MacRumors

With any new Apple product launch, there are always several issues that pop up in the days following release, and the Apple Watch is no exception. Thus far we've seen sensor issues with customers who have dark wrist tattoos and problems with bands that don't lock. It appears there's another minor problem Apple Watch users are encountering -- malfunctioning digital crowns. The digital crown is located on the side of the watch and is used as the primary input method on the Apple Watch, aside from touch.

A number of users on both the MacRumors forums and Apple's own support communities are reporting issues with the digital crown of the Apple Watch becoming stuck or difficult to turn. Some users have said the stickiness causes the crown to feel stuck for a moment before loosening when turned, while others say the digital crown feels consistently difficult to turn.

I'm experiencing light stickiness every time I go to turn the crown, but it smoothens out shortly after. And this repeats itself after the crown isn't touched for a few seconds. It wasn't like this on day one. Mine doesn't take considerable pressure to turn though, you just feel that it's sticky at first as if there was a bit too much friction.

On Apple's support communities, some users are speculating that the issue is perhaps caused by sweat getting into the digital crown resulting in crystallized particles that block movement, but there are reports of problems from users who have not used their devices while exercising. Many of the Apple Watches affected are the Sport model, but stainless steel Apple Watch owners have also reported issues.

Several users have taken their Apple Watches in to be assessed by Apple employees and were told that the stickiness of the digital crown is not normal.

Well started experiencing same issue with my sport. Bad enough that double clicking was almost impossible. Took in today to Genius and three diff people came over and tested. All said was not normal. But I decided to send back now. Will be interesting test to see how much I miss it. Bigger concern is why and perhaps the sport vs ss and possibility of it keeps happening.

Ps. We compared to four diff demo units and all had same tactile feel except mine.

Some users have discovered that the problem is resolved by a quick rinse in water, a fix that Apple recommends in a support document. According to Apple, if the digital crown gets stuck or won't move, it could have dust or debris underneath, fixable by running the Apple Watch under fresh water from a faucet for 10 to 15 seconds.

If the Digital Crown gets stuck or won’t move, it might be because of dirt or debris. If you find substances like dust or lotion around the Digital Crown, follow these steps to clean, and repeat as needed:

1. Turn off your Apple Watch and remove it from the charger.
2. If you have a leather band, remove it from your Apple Watch.
3. Hold the Digital Crown under lightly running, warm, fresh water from a faucet for 10 to 15 seconds. Soaps and other cleaning products shouldn't be used.
4. Continuously turn and press the Digital Crown as water runs over the small gap between the crown and the housing.
5. Dry your Apple Watch with a non-abrasive, lint-free cleaning cloth.

Some affected users have said that a water rinse does not solve the problem, or solves it only temporarily, while others have expressed dissatisfaction at potentially needing to rinse the Apple Watch after every workout. Customers who have gone to Apple Stores for a fix for their malfunctioning digital crowns have received either repairs or replacement devices, with Apple quoting week-long wait times for a fix.

Ford has promised to bring CarPlay to its vehicles and is listed as one of Apple's CarPlay partners, but Ford executives say the company will also focus on compatibility with Android and its own Ford SYNC in-car infotainment system to give consumers as much choice as possible. In an interview with Re/code, Ford CTO Raj Nair explained that the company doesn't want people making car choices based on their smartphones.

CTO Raj Nair said part of the reason behind that is ensuring that car buyers have choice. "We want to make sure you are not pushed into a decision on a $40,000 car based on your $200 smartphone," Nair said.

Ford, like the other car makers, also sees its infotainment system, known as SYNC, as a key selling point. "The data shows SYNC has been a significant draw in the showroom," Nair said.

Ford's focus is on SYNC, but the company says that it is planning to support Android Auto and CarPlay and will look to integrate SYNC more closely with both systems. According to Nair, a customer who wants to use Google Maps but listen to Sirius radio using SYNC will be able to do so.

Despite not wanting to hand over control of its in-car infotainment systems to Apple and Google, Ford is eager to embrace new technology. At the meeting with Re/code, Nair was wearing an Apple Watch sporting one of the apps that the Ford team built in a week. A MyFord Mobile research app that links the PHEV Fusion Energi, C-MAX Energi, and Focus BEV cars to the Apple Watch was shown off on Twitter earlier today.

Ford's upcoming SYNC 3 system is set to debut this summer with support for both CarPlay and Android Auto. Following the launch of the new system, Ford should be releasing vehicles with CarPlay support by the end of 2015.

IHS iSuppli often tears down devices to estimate component costs, and today, the research firm released its report on the Apple Watch, suggesting it has the lowest hardware costs compared to retail price of any Apple product IHS has researched.

The 38mm Apple Watch Sport dissected by IHS was estimated to cost $81.20 when broken down by component. In IHS' estimation, the most expensive component in the Apple Watch is the display (including OLED and Ion-X cover glass), priced at $20.50, followed by the processor on the S1 chip, priced at $10.20. In addition to component costs, IHS adds an estimated $2.50 for manufacturing costs, bringing its total estimate for the Apple Watch's raw cost to $83.70. IHS did not give similar cost breakdowns for the stainless steel or gold Apple Watches, both of which have sapphire cover displays and different casing materials.

