Apple’s keynote announcement started off a little underwhelming. A new iPhone is not new. After all, this is version 6, so we're getting used to them.

Those of us with older versions will all sigh at the fact that the new one is obviously going to be better than the old ones, but we've only had our iPhones 5 for a short time so you can't yet blag an upgrade or justify the purchase of a new one quite yet.

However, the announcement of the Apple Watch was interesting. Movement tracking and health diagnostics such as monitoring the wearer’s heart rate seem to be the Apple Watch’s USP. No doubt we will see some interesting upgrades from Nike and other fitness apps in response.

Wearable tech finally going mainstream?

I'm a big fan of wearable tech, I think it's the enabler of the 'internet of things'. But it needs to be something you wear daily without even thinking about; otherwise you simply limit what you can do with it. From that perspective the Apple’s iWatch is a no brainer. But how long will the battery last and will it be better than Jawbone’s Up24, which doesn't need an accompanying iPhone and has a fantastic ten day battery life cycle. I'm pretty sure we should be expecting bio-sensors from the next versions of Jawbone’s wristbands too.

Mobile payments to finally replace leather wallets?

The announcement of the contactless payment function is what has the potential to give Apple an edge compared to the competition (although no news yet of a UK rollout for it, which may be why it was somewhat underplayed during Apple’s announcement).

Apple has always held up well against their usual competition such as Samsung and Microsoft. This product means they are now competing with PayPal, Amazon, Amex and big merchant banks such as RBS.

Also, Apple is known for making things seamless and if people find making mobile payments easy with the iWatch and iPhone6, then Apple could suddenly find themselves as one of the largest banks in the world. As a consumer you could finally leave your wallet at home, pay for everything and even get on the bus with your watch.

So will I be queuing up in 2015 to buy one? Not at its current price point and not unless the battery lasts at least a week. But it's Apple and it's new and the 2015 version is probably just the tip of what it will eventually do. So I suspect they will fly off the shelves.

As for those of us thinking that we'll just wait until Apple’s iWatch 2 comes out, we will probably be left feeling like Luddites and hoping we can win one in some other big brand's promotional offer.

 

By Jo Coombs, Managing Director at OgilvyOne. 

 

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