Tim Cook Says Apple Watch Will Replace Car Key Fobs, Filter Messages, Reward Exercise

Tim Cook made a surprise visit to the Covent Garden Apple Store in London as his international tour continues, reports The Telegraph.

The site was with Cook as he entered the store through a rear entrance.

The reaction at the Covent Garden store was off the charts: the staff gasped, and then burst into spontaneous, loud applause as soon as they spotted Cook, who walked in behind them. Around 50 of them, wearing their blue T-shirts and jeans, were grouped together, taking part in what the company calls its Morning Download. Within seconds, somebody asked about the watch. Cook, who was wearing a smartly tailored dark suit and an open-necked shirt, showed them his wrist, and they cheered. The Australian team-leader was left speechless, at least for a few seconds. He subsequently regained his composure, asking Cook what made him the most proud in the past year.


"I'm proud we stayed true to our North Star", Cook replied. "We are pro-privacy, pro-environment and pro-human rights." He added, for good measure, that this was "one of my favourite stores in the world" and praised to the skies the contribution of the retail staff to Apple's overall success.

As he did in Germany, Cook talked to staff about the upcoming Apple Watch launch. He noted that the Apple Watch can monitor heart rates and will even gently tap your wrist every hour to remind you to move about if you haven't had enough exercise. Apparently, there is a special rewards system that gives you credits if you exercise enough. If you meet your exercise targets consistently, you will be encouraged to increase your metabolic targets. There's an incentive to wear the watch for as much of the day as possible, even in the shower.

Cook also told the site that the watch is designed to be able to replace car keys and key fobs.

Of course, there also the ability to use the watch with Apple Pay, replacing the need to pull out your plastic card.


Cook says the Apple Watch will allow for the filtering of messages, making it easier to prioritize, spot, and react to urgent messages, like family emergencies.

As revealed before, the Apple Watch battery is said to last a whole day and it won't take as long to charge as an iPhone.

Apple has announced a special event on March 9th where the company is expected to unveil even more details about the Apple Watch.

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