The Mac Observer's CES 2017 coverage sponsored by:

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Track Your BAC With This Wearable Alcohol Monitor for Apple Watch

· Jim Tanous · Cool Stuff Found

Need to drive or operate heavy machinery? BACtrack, a company specializing in breathalyzers, wants to make sure you know when you’ve hit your limit. Introduced at CES and shipping later this year, the BACtrack Skyn is a strap that attaches to your Apple Watch band and provides real-time feedback of your blood alcohol content. Users can monitor the loss of their sobriety on demand, or configure the device to vibrate when you’re nearing the legal limit, allowing you to gracefully pass on that third glass of Champagne without causing a scene. BACtrack also hopes that the device’s real-time monitoring capabilities will present new opportunities for the research and treatment of alcoholism.

Track Your BAC With This Wearable Alcohol Monitor for Apple Watch

Apple Watch 3 Rumored to Launch Q3 With Same Design But Better Battery Life

· Jim Tanous · Rumor

apple watch manufacturing

Supply chain data suggests that the next iteration of Apple Watch will hit the market in the third quarter this year. While it won’t feature any design or major feature changes, the “Series 3” Apple Watch is expected to bring improved battery life and performance to users’ wrists.

Pokémon GO Finally Comes to Apple Watch

· Jeff Gamet · News

Pokémon GO for Apple Watch

Niantic came through on its promise to release Pokémon GO for Apple Watch before the end of the year. The Apple Watch version is a companion app for the iPhone game that lets you log your walks and runs to hatch new characters, and alerts you to nearby Pokémon and PokéStops.

1Password 6.5 for iOS Adds Native Apple Watch App

· Bryan Chaffin · Cool Stuff Found

AgileBits announced Tuesday the release of 1Password 6.5 for iOS. This release offers device syncing through 1Password.com and gets the iOS version up to date with 1Password 6.5 for Mac. The company also made the Apple Watch app native, which should mean it will be much faster (you can read more about that in the AgileBits blog). In addition to being faster, the native app allows you to access entries to any vault, including vaults stored in 1Password.com—previously, you could only access items in your primary vault. You can download the update through the App Store.

1Password 6.5 for iOS Adds Native Apple Watch App

Apple's TV App Reveals its Plight with Television Industry

· John Martellaro · Particle Debris

CW app on Apple TV doesn't require cable subscription

From time to time, we’ve seem articles that explain Apple’s plight with its TV business. But John has found a splendidly complete diagnosis at The Verge  for this week’s focus. It examines the deepest motivations of Apple, it’s clash with the entertainment industry, its successes and failures, and how that has, in turn, affected Apple TV software design and customer perceptions.

Monowear Leather Deployant Band for Apple Watch

· Bryan Chaffin · Cool Stuff Found

One of the things I miss most about my Zenith now that I wear Apple Watch almost exclusively is the deployant clasp. This is a kind of buckle that folds/unfolds and closes with a snap. A quality deployant clasp is…simply lovely to use. With my Apple Watch Series 2, I have a nylon strap (that I like) that uses an old-fashioned buckle. It’s like I’m some king of animal, or something. And yes, I’m so kidding, but I love a good deployant clasp. A friend was shopping for third party Apple Watch straps and pointed me to Monowear’s Leather Deployant Band. At $89.99 (currently on sale for $71.99), it’s inexpensive for a real-leather strap with a deployant clasp (YMMV on whether that’s inexpensive). I haven’t tested one yet, but I’m intrigued. I like the stitching, and they do a variety of metal finishes and leather colors.

Monowear Leather Deployant Band for Apple Watch

This List Proves Apple (Still) Hasn't Accomplished Much in 2016 [Update]

· Bryan Chaffin · The Back Page

Apple in 2016

Few people were thinking 2016 has been a great year for Apple, but…well, look at this list of things Apple released in 2016. There’s just 13 14 items on it, now that AirPods have shipped. That’s still depressing. Worse, Bryan Chaffin argues, it’s boring.

Apple Watch: Editing Your Workout Screen

· Melissa Holt · Quick Tip

Today’s Quick Tip is about working out with your Apple Watch. You can make your workout view look any way you’d like, so whether you’re a statistics person or a “one thing at a time” type, you’ll get what you want. We’ll also show you how to customize each kind of workout!

Apple Removes Fashion Executive Paul Deneve from Leadership Site [Update]

· Bryan Chaffin · Analysis

Way Back Machine Archive of Paul Deneve's Apple Bio

Apple quietly removed Paul Deneve from its leadership website. Mr. Deneve came from the fashion world and was Vice President of Special Projects at Apple, where he was known to work on Apple Watch. [Update: Financial Times of London‘s San Francisco reporter Tim Bradshaw tweeted on Saturday that Apple said Paul Deneve remained at Apple, but would now be reporting to COO Jeff Williams, rather than directly to CEO Tim Cook. This makes his removal from the leadership page an issue of chain of command, rather than Mr. Deneve having left Apple. ]

Playing Catch-up on macOS Sierra, Printer Wars, Knockoff Apple Watch Straps

· Bob LeVitus · Dr. Mac's Rants & Raves

Epson EcoTank

Dr. Mac follows up on whether or not it’s safe to upgrade to macOS Sierra; a longer-term report on his EcoTank vs. Instant Ink printer comparison; and a lower price on the leather loop Apple Watch bands he bought in July and August (and still loves).

iOS and watchOS: Seeing Historical Heart Rate Data

· Melissa Holt · Quick Tip

Today’s Quick Tip is all about using the iPhone’s Health app to view collected heart rate data from your Apple Watch. If you’ve never looked through that info, then boy, are you gonna be surprised at how much you can see! It’s a little nuts, to be honest.

Apple Watch Users get 5K Challenge for Thanksgiving

· Jeff Gamet · News

Apple Watch 5K Thanksgiving Challenge

Apple Watch owners got a special challenge Monday morning when Apple urged them to walk, run, or wheelchair 3.1 miles, or 5K, on November 24th. That’s the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, so instead of spending the day binging on turkey, pie, and watching football, Apple is pushing to get people outside and active by offering a special Thanksgiving Day Challenge badge.

TOMS Straps for Apple Watch Include Solar Power Donation

· Bryan Chaffin · Product News

TOMS Apple Watch Straps

TOMS announced Thursday a line of straps for Apple Watch. The straps are part of the Made for Apple Watch program from Apple, and continue TOMS’s philanthropic practice of including a charitable donation with each purchase.

CMRA Adds a Camera to Your Apple Watch Band, But in a Cool Way

· Jeff Gamet · Product News

Glide CMRA Apple Watch camera band

Remember Samsung’s watchband camera tumor on the Galaxy Gear smartwatch? The idea was interesting but the execution fell flat—a mistake Glide doesn’t plan on making with its CMRA watchband camera for the Apple Watch. The CRMA goes a step further, too, by including a second FaceTime-style camera.

Mute/Unmute Apple Watch Activity Reminders in watchOS 3

· Bryan Chaffin · How-To

Apple Watch Activity Reminders are great, but sometimes you just need to mute them—or to unmute them. That setting is hidden in the Watch app in iOS 10, and Bryan Chaffin shows you how to use it.

Customizing Apple Watch Faces on Your iPhone

· Melissa Holt · Quick Tip

Today’s Quick Tip is all about using the Apple Watch app on the iPhone to customize your faces. If you don’t wanna fiddle with colors and complications on your itty bitty Watch, there’s now an easier, faster way to do so!