The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and our agency Elf

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien was published 80 years ago on this day. :) Our name Elf is inspired by Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. Tolkien reimagined what an Elf was in a beautiful way.

We take this further at Elf.  Swift, agile, graceful, very intelligent with a love of beauty, design, nature and form. Little mischievous too. :-)

Apple Watch Goes iPhone-Free & More Updates from The Apple Event

Apple's latest iteration on Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Series 3, releases it from the captivity of carrying your iPhone everywhere with you, with its own independent cellular connection and the ability to stream music live anywhere, wirelessly with AirPods.

Image via Apple

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At the Apple Event last Tuesday September 12th held in the new Steve Jobs theater, Apple announced a slew of updates, including a new iPhone 8 series, iPhone X, Apple TV updates, wireless connectivity, an updated Apple Watch model, iOS features and more.

Image via Apple

We're excited by the improvements, as the Apple Watch moves in the direction of an independent and possibly autonomous device as we hoped for. The Apple Watch has also grown in popularity worldwide, competing with top watch models worldwide including Rolex and more.

Independent of the iPhone, with its own Cellular

The new Apple Watch 3 series features an LTE radio and eSIM. Together, this enables the Apple Watch to have continuous data network connectivity without a paired iPhone, making the wearable stand alone on its own. With its own cellular connection, the new Apple Watch 3 series enables you to make calls, send messages via Siri and stream music (access to over 40 million songs). You can also receive alerts from frequently used apps on your Watch as well. While it offers 18 hours of battery life, when you use the GPS and stream music, this drops to 4 hours of continuous use. The new Series 3 watch is noticeably faster than prior models. Sending texts is easier too now with handwriting recognition, built in prompts and Siri. 

We look forward to seeing even more functionality building upon these features, becoming available in time. The Apple Watch is an emerging standalone computing platform. We expect the transition of the Apple Watch to a fully functional, independent computing platform will take some time, akin to the iPad's autonomy from being plugged into a Mac as its usefulness, speed and power improve. 

Image via Apple

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Swimproof

The last model in 2016 made the Apple Watch water-resistant. Now the latest iteration makes the Apple Watch swimproof for the ocean and pool. We're excited about this. Last year in October, we tested out the Apple Watch 2 series in the swimming pool using the fitness app we were developing at the time. We found the app worked without any pause underwater. The corresponding iPhone was nearby on a pool chair. 
 

Elf Apple Watch app Oct 2016

Our founder Jan Manon testing the Apple Watch 2 Oct 2016

A health and fitness app we designed in fall 2016 with a point system to earn rewards for positive reinforcement

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Greater Health and Fitness Usability

As we discussed in our prior post in July about the Apple Watch iOS syncing up with existing gym equipment, the new Apple Watch 3 series and corresponding iOS open the gateway to more accurate tracking of health and fitness metrics and ease of use.

A great example of use today would be wearing the Apple Watch on a Saturday where you are working out a lot, you make a couple of phone calls and send a few texts. You can also get news alerts from your apps. It is enough functionality when you are out and about without having to carry your iPhone along with you, especially on a run or other    exercise.

By liberating the Apple Watch from being tethered to the iPhone and offering greater connectivity with existing fitness equipment, it's clear that the Apple Watch 3 series is becoming a powerful, independent health and fitness wearable device that is built with convenience in mind. We believe that this will lead to greater adoption and hopefully, use of tools like this will create more self-awareness and lead to greater health and fitness for a more engaged, fitter public. 

We're excited to use all these features in the new apps we're developing for our clients, partners and at Elf. It's a wonderful time to be creative.

Hurricane Irma and South Florida

With Hurricane Irma approaching, we hope all FL residents are safe and healthy. Our Florida office is closed on Friday and Monday, and will reopen on Tuesday.