Apple Watch 3 Cellular: All You Need To Know Before It Launches in India On May 11

Apple’s new LTE-enabled Watch Series 3 is making its way to India in collaboration with Reliance Jio and Airtel. Launched back in September, the Apple watch could not find any support from the Indian telecom providers till now to reach the Indian market. At the time of its launch, Apple had called it “the world’s number one watch”, allowing users to play music, receive messages and make and receive calls without needing to be synced to a phone. Along with some of the standard features available on most current fitness trackers available in the market, Apple Watch Series 3 boasts of some new health features and water resistance up to 50 meters. The watch is available now on pre-order and will be retailing starting May 11, 2018.

The most highlighted feature of the new Apple watch is an updated Heart Rate app. Apple claims that this provided a more detailed monitoring, including measurements during resting, workout, walking, recovery and Breathe sessions, a feature introduced as part of the Apple Watch Series 2. Apple Watch Series 3 also claims to be water resistant up to a depth of 50 meters, hence making it usable for swimmers to track their data. In addition, the watch offers a GymKit app to help gym-goers have a fitness count. But before you buy the new Apple Watch Series 3 GPS + Cellular, we at News18 tech get you all that you need to know about this wearable smart gadget.

Design
Apple says that making a cellular-enabled watch took several innovations. And the primary reason for that was the Watch 3’s size. It comes in two size options of 38mm and 42mm. The Watch Series 3 now supports voice and data over LTE/UMTS and will switch to the most power-efficient wireless available. This means that it seamlessly switches between Bluetooth, wi-fi and cellular 4G LTE depending on the most efficient network that’s available to it.

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Apple admits that building a full antenna into Apple Watch took groundbreaking engineering. That is because instead of adding a separate antenna, Apple engineers found a way to use the display itself as the cellular antenna which, as per Apple, comes as an industry first technology. Activating cellular on Series 3 is a simple over-the-air process that is done during setup. Apple Watch shares the same number as your iPhone so people can easily get in touch. Apple has also implemented an electronic SIM (eSIM), which claims to save space and make the setup easy. So there is also no physical SIM on the Watch 3 Cellular, it in a way clones your SIM card that’s on your iPhone. Right now Apple has tied up with Jio and Airtel to offer this service and both the telecom operators are making the Apple Watch work on your existing data plan. This means that unlike the USA where you have to pay a premium for using your Apple Watch for cellular connectivity, in India, it will work with your existing data pack at no additional cost.

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Music Streaming
Apple will be rolling out this service on the Apple Watch Series 3 cellular soon. Apple Music customers will be able to stream music and radio right on Apple Watch with cellular, getting access to 40 million songs right on their wrist. In addition to this, Apple voice assistant Siri is also capable of becoming your personal DJ and can play your favourite hits or help discover new music. There is also a new Radio app through which users can even listen to Beats 1 live or any other Apple Music radio station even in regional languages.

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Cellular Connectivity
Apple aims to completely change how its users operate their Apple Watch with the new Apple Watch Series 3 Cellular. The Series 3 Cellular runs on watchOS 4. With cellular connectivity. users can even ask Siri to dial any number, receive messages, and use SOS in case of an emergency without even bothering where their iPhone is.
Apple Watch Series 3 Cellular comes with several addition features like a new Explorer watch face that shows the cellular strength, Maps that give you turn-by-turn directions and Find My Friends that automatically switches to your Apple Watch location when you are away from your phone or not connected to Wi-Fi—so you can locate your friends and let friends find you. In addition to all this without using your iPhone, you can also book a cab ride with Ola and Uber right of the Watch 3.

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Specs
Apple Watch Series 3 features Apple’s faster dual-core processor with its third-generation architecture. As per Apple, it delivers up to 70 percent more performance, faster app launch times, and an overall smoother user interface. The added processing power also enables Siri to now reply audibly by using the built-in speaker. And the user can now also use Siri with Bluetooth headphones connected to their Apple Watch.
There is also Apple’s own W2 wireless chip that delivers up to 85 percent faster Wi-Fi and is up to 50 percent more power efficient for both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, compared to Apple Watch Series 2, according to Apple.

Barometric Altimeter
Apple Watch Series 3 also features a barometric altimeter that measures relative elevation. The barometric altimeter also comes with exciting new APIs for apps that measure elevation in outdoor workouts such as running, hiking, skiing, and snowboarding.

Features of Apple Watch 3 GPS + Cellular
The new Siri watch face dynamically updates information based on personal routines, location, and time of the day. Intelligent Activity coaching shows you exactly what it takes to close your Activity rings, and Music automatically syncs your most favourite songs. The redesigned Workout app now supports High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and multiple workouts in one single session. Other features include a new News app and deeper heart rate insights.

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Deeper heart rate insights
A new complication on the watch face shows the latest heart rate reading. Resting and walking heart rates are defined by using background readings and signals from the accelerometer. A notification can also be sent when the heart rate is above a certain threshold during an inactive period of 10 minutes. All data is available in the Heart area of the Health app on iPhone.

Availability and Price
Apple Watch 3 GPS + Cellular is available on pre-order on Jio and Airtel and will be officially available in India starting May 11. The Watch 3 GPS + Cellular comes in two options of 38mm and 42mm that are priced at Rs 39,080 and Rs 41,120 respectively.