Wanna turn your iPhone into a gameboy? So retro, so rad.

Wanna know something really cool? Yeah? Listen up.

April Fools day was recently, yeah? A day when companies try and trick people and no-one ever gets tricked because it’s April Fools Day, Stupid. This last April Fools day however was a little different for one company called Hyperkin.

They decided that they would partake in a big trick for the day, telling people on Reddit that they were planning on creating a way that you could transform your phone into a Gameboy.

Say Whaaaat?

Yup. So, people were super psyched, because it was a rather subtle trick, and it sounded really really awesome. Soon after, Hyperkin owned up to the duplicity and everyone went home and cried.

BUT THEN Hyperkin decided to actually make the product! Because people were so psyched about it! Talk about power of the people! The product, called ‘Smartboy’ is officially in development for iPhone 6, with android to follow.. From the sauce:

“We wanted to create a retro device that can be easily adapted into any modern gamer’s arsenal of devices.” says Chris Gallizzi, Hyperkin’s product developer.

You’ll be able to insert your iPhone into the Smart boy, giving you physical controls like an 8-way D pad and four buttons designed to mimic the A, B, select, and start buttons found on the original Game Boy. The Smart Boy will also work with original Game Boy and Game Boy Color game cartridges, which will slot into the back of the device.

Did someone say ‘OH MAN THATS SO SWEET I LOVE GAMEBOY AND I LOVE MY PHONE WHAT AN EPIC ROMANCE’ ?

Apple Watch out of warranty service fees

Still tossing up whether or not you should buy an Apple Watch? Here’s some information that might help you out.

If your Apple Watch breaks, and the repair is not covered by the one-year warranty or Applecare+, you’re looking at the following service fees:

Apple Watch Sport: $229

Stainless Steel Apple Watch: $329

Apple Watch Edition: $2800

If your battery needs servicing? You’re looking at a flat rate of $79 plus shipping.

If you really stuffed up and your Apple Watch is in multiple pieces? Apple may not repair it. uh oh. 

But! If you purchase Applecare+ you may be able to get express replacement, where you return the device and a new model will be shipped out to you 2-3 business days later. Sweet… if you buy Applecare+. This service will come at a cost though if you don’ return the broken watch (starting at $300 for the Apple Watch Sport).

iPhone Antidote will also be accepting your used, stinky, broken or water damaged Apple Watches in the very near future, so keep that in mind if you’re taking yours, like, on a monster truck that jumps over water and stuff. Or something of that nature…

Tim Cook’s reaction to first Apple Watch pre-order sales

Tim Cook seems pretty pleased with the current rate of Apple Watch Pre-orders, appearing on Friday at the Palo Alto store to speak to customers and journalists about the new device.

From the sauce, care of CNBC:

“It has been incredible. You know this morning, I got reports from all the way around the world, from Japan to Australia to China to Germany to France to the U.K. to Canada and now the U.S. It is extraordinary. Customers are giving us great feedback and orders are great as well.”

He himself was sporting the device, wearing a stainless steel Apple Watch with the White fluoroelastomer band. 

Within 6 hours since pre-orders begun at 12:01 AM PST, there were no models left with a shipping date of April 24th, with some models slipping as far as July as of today. 

Customers can waltz on in to their local Apple retail store to get a feel for the Apple Watch models right now, with the official release date landing on April 24th.

Our Apple Watch try-on experience!

The Apple Watch phenomenon has begun! We headed out this morning to capture some of the madness:

It wasn’t so much madness, actually. The retail store opened at 10:00AM this morning and we were one of about 40 people who entered the store- not all of whom were there to look at the Apple Watch… unless they were pretending and just sneaking looks. In fact, there seemed to be more employees than customers throughout the time we were there.

We had a try-on appointment, which was taken by a very nice, rather nervous Apple store employee who didn’t seem super trained on the functionality or pricing of the watch, which was unexpected, but alright, as he had a cheat sheet right there on an iPad next to the Apple Watch.

This particular store had the Apple Watch edition models in the glass display case, but none available to try on.

We tried on the Apple Watch Sport and the Stainless Steel Apple Watch with the Milanese loop band and the leather band.  The Apple store employee was only allowed to bring two watches out of his little drawer at the try-on table at a time.

