pocket breaks the real life social interaction.
It actually allows for greater real world interaction while also keeping an eye out for important stuff, through silent taptic vibrations, that may come in on the phone.
That's the watches true killer feature. It brings the technology, allows one to be selective on what needs attention now and what doesn't without having to actually take the phone out in the first place and thus maintains whatever conversation or other type of interaction is going on.
It's extremely useful when out for dinner for example. Or any similar type of social interaction.
It will of course grow more features as it evolves but it'll never be a standalone product. hardly wants it to end up replacing the iPhone now do they.
Of course it helps that the space black steel one is a fantastically engineered and crafted design that looks very cool as well.:)
And yeah, it is expensive but when used as designed, or at least conceived, it is irreplaceable. Being able to continue conversations without constantly checking every beep or vibration the phone makes while in pocket and being able to selectively answer or ignore with a tap to the wrist (rather than phone out of pocket, look at it, in again and on and on) in those circumstances is worth it on its own.
Sir..you've nailed completely how I feel about the Apple Watch. Now if I can just receive mine :)
Good luck with that:)
And if what you're looking for is as how I described it, you will indeed be a very happy camper with it.
Some will, some won't but I personally am glad of the extra real world interaction it allows for without tech getting in the way.
Best of luck with it and enjoy.
Yup, I'm positive I'll get to like it and the problem that I have is whenever I get to look up some info on the phone, I end up checking other stuff which can sometime be a HUGE waste of time even if it's for 5 mins instead of 30 secs. Now anything that can help me reduce my interaction with the phone is worth the price :)
I know the feeling bro, mines is 24 June at the latest, can't wait anymore 😁
You'll get to enjoy it two weeks ahead of me Lol... mine is scheduled for July 6 :)
Ohh but man the wait is killing me lol, my wife tells me I'm obsess with the watch as I keep checking reviews and such on Youtube..
Leave it to Apple to find a way to spin their negatives into a positive. I think the watch looks nice and is a nice piece of machinery, but you can't deny that there are some flaws.... It's raised glass as a display with no protection of it.... It has no speaker phone (probably because the battery wouldn't last long enough) and if you have a tattoo, your watch thinks it left your wrist.... Oh, and if someone steals your watch, you can't do much about it because it's easy to reset.
Sure Alissa there are few things I'd have had differently for my sake and it is indeed far from perfect but as it stands right now, I'm happy enough with the end result to purchase one.. PS. I'm not sure to understand you with the speaker phone issue.. We can actuallty pick up phone calls straight from the watch.
Agreed. But it is a 400 dollar accessory and most consumers don't feel the benefits are worth the entry fee. And that's just for 1st world countries. I don't envision many second tier economies adopting the Watch the same way they did the iPhone. IJS
"most" consumers cannot even get one because of the order delay. It seems like in fact there are a LOT (tens of millions now) who do feel the benefit is worth it...
Well, true, it's certainly not for everybody in its current iteration but neither was the first iPhone and that evolved pretty well over time.
I envision the same for the watch. It's not there for everybody yet though.
And it certainly is expensive, no doubt, but I'll have to be honest and say the black steel was worth the 1000 bucks to me but that's mainly due to work circumstances and other considerations but that may well be a relatively unique circumstance in relation to the whole population but I think Apple knew that anyway as it is marketed in a particular way and is not a exactly a mass market device anyway.
And it is an accessory after all so it is never envisioned to sell in anywhere near iPhone numbers.
It's really a niche device but it just happens to come from Apple so it's got a lot of mainstream attention. A lot of people I know in social circles didn't even know what a smart watch was until this came out so its a limited market anyway I'd imagine.
Which makes the numbers Apple has gotten even more impressive really.
Wow. Just thinking about spending that much on this is inconceivable for me. $400 (or whatever is gbp) is too much for me for what it offers (me). I think at some point in the future I will end up getting one, but probably around 3rd Gen when the price has dropped and it is worth buying ;)
Of course everyone is different, and I am glad that you are enjoying it :)
And in the real world, I'd have to agree with you there, it is conceivably way too much to spend by far on that type of device.
Have a bit (a lot) of a soft spot for watches though and I think some are works of art so I do more or less fall in to the envisioned target market for it anyway and that is still a niche market.
