A few months ago, Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior vice president of retail, relayed a video message to retail employees on the launch of the smart watch, which shall be on the occasion of the Chinese New Year.
For 2015, that day would fall on Feb. 19. The latest report, however, indicates that the new Apple Watch is launching in March, with retail employees set to undergo training in mid-February in preparation for the launch.
Ahrendts further revealed that the Watch is arriving only toward the end of the Chinese New Year. She added that Apple had begun drafting the marketing strategies and that retail employees would be given training to make them more knowledgeable about the new watch's features.
Between Feb. 9 and Feb. 16, Apple Store employees will go through intensive training at either of Apple's headquarters in Austin, Texas or Cupertino, Calif. In the next couple of days prior to the Watch's release date, these trained Apple Store representatives will then extend the training to the other employees in their respective stores.
Apple is working on finalizing the Watch's software and doing a workaround on optimizing and improving the battery life and the inductive charging mechanism.
"In the months following the device's introduction in September, Apple has been polishing up the Watch OS and putting the device's battery through more extensive testing," said Mark Gurman of 9to5mac.
The Apple Watch, which was first announced in September, features a squarish design as opposed to the familiar circular build. It will come in three variants: space black or polished stainless steel; silver or space gray anodized aluminum; and 18-karat yellow or rose gold. A number of distinct wristband designs will also be available for retail.
Apple has so far revealed that the metal and glass sport model will be priced at $349. Pricing details of the other models are rumored to be $500 for the stainless steel and sapphire crystal standard and in the thousand-dollar price range for the gold model.