Both watches we tried on were dead which wasn’t great, but we were able to play with the functionality on the Apple watch attached to the Try-on desk, and at another display section later on after the try-on appointment was over.

Our appointment lasted the full 15 minutes, and we were definitely not rushed, which was nice. The Apple Watch sport felt nice on the wrist, although we were particularly taken with the Milanese band. For those of you who may be confused -and we heard a few questions like this this morning – there is no difference in functionality between any of the watch models, instead the difference is in the metal that the watch face is made out of, and the ability to have different bands.

The larger 42mm was more pleasant to look at and use, although the 38mm size was fine, especially for a finer wrist.  The functionality of the Apple watch, limited as it was to being on a stand in the Apple Store and not connected to an iPhone, seemed pretty impressive. Very intuitive, the crown feature was great and easy to use, and we feel like it could become very much a part of your life once you started wearing it and using it everyday.

The watch has no internet browser, no keyboard function (to reply to messages and emails you can speak into the watch or choose a simple prepared answer such as ‘yes’ etc.) The watch does have Siri, you can look at your photos, scroll through emails and messages,log your exercise, check your calendar, and maps seems to work great.

The extra options in messages such as sending your friends a drawing, a tap or tap sequence or your heartbeat were all really pretty rad, but it remains to be seen how gimicky it might seem after a while, and how much it would be used.

Here are the Apple Watch Sport models in the display case –

And some of the stainless steel Apple Watches-

Amongst the customers in-store this morning, there definitely seemed to be the idea that the Apple Watch Stainless Steel models and the Apple Watch edition models were pretty overpriced, which we would agree with.

It is a pretty fun toy, and it will probably become super prevalent and successful, but getting in this early on the super expensive models (especially with the expensive bands, which will likely have cheaper copies made by other companies soon enough) might not be recommended.

It also relies very heavily on it’s link to the iPhone (although it does have limited use without it). One of iPhone Antidote’s friends really wants an Apple Watch, but she doesn’t carry a phone with her half the time. Conundrum. Who can say First world problem?

All that being said: the Stainless Steel 42mm with the Milanese band? Ummm… Our birthday is on July 1st. Just saying. Oh, and hot tip? Don’t lose your grip on the Apple Watch if and when you go to a try-on appointment. We did a pretty comical 30 second slow motion juggling act with the Stainless Steel model and the Apple guy was kinda losing his sh*t. Hilarious, but not recommended.

Have you checked out the Apple Watches today? Get a try-on appointment? Was it similar to ours? Did you drop it and run? Let us know!

Last minute things you need to know about the Apple Watch

With less than 6 hours to go until pre-orders for the Apple Watch begin, and shortly before you can try one on for yourself, here’s the last minute things you should know.

If you haven’t already, head on over to Apple’s website and check out both the available video guides and the detailed info on all models, bands and sizes to make sure you’re aware of what you’ll be dealing with whether you’re pre-ordering or planning to fight the crowds and try one on in-store.

Here’s the deal straight from the sauce on how you can experience the Apple Watch yourself before you buy:

“Customers interested in learning more about Apple Watch can visit their local Apple Store for a personalized session with a Specialist to try on, fit and size their band, and explore the amazing features of Apple Watch. Customers who want to try on an Apple Watch are encouraged to make an appointment by going to www.apple.com.”

So: encouraged. Which means you probably should if you don’t want to fight the crowds, but it doesn’t sound like it’s particularly necessary. If you’re Apple store is quiet on a certain day and a certain time, you should probably waltz on in and try one of those bad boys on!

If you’re interested in trying on an Apple Watch Edition, you’ll need to go to one of the select few stores that will carry the fancy pants watch. These are:

United States —

New York City: Fifth Avenue, SoHo, Upper West Side

Boston: Boylston Street

Chicago: North Michigan Avenue, Lincoln Park

Philadelphia: Walnut Street

Washington DC: Georgetown

Atlanta: Lenox Square

Miami: Lincoln Road

Virginia: Tyson’s Corner Center

Newark, Delaware: Christiana Mall

Bay Area: San Francisco, Stanford

Los Angeles: The Grove, Third St. (Santa Monica), South Coast (Costa Mesa)

Las Vegas: Fashion Show

Houston: Highland Village

Dallas: Northpark Center

Seattle: Bellevue Square

Canada —

Toronto: Eaton Centre

Montreal: Sainte-Catherine

More may appear over the course of the next few weeks, so keep an eye out. To check Apple Watch Edition availability in your local area, navigate to Apple’s Find Locations website, click on Sales, use your current GPS-based location or enter another one, select Watch Edition from the list of all products, and click on the Go button. A map will then display nearby Apple Store locations that will be carrying the Edition.