This one will never change my loyalty and fondness of a good quality mechanical watch but I felt, hey, why not take a risk, I like watches, let's see if a smart watch is of any use in the first place, and this one is still the cheapest watch I own anyway.
The space black with the black link bracelet really is a very nice design and an impressive piece of engineering with amazing build quality so when I already had the watch bug in the first place (for mechanical ones), it was the only viable option for me if I wanted something a little bit different.
Hey, it might work out for me, it might not, we will just wait and see but so far it's doing what I expected and has made the tech more accessible but less interruptive when in actual human contact and that has proven a pretty strong benefit so far, albeit an expensive one but a benefit none the less.
I think you may have a better strategy then me though as I do think it's really on the 3rd or 4th iteration that it will achieve maturity (as seems to be the pattern with a lot of Apple products) so I would be inclined to advise sticking to that strategy and let us early adopters work out the bugs for ya:).
On the other hand, I dont believe a yearly hardware upgrade cycle will apply to this kind of product either and that software upgrades will be the big yearly difference rather than casing and hardware.
Watches are not really the kind of thing someone changes every year in most cases so I'd guess an upgrade program similar to, I dunno, let's say MacBook Pro/Air for a tech related example, which get major software revisions every year but not necessarily major hardware revisions, some minor ones and then the big hardware and casing change every few years.
Think MacBook Air first iteration and now new MacBook kind of product life cycle to give a clearer idea of how it'll be updated and evolve timescale wise (roughly),
Changing the battery will be the only long term issue I envision and that already has to be done with non mechanical watches anyway and my mechanical watches have to go back to manufacturer for servicing and maintenance as well so no real problem there as I'd assume a battery changing program will be announced at some stage in the future too.
Servicing and maintenance is kinda par for the course with quality timepieces anyway.
well said as always Rip :), still waiting for my black stainless link bracelet 42mm to arrive :(
Thank you.
We'll be wrist twins:).
It works without your iPhone present, it just does less.
It still tracks activity, it still plays media.
But it won't get Internet data because it doesn't have a cellular radio. Two reasons for that:
- Massive battery hog
- You'd need to buy another cell plan
I'm sure both will be addressed in the long term, but for now, requiring a phone is the only practical solution. And a good one, since most people carry a phone anyway.
Erm...have you been drinking 😳😳😳
iSheep, they drink hard cider and worship Steve Jobs statues.
The iWatch is just a peripheral device depleting on the iPhone. It is a cool gadget, but expensive considering its limited capability. It one of those cool gadgets that most people who had a big interest in it already purchased it. No offense, seriously never thought it would become a main stream "must have" device. It it was considerably cheaper, I could see a much bigger interest, but at the price it is now, it is more of a novelty item. Could be wrong, just how I have viewed it since first announced.
Depleting- should be "dependent"
I have an apple watch, have played around with Samsung wearables, and it's a night and day comparison. Android tends to be way too techy and has a clunky looking interface. Sure you can use your watch as your phone when you go out for the night, but I feel this feature is appealing to all people who haven't actually used a wearable of any kind. I want my phone still. I want to be able to check Twitter and Google whatever on my larger screen. As I have used my apple watch I have noticed that it works best as a companion device. It has greatly simplified my interactions with notifications by allowing me to prioritize what I act on. It is surprising how much more natural it is to glance quickly at my wrist and move on with my day than to pull out my phone, interact with it and then put it back in my pocket. Once you actually interact with a wearable you will realize that they are not meant to replace your phone but to minimize when you need to use your phone. The watch is also extremely useful for texting, getting directions, setting reminders, interacting with friends (the digital touch feature is amazing) using as my tv remote and more...it's still too early to tell what wearables will be like on a mass scale and whether they will become hugely adopted...but they are off to a great start...on apples end at least.
What kind of fool would make a smartwatch, which because of current technology is inherently limited in nature, dependent on a smart phone? You'd have to be an idiot to make something that is meant to be standalone right now because it would have to be so giant it was useless, or else just plain useless...
By being closely integrated with the phone, it means the watch and phone together can be more useful than either would be apart.
Your argument is like saying a sidecar on a motorcycle is useless because it is not able to drive independently.
That you miss Jobs is highly debatable since you apparently do not understand how he would think about this.
I wish they were cheaper 😩 I realllly doubt it but hopefully they do something like they did with the 5c (I hate the 5c though lol).
