Apple drops wearable bombshell #2

Cupertino, CA — Last week, Apple moved to the wrist. This week, it goes farther — all the way to the finger.

At a special event today, Tim Cook & Co. announced Apple Ring.

Designed to be worn on any finger — on either hand — Apple Ring opens up a new world of possibilities. Embedded in a choice of elegant bands is a gorgeous .125-inch Retina HD display.

Optional Apple Ring Magnifier makes the .125-inch display appear to the eye as a 15-inch display

Apple Ring connects to your Apple Watch, which in turn connects to your Apple iPhone. “This is more than technology designed to work together,” said Cook, “it’s technology designed to squeeze three purchases out of every customer.”

Developers are already at work creating fantastic Ring Apps, such as Twitter Ring — which will allow users to fire off 6-character tweets.

The biggest news in Apple Ring is its interface. Just as Apple Watch introduced a new interface designed for the small screen, Apple Ring introduces a new interface designed for the microscopic screen.

The key to controlling Apple Ring is the “tap.” Tapping the device on any hard surface allows the user to control functions without obscuring the display, which is nearly invisible to start with.

No need to learn a new interface — you control Apple Ring with a series of simple taps in Morse Code

“Rather than require users to learn a whole new interface,” says Jony Ive, “Apple Ring taps are based on a language you already know: Morse Code.”

The Ring’s Taptic Interface uses taps and double-taps in place of dots and dashes. For example, if you wish to say “hello” to a nearby friend with an Apple Ring, you would simply tap as follows:

“tap tap tap tap … tap … tap double-tap tap tap …  tap double-tap tap tap … double-tap double-tap double-tap”

“Information at your fingertips has long been the goal of technology,” says Gene Munster, Managing Director at Piper Jaffray. “Thanks to Apple, we’re now only two to three inches from that goal.”

Customers can choose among three different models. There is Apple Ring, for everyday use; Apple Ring Nasal, for stunning nose rings; and Apple Ring Nuptial, designed specifically for the betrothed.

The full line of Apple Rings will be available in early 2015.