There is expected to be a rather large amount of interest in the Apple Watch (D’uh), creating a quite lopsided supply-demand scenario that although might make some unhappy short term, will serve Apple’s interests in the end. You want what Jim next door was somehow able to get – that kind of thing.

From Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail and Online Stores:

“We are excited to welcome customers tomorrow and introduce them to Apple Watch, our most personal device yet. Based on the tremendous interest from people visiting our stores, as well as the number of customers who have gone to the Apple Online Store to mark their favorite Apple Watch ahead of availability, we expect that strong customer demand will exceed our supply at launch,”

Remember: the launch of pre-orders is at 12:01 AM Pacific Standard Time. In  less than 6 hours. You can try to use both the online Apple Store, and the Apple Store App to secure your pre-order. The Apple website will be going down at 9PM PST to prepare for the launch.

Retail stores are undergoing an overnight remodel to prepare for the Apple Watch phenomenon.

In Australia, Apple Stores have been open since 4PM PST (9AM local time) and people have been let into the stores to view the Apple Watch glass display units. Check it out on Instagram and the live streaming app Periscope. Australians get to have all the fun! Just because they’re in the future fancy pants Australians with their cool deadly animals and awesome accents…

We’ll let you know if and when there is any more news about the Apple Watch!

Applecare for Apple Watch?

Super thrilled about buying an Apple Watch? Not so thrilled about the likelihood of you breaking said Apple Watch? Then you might want to look at getting AppleCare+.

According to sauces who are in the know (probably),  Applecare+ for the Apple Watch will be different for each model. If these sources are correct,  you’ll be looking at the below pricing:

Apple Watch Sport – $59

Stainless Steel Apple Watch – $79

Apple Watch Edition – $999 (Watch out for that jump there, it’s quite a leap.)

Pricing for Applecare+ Apple Watch bands isn’t clear yet. If you decide against Applecare+, your precious Watch will still be covered by a limited one-year warranty for hardware repairs and 90 days of complimentary support. If you’re a fancy Apple Watch Edition owner, you’ll get a two-year warranty and complimentary support.

With the purchase of AppleCare+, the warranty for aluminum Apple Watch Sport and stainless steel Apple Watch models will be extended to two years from the date of purchase, plus accidental damage will be covered. Apple Watch Edition coverage will be extended to three years with AppleCare+.

If it is similar to how Applecare+ works for the iPhone, you’re still looking at paying a service fee for the repair of any accidental damage, and not all damage is covered. You’ll be able to buy Applecare+ online and in store, but make sure you know exactly what you’re getting before you purchase it. If it’s similar to the iPhone Applecare+, you’ll have 60 days after purchasing the Apple Watch to purchase Applecare+.

And if you do break your shiny Apple Watch, and you don’t have Applecare+, make sure to check back with us, as we’ll be beginning to purchase Apple Watches in the near future!
Apple Watch buyers will be able to purchase AppleCare+ as an add-on both online and in-store. With the iPhone, AppleCare+ can be purchased up to 60 days after an initial iPhone purchase, and it’s likely Apple will adopt a similar policy with the Apple Watch.

8 Hours until Pre-order starts!

Here’s exactly when you can pre-order an Apple Watch

We’ve known for a while now that pre-orders for the Apple Watch will begin on April 10th, and now we know when on April 10th. As usual with their penchant for dramatics, Apple have made it so that those wishing to be first in line to pre-order their most personal product yet will need to be ready with their finger over their curser at 12:01 AM Pacific Time on Friday the 10th.

For those of us who are easily confused, that’s just after Midnight on Thursday the 9th. 

Sorry East coasters, this means you’re looking at a very late night/early morning, with pre-orders starting for you guys at 3:01 AM. Ouch.

The pre-orders will be going live at the same time in all of the first wave countries, meaning you have quite a lot of competition for those first Apple Watches, with U.K customers being wide eyed and well awake at their pre-order time of 8:01 AM local time, and Australians being able to pre-order at 5:01 PM Australian Eastern Standard Time.