First off, I would NOT ever want a phone on my wrist. Secondly, I would love to have an iWatch but it is very overpriced. I really think Apple should go down at least $100 on the price. You can get a Pebble for under $100 if you are a thrifty shopper. Yes I understand that as of right now, Pebbles are monochrome but they do have some games and apps and well as being customizable. Pebble is developing a color version currently that will supposedly rival the iWatch. I'm sure it will also be a fraction of the price. Apple had better watch out (pun intended) because there are many other promising smart watches coming to the market that will be more affordable and do the same things.
I think it would be cool if it were a video phone but just cool for a moment, and then it would get really old. On your wrist that would be awkward and cumbersome.
I love this. Every time Apple released a ground breaking product, the naysayers are already talking about how crap it is and that the competing "killer" device is sure to blow them out of the water. Started with the iPod, wow, this new rival has WAY more features, they will destroy the iPod. Remember the Zune?
The iPhone? What a loser. Why, X company is coming out with an iPhone killer, will wipe the floor with Apple.
The iPad? Are you kidding me? That thing is a toy. No USB ports. X company will soon deliver an iPad killer, mark my words.
The Apple Watch? Are you kidding me? You have to have your phone with you? Man, Pebble will clean their clock.
Really weird that the markdown parser didn't work correctly in this article.
I seriously won't pay this much for something I can't put my own watchfaces on or personalise more, that's a pretty big annoyance for me at such a high price.
I own some cool tokyoflash watches and buy them for the different looks. Even though the experience with my Pebble was pretty poor, but the main thing I liked the most was the difference faces.......
So at this point if android wear got functionality with iOS, I'd probably buy one of those......
Man I wish it worked with iPad as well.
Go buy some iLuggage while you are at it.
Now that it's finally out and some apps are doing semi interesting things, I'm almost interested. The black on black metal one looks nice. But not $1000 for a v1 nice.
I didn't get an iPhone until the 3gs, so who knows, maybe some day I'll get an iWatch. I really just hope that Apple will now focus on bringing back an iPod classic or iPod touch with more storage. My classic is really struggling, and my library won't fit on the new armband watch things.
0 interest in what Apple watch is or does. It solves nothing for me, is over priced and no one I know is remotely interested.
Why would I spend $350 for a watch that will be outdated and useless in five years due to software/hardware/battery life? I'd rather buy a classic mechanical watch that I could pass on to my children.
At least if you buy a Rolex it holds its value
I believe Eli said in his review that he had an Omega Seamaster (a great watch) and a Rolex now.
I have a Tag Heuer and a Breitling myself.
It still doesn't change that the Watch is very useful when used correctly.
It also doesn't change the fact that certain watches are luxury items for the discerning and complaining about it and it's price just means it's not for you.
That doesn't mean it's not for anybody as you seem to think, it just means it fulfills a need for some of us and we're not overtly concerned about price when it comes to quality goods.
So, you know, maybe complain less and accept its just not for you while at the same time accepting that others might understand its use better, are entitled to want one if its uses fit their particular needs and have one if they are discerning enough to choose to.
On the other hand the Apple Watch offers far more value while it is being used. The Rolex just tells time, or a few other limited things...
Pull out your smart phone and look at the time. That thing is too big and ahead of its time. Computers simply aren't small enough yet, but they are getting there.
Sorry Apple, you lost on this one.
How did Apple "lose" with 15-30 million people buying an AppleWatch? Runaway sales and month-long shipping delays are not the mark of failure... ask Android Wear makers if any of those things would have been nice or not.
It is nicer to just look at a watch to tell time, or to quickly see who is calling, or even what the current temperature is. The watch just makes information that much closer to being instant. The difference from a phone may be small but 'tis enough, 'twill serve...
This is ONLY counting online sales. They haven't even starting them in stores yet.
Why are you trying to reassure us about some corporation's product line?
Who do you think you're talking to, the board of directors, or people wanting games for their phones and iPads?
I could not care less about smart watches, nor how their sales are doing. I certainly don't need you to tell me not to worry about how poorly their sales are. News flash: I'm not worried at all.
I dunno.
You read the article.
And you commented on the article.
You might just subconsciously care a little bit or at least are interested enough to read and comment so the evidence doesn't really support you're claim.
