sockrolid

AppleInsider said:

...  the Touch ID fingerprint sensor  ...

I hope Touch ID will eventually replace all logins/passwords.
Sick and tired of having hundreds of logins/passwords.
Sick and tired of password manager apps.

sog35 said:

I'm curious why all these POS brands can release super HD OLED screens and Apple can't?

Because Apple cares about quality.

AppleInsider said:

"Social accounts have been removed from Settings iOS 11. Third-party apps no longer have access to those signed-in accounts," Apple says.

Yay!

IDC should change their branding to "IDK and IDC".

Let's not forget that Softbank purchased ARM Holdings this year, for $32 billion.
This is the same ARM Holdings to whom Apple pays the "architectural license" for the rights to develop their Ax system-on-chip (SoC).
I.e. Apple pays ARM for the right to sell their own custom Ax SoC that run ARM's ISA - Instruction Set Architecture.
Costs Apple less per-chip and lets them build faster, more efficient SoCs than if they licensed ARM's "reference" SoC design.

So yes.  Makes sense for Apple to invest in the company that owns the IP for their (current) bread-and-butter computing hardware architecture.

AppleInsider said:

Google's release event for the "Pixel" and other devices is Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 9 a.m. Pacific time (noon Eastern).

<crickets> ...

AppleInsider said:

On Friday several U.S. safety agencies banned the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 from flights, all but killing the usefulness of the smartphone for the few people willing to hold onto it in spite of fire risks.

sog35 said:

Samsung, Google, and Microsoft offers a ton of advertising money to the tech media. Apple does not.  Samsung is literally paying the tech media to spew total bull crap about Apple.

Few people are willing to pay for "journalism" any more.
But big corporations will always be willing to pay for advertising.
Especially if their products don't have the mindshare that Apple's products enjoy.
So the media, both new and old school, have adjusted their business models.
Radically.

The line between "journalism" and "advertising" was erased more than a decade ago.
Sad but inevitable.

rezwits said:

I believe people seriously underestimate just how amazing the Watch is....

Precisely the same thing happened when the iPhone was announced and released.
Apple called it iPhone because its superficial appearance was that of a smartphone without physical keys.
But the name was misleading and it threw off all would-be competitors who were in denial and hoped it would fail.
No.  It wasn't just another "phone with apps."  It was, and still is, a pocket computer that has a phone feature.

Massive difference.  Competitors discovered this far too late.  Apple had already built out the infrastructure for it.
It's what Apple does now.  They work on the hardest, longest-term component first.  Usually server-based.
Then when that infrastructure is ready (enough), they reveal the tip of the iceberg, as it were.
In this case it was iPhone on top of the iTunes infrastructure and now iCloud. 
Competitors banged out copies of the hardware, with cheesy imitations of the OS.
But the lack of a robust iTunes / App Store infrastructure was fatal for most of them.

This happened all over again in 2010 when Apple released iPad.  With no cell carrier subsidies.
Plenty of quick-and-dirty iPad wannabes appeared like weeds.  Most of them disappeared just as quickly.
Remember the Hearst Skiff?  Archos 9?  Rocketfish Tablet?  Fusion Garage JooJoo?  HP Windows Slate?
Reference: http://www.technologizer.com/2011/09/30/ipad-alternatives-3/

Some otherwise intelligent tech writers dismiss  Watch as just a digital watch with apps.
Exactly the same trap they, and would-be competitors, fell into when iPhone was released.
The name of the product colors the reviewers' and pundits' and even users' expectations.
Especially if they haven't tried it and lived with it for a few months.
But eventually  Watch will leverage iCloud and our cellular communication infrastructure as iPhone does.
In ways we can't even imagine as outsiders who don't know Apple's long-term roadmap.

And don't forget - we're just at the primordial stage of "wearables" and the Internet of Things.
It will all evolve in a seemingly natural, inevitable way.  
So yeah, as good as  Watch is now, it'll just keep getting better.

DIY-er: "Ah kin bilt me a Puter fer cheaper than a Apple."

Apple: "Knock yourself out."