Apple Watch Now Available For Pre-Order In India

Apple Watch is yet to officially hit the Indian market, but e-commerce players have started taking pre-orders for the first Apple smartwatch.

E-commerce site Grabmore.in, which imports products from the US to sell in India, is taking advance bookings for Apple Watch at a starting price of Rs 36,999 for the 38mm Sport model. The 42mm variant with the same configuration can be pre-ordered at Rs 42,199.

The smartwatch costs $349 in the US, which translates to Rs 22,678, so it is likely that the official price may be a little lower. Media speculation pegs the starting price of Apple Watch at approximately Rs 31,000.

Apple Watch is officially hitting the market on November 6, six months after becoming available globally.

The smartwatch will be available in two sizes (38 and 42 mm) and three variants: Apple Watch, Apple Watch Edition and Apple Watch Sport. The first two come with sapphire crystal to protect the screen from cracking, whereas the sports version has a strengthened Ion-X glass on the display.

Force Touch and digital crown are features that set the Apple Watch apart from other smartwatches in the market. The digital crown that can be turned to scroll or zoom on the screen; one can press on this crown to return to the previous page. Force Touch, which has inspired iPhone 6S’ new 3D Touch feature, can differentiate between a tap and press.

Apple Watch also has a built-in mic and speaker using which one can complete a conversation as long as the iPhone is connected via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

The Apple Watch collection comes with a choice of three different leather straps, a stainless steel link bracelet and Milanese loop, and a black or white Sport Band.

Apple Watch Edition features cases made from custom rose or yellow 18-carat gold alloys developed to be twice as hard as standard gold, a Retina display protected by polished sapphire crystal and a choice of uniquely designed straps and bands with 18-carat gold clasps, buckles or pins.

Among the key features of Apple Watch are always-on Siri, tracking users’ fitness, third-party app support and it receives phone calls as well as iMessages and SMSs. It can act as a walkie-talkie and operate the iPhone camera as well as Apple TV. There is no camera but the iPhone’s photos can be seen on Apple Watch.

This year’s WatchOS 2 update brings native apps to Apple Watch, which means that users will not have to wait for developers to allow app-compatibility for Apple Watch in their iPhone apps. Instead, users can now download apps directly on the smartwatch.