No, the ol' "you read it, so you must care" as a trump-card defense has and always will be weak. Most of us read all TA articles because we think it's going to be relevant to gaming in some shape or form. He's right on this one.
I see someone else has pulled the tired "you read it, you read it!" card two comments below. I rest my case.
Well, the headline gave a very clear indication of the subject matter of the article, so to read beyond that carries an inherent implication that the reader was interested in the subject matter the headline alluded to.
So yeah, the "read it so you must care" is a trump card for a pretty valid reason in this case.
Your counter point is actually far weaker.
And commenting on something that one has no interest is always going to be trumped by the "read it so you just care" argument because commenting on something carries an inherent and unarguable implication of interest. Why else would one comment? Why would anyone care to comment if they had no interest? How would they even be able to able to engage in any form of cognitive process and formulate an opinion if they didn't have any interest about the subject matter?
Is it a desire for attention or some form of external validation they need?
Who knows but in your society maybe people have to comment on everything no matter whether the subject matter interests them or not but i personally consider that just a little bit pointless.
But whatever, do what you want, say what you want, rest your case, don't rest your case, so what, but if one has no interest or relevance in the subject matter, the comment is simply invalid and utterly without any merit whatsoever as it is based on no cognitive process and such comments will be viewed in the way they deserve by the majority of those who use intelligence and reasoning to formulate their own opinions and comments.
Decline, not declines.
What kinda person, outside of a mac cultist, would spend a moment's thought worrying about apple watch sales. I just play games and need music apps man.
Couldn't the same argument be made for someone taking the time to read and then comment on an article that supposedly is a waste of time...
I mean, someone interested in the watch, I can see a reason why they might read articles about it. But someone that hates Apple and/or the Watch? Why THAT person I think, is pretty creepy for hanging around Apple articles using time they could have spent enjoying life, to spread hate instead.
I wear a watch just for the time and have a smartphone for everything else. I think this device is trying to fill a void that isn't even there...
It's not filling a void. It's extending a space. The Apple Watch is much less a watch than an extension of your phone for your wrist, so data is closer at hand.
One thing I don't get is why people do not see how useful this is at least for women, who often have phones buried in purses since women's clothing manufacturers don't like adding useful pockets.
Oh my lord.
why would anyone who's not an apple stock holder freak out about the fortunes of a company that doesn't give a goddamn about them?
I think a lot of people under the age of 30 are not really interested in wearing a smartwatch, at least according to quite a few people I've talked to about the Apple Watch. The high price combined with limited functionality/small screen is holding people back from buying what is essentially your iPhone's junior assistant. The Apple Watch excitement has definitely passed, which is not really something you can say about the iPhone, at least not this early after each iPhone release.
Or like the Apple Watch..... dropped it from 3 feet onto concrete so that your $350 investment shatters....
The Minidisc of wearable computing. We'll look back at this Dick Tracey fueled fever dream of a product and laugh at all the crazies who bought into this fad.
I went deep(derp) in on Minidisc back in the day. Gonna wait for the iPod of wearables before I jump in, cause damn.. If you don't have pretty beefy wrists, the smart watches makes you look like you're 5 years old and wearing your dad's watch.
Essentially just a wrist mounted beeper for your phone.. AR is the future. The smart watch is the future envisioned in the 1950s. Following this trend, our first robots will look like vending machines with airduct arms with claws fashioned out of kitchenware.. And we'll have flying cars and hoverhomes before we know it!
In your calculation of how many Apple Watches might be sold in 12 months, I suspect that you might have forgotten to add global sales. Assuming that adding global would triple the numbers, you would get 21-33 million units in 12 months.
That would be in line with the estimates from financial analyst.
the problem is I think is the major limitations of what can be done from a dev point of view on the Apple Watch. There are are a LOT of restrictions, and compared to what can be done on Android Wear it's a huge difference.
A lot fo developers were super excited to get their hands on these, only to discover how insanely limited it is in terms of what can be done on them, especially in terms of what is achievable from a game point of view. So much so that only insanely single tap games can be made pretty much... wear as Android Wear - full Unity support, now that makes a HUGE difference.
Hopefully they will roll out some major updates soon that give developers more freedom and features to play with, till then I wouldn't be getting to excited about what apps and games will be coming to the Apple Watch. It's a real shame.