20 Facts You Should Know About Apple Watch

With Apple announcing the arrival of its most talked-about smartwatch on April 24, many are already looking forward on getting their hands -- or should we say wrists, on the long-awaited wearable tech. But, is it really worth spending $349 to $17,000 for you to be a certified owner of an Apple Watch? Here are some facts you should know first to educate and to help you decide whether it's a must-have or a pass. 

HOW IT WORKS

1. The Apple Watch requires iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, or iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 8.2 or later.

2. The Apple Watch app is added in iOS 8.2, which will allow you to download and organize the apps that show up on your smartwatch, as well as customize the notifications.

3. The Apple Watch can last up to 18 hours with mixed usage and up to 72 hours when in Power Reserve Mode, but in limited functionality. That means you need to charge it every night by snapping the magnetic circular charger at the back of the watch's face to re-charge it.

4. The Digital Crown button serves as the watch's main button, and is used for scrolling, zooming, and navigating.


WHAT IT DOES

5. Like Control Center on iOS, swipe up from the bottom screen of the Apple Watch to see Glances -- these are little snippets of useful information such as the weather, maps, or music.

6. Notifications and messaging are at the heart of Apple Watch. Instead of digging out your smartphone, simply look at your wrist to find out if you want to answer the call, reply to the text, or read an email.

7. Press the display to reveal pre-set responses to messages. Or send an animated emoji or voice message.

8. Digital Touch lets you send a sketch, tap, or pulse to someone else who is wearing an Apple Watch, especially if you're a man or woman of few words. Press two fingers on the screen, and the heart-rate monitor will read and send your heartbeat.

9. For email, read it on your wrist, flag it, mark it as read or unread, move it to the Trash, or open it on your iPhone.

10. You can also use Apple Watch to purchase things (in the US) via Apple Pay.

11. Planning to meet someone? No problem since Apple Watch can send them your current location.

12. Apps that will be launched on Apple Watch include Instagram, MLB.com at Bat, Nike+ Running, OpenTable, Shazam, Twitter, WeChat, and more.

13. Raise your wrist and say "Hey Siri," or you can use the Digital Crown to ask a question, set a reminder, get directions, and more.


TYPES OF ACTIVITY TRACKING IT HAS

14. Apple Watch uses GPS and Wi-Fi in your iPhone to measure distance, and features an accelerometer and built-in heart rate monitor.

15. With iOS 8.2, you'll also get a new Activity app, where fitness data from Apple Watch will be gathered upon pairing it with your iPhone.

16. Apple will use that data to suggest fitness goals, and congratulate you on fitness milestones.

17. Your watch will give you a little buzz to remind you to get up and move around if it detects that you've been sitting for quite a while.


HOW MUCH IT COSTS

18. The Apple Watch Sport is $349 for the 38mm watch and $399 for the 42mm version. The fluoroelastomer Sport Band will come in five colors: white, blue, green, pink, and black.

19. The midrange Apple Watch starts at $549 but can go up to $1,099 depending on the band. You can choose from any one of the three leather straps, a stainless steel link bracelet and Milanese loop, or black or white Sport Band.

20. The high-end Apple Watch Edition, which is made from custom rose or yellow 18-karat gold alloys, starts at $10,000.

How to Make Your Old Computer Run Like New

Is your old computer getting somewhat slow on you? This will definitely happen over time due to the many programs you install, and of course due to the fact that your computer is a little bit old. Naturally, installed programs typically come with additional files, registry entries, toolbars and start-up items that all combine to make your computer sluggish. You can do some simple computer maintenance regardless of your experience to keep your computer running smoothly. If you have not done it in months, or even years, then this could take some time to do the first time. If you find this overwhelming, please don’t give up because you can always call a really good tech support company to take a look at your aging computer.

Uninstall any programs you do not use or need
All programs installed will eventually swamp your hard drive. If you no longer use them, now is the time to uninstall them. Windows uninstaller and poorly designed installations mean that removing a program may not always remove everything. You can remedy this by going to the Program Files on your hard drive and looking for the specific program you just uninstalled and simply deleting that program’s folder.

Clean your hard drive of junk files
Windows does have a junk file cleaner, though some say it isn’t very good. If you don’t have anything else, you can still use this. Some antivirus programs have a file cleaner that gets a lot more junk files out of your computer while still being safe and fairly conservative. If you don’t have this, you can simply download and install a file cleaning program that comes free.

Defragment your hard drive
To explain in layman’s terms, your computer has a lot of unneeded junk files on it and they are scattered all over your hard drive. The files are arranged inside your hard drive, but as time goes by, the arrangement becomes cluttered due to so many files. Defragmenting your hard drive can place everything on your hard drive in a way that makes it faster for your computer to access files and re-arranges them back in their proper order. Microsoft includes a disk defragmenter, which is easy to use and follow. It is recommended to check at least once a month if your computer needs defragmentation.

Remove startup items
Startup items are a huge culprit on the average computer. Those are all being loaded on startup, and all of those items are loading after Windows has started robbing you of valuable system resources before you open your first program. You can use the Windows cleanup tool and simply remove these startup items. Typically you find a lot of items from Java, Adobe, QuickTime, and iTunes that do not need to be there.