The Apple online store will be going down at 9 PM on Thursday to prepare for the onslaught, and remember- you can also use the Apple Store App, which might  help you bypass some of the expected congestion where everyone who wants an Apple Watch is fighting you for one.

If you are able to pre-order a shiny Apple Watch, then you can look forward to getting it delivered or picking it up beginning April 24th.

If you’re not sure about this whole Apple Watch thing, you should make a try-on appointment at your local Apple Store to look at your options to see if you really want to drop a minimum of $349 on one of these bad boys. There hasn’t been any clarification yet as to when you can make your try-on appointment, but we’re going to guess that it will be either at the same time as pre-orders start (12:01AM PST) or at the beginning of business on Friday, 8:00 AM or 9:00 AM.

We’ll keep you up to date on everything we know when we know it!

Check out these Apple Watch guided tours!

Less than 3 days until the Apple watch is… kind of… released upon us!  If you’re wondering if this most personal of Apple devices is for you, you should probably check out the new video tours that Apple have just put out. 

Right now you can sit and watch pretty pictures about the Apple Watch itself, messages, faces and the digital touch function, and there are more videos forthcoming regarding Siri, phone calls, maps and a bunch of other applications. These should be released over the next 3 days.

Just because we like you, here are the first two videos! To watch the others as they get released, head on over to Apple’s guided tour page. 

The Apple watch will begin pre-orders at 12:01 AM PST on April 10th, with the actual release and start of deliveries beginning on the 24th of April. In-store try-on appointments will also begin April 10th.

How do you buy an Apple Watch?

April 10th is SUPER close!

For those playing at home, April 10th is when you can start seeing for yourself what all the fuss is about the Apple Watch, try one on, and if you like it and have some spare cash sitting around, pre-order it!

You’ll need to make a try-one appointment at a retail store, which you can do through Apple.com or the Apple store App beginning April 10th. Most try-on appointments will be maximum 15 minutes, with the exception of the Apple Watch Edition appointments which will need to be made at select stores and will last up to 30 minutes.

When you get your appointment, get thee to the Apple Store! There, you can decide exactly what kind of watch you’ll want (Apple Watch Sport, Stainless Steel Apple Watch, Apple Watch Edition), which of the 2 size options,  and with what kind of band.

So here’s the dealio: Apple will not be letting customers mix and match multiple watches with multiple bands, or re-size links on bands at their try-on appointments. Bummer hummer, but kind of makes sense, as that seems chaotic even just to type. So, they’ll instead have 18 specific Apple Watch combinations on display at the try-on tables, and 10 specific combinations at the in-store display cases.

If you see what you like, you can pre-order it on the 10th and during the next couple of weeks, but the Apple Watch won’t be launching until April 24th. That is also the date when the first deliveries of the pre-orders will occur.

Now, when it comes to the 24th, you apparently won’t be able to just pop on in to your closest Apple store and buy one, as they won’t be selling them to walk-in customers. 

You’ll actually need to make an ‘Online Reservation’ to hold a specific model at a retail store. If you walk in to a retail store wanting to buy a watch after the 24th, you’ll be invited to try one on, and then an employee will walk you through how to order it online or through the Apple Store App. This also makes sense as there is apparently going to be low inventory of the Apple Watches both in real life and kept at the store, at least initially. Supply and demand people!

If you are interested in buying an Apple Watch, you should check out the Apple website to try and get an idea of what kind of Apple Watch you might be after before your (very short) try on appointment.

Tim Cook to give away most of his wealth

Tim Cook has joined other super wealthy and philanthropic high profile business leaders by saying that he intends on giving away most of his substantial wealth to charity, after making sure his currently 10 year old nephew is taken care of.

In doing so he joins what’s called the ‘Giving Pledge’. It’s an appeal launched in 2010 by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, asking American billionaires to give at least 50% of their wealth to charity. Other high profile participants include Elon Musk, Michael Bloomberg and Mark Zuckerberg.

Whilst not actually a billionaire (yet) with a net worth of about $800 million according to Forbes, Tim Cook sees it as a logical step – after making sure his nephew is looked after financially, he wants to then give the rest of his fortune to charities that will try to make the world a better place for his nephew to live in.

“You want to be the pebble in the pond that creates the ripple for change,” the CEO explained.

Indeed.