The Apple Watch and Microsoft’s Windows 10

CEBU, Philippines – Two of the world’s leading consumer technology brands once again became the subject of hot conversations among techies and tech pundits recently, following after a product unveiling and a new update scheme announcement that took place after this year’s GSMA Mobile World Congress.

Apple finally unveiled the “Apple Watch” during the Apple Live March 2015 Special Event on March 9, while Microsoft revealed the company’s new Windows 10 upgrade scheme during the Windows Hardware Engineering Community summit in Shenzen, China on March 17.

Though tech product unveilings and announcements are high in season at this time of the year, both Apple and Microsoft’s announcements are so groundbreaking that they’ve practically polarized the product unveilings and announcements made by other players of the consumer electronics industry.

The “Apple Watch” finally makes its debut

Touted by Apple as the first Apple product that’s “designed to be worn,” the “Apple Watch” finally made its debut early this month.

Initially announced during the unveiling of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in September last year, the new device is essentially a “smart watch” that comes with provisions for health-oriented features and fitness-tracking functions – designed to connect with a range of Apple products running on iOS 8.2 or higher.

Capable of receiving phone calls, iMessage and regular SMS messages when paired to an iPhone, the smart watch can also be used as a viewfinder for an iPhone camera, and can run a selection of third-party developed apps that are designed for the device.

Water-resistant (meaning, water submersion is not necessarily recommended), the watch comes in three “collections” – “Apple Watch Sport,” “Apple Watch” and “Apple Watch Edition” – comprising of more than 20 individual models that come in two case sizes.

With all Apple Watch models fixed with a Flexible Retina Display and powered by the new Apple S1 processor, the smart watch runs on an iOS-based operating system called “Watch OS” – and is expected to be available by late April 2015.

Given Apple’s standing as the “BMW of smartphones and computers,” the unveiling of the Apple Watch has been met with mixed reactions – some praising its forthcoming rollout as a game-changer in the wearable technology industry; others quick in describing it as an embarrassment of richness that just trivializes technology.

Windows 10 as a free update for qualified PC machines

When we last talked about “Windows 10” – the upcoming successor of Microsoft’s

“Windows 8” – our hands-on feature on its preview edition focused on how the new operating system (OS) acknowledged how it brings the best of Windows 7 and Windows 8 together – apart from sporting a spectrum of new functions.

Fast forward to this year, Windows officials revealed – during the Windows Hardware Engineering Community (WinHEC) summit in Shenzen, China – its plans of upgrading qualified PC machines to Windows 10 for free when the OS becomes available.

Microsoft’s OS chief Terry Myerson announced the company’s new Windows 10 update scheme during the event on March 17, citing the Redmond-based company’s intention of working with Tencent, Qihu 360, Lenovo and other brands and organizations in bringing its plans to reality.

It is still unclear if this free Windows 10 update will be implemented outside China, but as it is, the announcement has caused a lot of ripples in different message boards and forum sites online – given how the said free Windows 10 update covers all qualified PC machines, including those running on non-genuine copies of Windows.

Scheduled to be available in 190 countries and in 111 languages this summer, Windows 10 is expected to feature a new Microsoft-branded web browser (code named “Spartan”). It is also expected to roll out with a new “Start Menu,” one that takes the place of the “Start Screen” that initially came out with Windows 8.