Steve Sande

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">All the news you need about Apple's Spring Forward Event held today, in about three minutes. We touch on:</p><ul><li>News about Apple TV</li><li>The new 12-inch Retina MacBook</li><li>MacBook Air gets updated</li><li>Apple creates ResearchKit for health research</li><li>Watch pricing and availability news</li></ul>

<p><span>Today we were finally given access to the pricing ranges for the Apple Watch, and I know that for me, the pricing was a bit of a shock. That $349 number that had been bandied about for months for the Watch Sport? Wait a second -- that's only for the 38mm version. For the bigger 42mm size, you'll need to cough up $399. </span></p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Hotel chain Marriott and retail site Etsy have both announced their intentions to support Apple Pay following the company's announcement's this morning. </p><p>First up, the Marriott has announced that three U.S. locations will support the service in the near future, including the Ritz-Carlton at Central Park, the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, and the Courtyard Chicago Downtown.</p>

<p><span>This week we have a special deal partner -- </span><a target="_blank" href="http://macphun.evyy.net/c/143055/185399/3255" rel="noopener noreferrer">Macphun</a><span>, the makers of many wonderful photography apps for Mac. To help celebrate one month of Apple World Today, they'd like for you to get a free copy of their Focus app (regularly US$9.99) and introduce you to the rest of the lineup of Macphun apps.</span></p>

<p>It's time to save some of your hard-earned money with our <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/?tag=deals"><span>Daily Deals</span></a>, featuring exclusive deals for AWT readers, hardware discounts and our own handpicked iOS and OS X sales. All prices are USD and subject to change. Please check prices before you purchase as some deals may expire quickly.</p>

Apple has released iOS 8.2 with support for the Apple Watch, plus additional improvements. As of this writing, it's available...

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">That took no time at all. Waterfield Designs just announced the new Time Travel Apple Watch Case ($49 - $59) and the $17 WatchPad to accessorize your Apple Watch.</p><p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.sfbags.com/products/time-travel-case" rel="noopener noreferrer">Time Travel</a> is a beautiful padded case for carrying your charger, spare watch bands, a Bluetooth earpiece or your iPhone, and even the Watch when it's not being worn.</p>

<p>Apple kicked off its March press event by introducing <a href="http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2015/03/09HBO-NOW-Premiering-in-April.html"><span>a new partnership</span></a> with HBO that will bring the HBO Now streaming service exclusively to Apple owners for the next three months.</p>

<p>pple today confirmed that it will begin accepting pre-orders for the Apple Watch starting April 10. To coincide with the pre-orders, Apple also is launching in-store displays that'll showcase the Watch before it officially is available. The Watch will go on sale beginning April 24th with a starting price tag of $349 for the 38mm Watch Sport and $399 for the 42mm Sports model. </p>

<p>As part of its March press event, Apple unveiled a new ultra-thin laptop simply called the <a href="http://apple.com/macbook">Macbook</a>. The 12-inch notebook with edge-to-edge display weighs a svelte 2 pounds and is 13.11mm thin. It also features a full-length keyboard that's been overhauled with a new butterfly mechanism that both improves tactile feedback and slims down the keyboard. Each key also has an individual LED to improve the backlight when working in poor lighting conditions. </p><p> </p>

<p>Apple kicked off its March press event by introducing <a href="http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2015/03/09HBO-NOW-Premiering-in-April.html"><span>a new partnership</span></a> with HBO that will bring the HBO Now streaming service exclusively to Apple owners for the next three months. As part of its March press event, Apple announced the new ResearchKit that turns the iPhone and HealthKit into powerful medical research tools. </p>

At this afternoon's Spring Forward event, Apple CEO Time Cook announced that his company has sold 700 million iPhones to...

<p>Here are some of the best free apps, app updates and new apps that have landed in the App Store recently. Today's notable apps include a discount on CrazyTalk7 PRO, the new Ghostnote for Mac,  and an update to outdoor app Yonder. All app prices are USD and subject to change. Some deals may expire quickly, so grab them while you can.</p>

<p>Here's an entertaining, tongue-in-cheek flowchart meant to aide your Apple Watch purchase decision. It has a good, no-nonsense start that I appreciate. Just don't be "that guy" (or woman), OK? You'll see what I mean. </p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://store.apple.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple's online store</a> has gone down ahead of today's Spring Forward event, which is believed to be all about <a target="_blank" href="http://apple.com/watch" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple Watch</a>. This is typical of Apple, as the company often adds an option to buy or pre-order new hardware after press events. </p>