Get ready, aftermarket Apple Watch straps are on the way

If Apple’s range of straps for the Watch doesn’t tempt you, then get ready, bands made by third-party companies are on the way. Apple has released a set of guidelines for creating alternative straps for the Apple Watch, and a website promoting the process to developers. This means the choice of straps available for the new wearable is about to get much, much larger.

Apple’s not taking any chances with its approved bands, and has laid down several strict rules to make sure they live up to expectations. Developers will have to make sure their straps meet guidelines related to toughness, sturdiness, and the ability to withstand corrosion, plus the amount of force they can take before detaching from the Watch’s body. Straps can’t interfere with the operation of the heart rate sensor — so no NATO-style straps wrapped under the body — and can’t include magnetic charging systems.

Related: The ten best Apple Watch accessories you can buy right now

Designers will be able to make straps which fit using the Sport strap-style built-in fitting, or by attaching the lugs seen on bands such as the Classic Buckle. These lugs will be sold separately in the near future, according to Apple’s documentation, ready to be added to new bands.

An entire industry already thrives around making cases for the iPhone and the iPad, and now Apple has officially given its instructions for creating Apple Watch straps, we’re sure to see many of the companies already invested in Apple’s ecosystem add them to their catalogs.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it has already started. Incipio, known for making iPhone cases, has a dedicated webpage up where one can sign-up for updates on its forthcoming Watch strap range. Upon announcement of the Watch, Speck also teased it would be releasing products designed for it, although it’s not clear whether we’ll get a case, strap, or both in the future.

Apple already sells a range of straps for the Watch, but aside from the $50 Sport silicone band, you’ll need to spend $150 to $450 to swap it out. That’s a considerable price gap, and one which other companies will be very keen to fill.

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Lumia fans, get ready: Microsoft reportedly plans to unveil two flagship phones this year

It’s been a while since Microsoft last released a flagship Lumia phone, but the wait may have finally ended. According to twin reports from the Verge and Unleash the Phones, the company is set to unveil two high-end devices, codenamed Cityman and Talkman, to showcase the headlining features of Windows Phone 10.

Unleash the Phones disclosed the internals of each handset, and they’re competitive. Cityman packs an unspecified Qualcomm octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and a MicroSD card slot. Talkman drops the processor core count down to six, but retains the 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage with MicroSD card slot.

Related: Best Windows Phones

The displays are close in terms of resolution (Quad HD 2,560 x 1,440 pixels) but apart in size: Cityman’s measures 5.7 inches, while Talkman’s is the smaller of the two at 5.2 inches. They both sport 20-megapixel rear-facing cameras, 5-megapixel front-facing cameras, and batteries of nearly identical capacity — 3,300mAh in Cityman and 3,000mAh in Talkman.

That may all sound rather mundane, but Microsoft’s got a few tricks up its sleeve. Cityman and Talkman are equipped with “triple-LED” flash for more “natural colors,” for one, and will also come with proprietary components that enable Windows 10’s Continuum for phones. The feature — which Microsoft recently demoed at its annual BUILD conference in Redmond, Washington — transforms the mobile interface into a full integrated Windows desktop. You can use the Edge browser and Office apps with an attached keyboard and mouse, but also receive SMS and place calls.

Related: Windows 10 can almost run Android and iPhone apps

The delay of Windows 10 for phones reportedly won’t impact the release date of the Cityman and Walkman. Microsoft is shooting to ship “later this year,” but specifics beyond that vague estimate aren’t forthcoming.

Windows Phone’s app ecosystem is still weaker than the competition’s, but Microsoft’s made strides in courting developers. It introduced tools at BUILD to easily port apps written for iOS and Android to Windows Phone, and added support for carrier billing, in-app purchases, and corporate environments to the Windows Store. Whether these efforts will increase the number of apps in the store and the number of Windows Phone users remains to be seen.

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