Five questions about Apple Watch

Apple events are always preceded by a huge amount of
feverish speculation as what cynics call the reality distortion
field is deployed.
But today's show at the Yerba Buena Arts Centre in San
Francisco might well break the internet, such is the excitement
and anticipation. And this for the second event about a device
first unveiled last September. So what do we need to know
this time? Here are five questions I will be hoping to see
answered...
How much?
We know that the starting price of the basic sports model will
be $349 (£230). What we don't know is what that means in
other currencies, and how much the rest of the range will
cost. It's thought the gold-cased version could cost as much
as $10,000 (£6,614), and it looks as though even the basic
models will be priced at a level which will make it a far-from-
casual purchase. By contrast, the new Pebble Time, the latest
version of the most popular smartwatch to date, is going to
cost $199 (£132).
How long will the battery last?
Apple has been signalling that the watch will need recharging
every night - and there are some hints that really heavy users
could find they run out of juice midway through the day.
We've got used to that with smartphones - will we be so
happy about yet another gadget which needs constant
recharging? Some smartwatches last much longer on a
charge, notably the Withings Activite Pop which has a battery
lasting eight months. But they can do much less, which brings
us to our key question….
What can it actually do?
The demos we've seen so far show the Watch providing some
of the notifications you get on an iPhone, combined with
tracking your physical activity and your heart rate. That's
similar to what plenty of other devices do, but what will be
key is the user interface. Apple has shown in the past -
notably with the iPhone and iPad - that it can take existing
technologies and make them far more attractive and easy to
use.
Can I pay with it?
We know that the mobile payments service Apple Pay will
work with the watch, and could provide a compelling use for it.
Right now, that is only available in the US, but it's thought it
could be coming to the UK this year. So far, Apple Pay has
been a big hit, but has also been popular with fraudsters,
although that appears to be the result of lax identity checks
by the banks rather than a fault with the technology. Today's
event provides an ideal opportunity for Apple to take its mobile
payments system to the next stage, while providing
reassurance about security.
How many does Apple hope to sell?
This is one question unlikely to be answered today. But here's
a safe bet - within a week of the Apple Watch going on sale it
will be the best selling device on the market. But that is not a
high hurdle to clear when fewer than five million smartwatches
were sold in 2014, according to research firm Canalys.
Analysts predictions for how many devices Apple will sell this
year range from eight million to more than 40 million. The
bigger question will be how many are sold in 2015 - only then
will we know whether the Watch is the Next Big Thing or just
another smartphone accessory.