At $83.70, IHS says the hardware costs of the Apple Watch are "only about 24 percent" of the manufacturer's suggested retail price of $349, while other Apple product component costs have ranged from 29 to 38 percent, giving the Apple Watch a higher potential profit margin. During Apple's most recent earnings call, the company announced that Apple Watch profit margins would actually be slimmer than other Apple products, at least during its first quarter of availability.

"It is fairly typical for a first-generation product rollout to have a higher retail price versus hardware cost," said Kevin Keller, senior principal analyst-materials and cost benchmarking services for IHS Technology. "While retail prices always tend to decrease over time, the ratio for the Apple Watch is lower than what we saw for the iPhone 6 Plus and other new Apple products, and could be of great benefit to Apple's bottom line if sales match the interest the Apple Watch has generated."

IHS' component cost estimations come just three days after Apple CEO Tim Cook declared that component cost breakdowns on Apple products are inaccurate. "There are cost breakdowns around our products that are much different than the reality," he said. "I've never seen one that is anywhere close to being accurate."

While these types of cost breakdowns look at the potential expense related to each individual component in a device, they do not take into account other possible expenses related to product creation like research and development, advertising, software, or distribution, making them of little practical use for estimating profit margin.

IHS iSuppli's report also looks at each component in the Apple Watch, many of which have already been well explored in other teardowns from iFixit and Chipworks. It doesn't offer much new information, but it does give an interesting look at the S1 chip in the Apple Watch, and a special coating added for electromagnetic shielding.

"To provide electromagnetic shielding, the encapsulated PCB assembly is further treated with a metalized coating deposited over the surface," Keller added. "This shielding process is used in place of conventional stamped sheet metal shielding, saving a significant amount of space, as well as cutting down slightly on weight."

IHS confirms that the Apple Watch Sport includes 8GB of Toshiba flash memory, 512MB of Micron RAM, and components manufactured by Broadcom, STMicro, Maxim, NXP, and Analog Devices. It also highlights the use of an accelerometer/gyroscope from STMicro instead of Invensense, something that was also pointed out by Chipworks last Friday.

At this point, we've had a very thorough look at the 38mm Apple Watch Sport, but we have yet to see into a 42mm device to see the differences between the two models. We haven't seen a detailed teardown of a stainless steel Apple Watch or an Apple Watch Edition, but iFixit took a quick look inside a stainless steel version and found its internals to be the same as the Apple Watch Sport.

Since the Apple Watch's initial unveiling last September, Apple has touted the S1 chip that serves as the brains of the device, with the company noting is has essentially packed an entire computer onto a single ultra-compact chip that is encapsulated in resin to help protect it from the elements.

iFixit was unable to delve into the S1 itself in the firm's initial teardown of the Apple Watch, and Chipworks offered an early look at the chip's internals starting x-ray imaging, but now ABI Research has more fully deconstructed the S1 and identified a number of its components.

ABI's photo shows the center of the S1 dominated by the main processor carrying part number APL 0778, with 4 Gb (512 MB) of Elpida SRAM on top. We've yet to see a detailed look at the internals of the main processor, which should provide yet another interesting look at a custom Apple chip design when it does surface.

Also included on the S1 are an 8 GB flash storage chip, the Broadcom Wi-Fi chip cleverly identified by Chipworks from Apple's promotional footage last September, an accelerometer/gyroscope from STMicroelectronics rather than the predicted InvenSense, touch controllers unexpectedly from ADI, and a wireless charging chip from IDT to facilitate the Apple Watch's inductive charging.

“The design is an obvious variation from Apple’s smartphones, with many high-end functions / chips included that normally would not be found in a simple watch,” comments Jim Mielke, VP Engineering at ABI Research and head of the TeardownIQ group. “Judging by the complexity of the printed circuit board (PCB), and the number of parts on the PCB, one might think the Apple watch is a full-fledged cellular connected watch but in fact connectivity is limited to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC.”

In its initial look last week, Chipworks highlighted the 6-axis accelerometer/gyroscope, which marks the first time Apple has been able to include all of that functionality in a single component.

This is the first time that we see a true 6X sensor in an Apple product that doesn’t require an external accelerometer. In the iPhone 6 and 6+ we saw an Invensense 6 axis sensor and a Bosch 3 axis accelerometer. Here in an even more compact design, the Apple Watch, we finally have a solution for all 6 axis in a single component.

As seen in iFixit's teardown, the S1 is a remarkably compact chip taking up a small percentage of the overall device volume in laying flat in the bottom of the casing. The majority of the space inside the casing is taken up by the battery and Taptic Engine/speaker assembly. We expect to see more details on the S1, particularly the main processor, in the coming days as chip experts get closer looks at the part.

The latest numbers from market research firm IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker reveal that Apple continues to be the largest vendor in a declining tablet market, shipping 12.6 million iPads in the first quarter of 2015 to capture a 26.8% share of the global tablet market. Apple maintained the top position despite facing a 22.9% decline in tablet shipments compared to the year-ago quarter.

Samsung was the second largest tablet vendor with 9 million tablet shipments in the first quarter, good for 19.1% market share in the global tablet market and a 16.5% year-over-year decline. Lenovo, Asus and LG Electronics rounded off the top five, with 2.5 million, 1.8 million and 1.4 million global tablet shipments in the first quarter respectively for a combined 12.2% market share.

Apple, Samsung and several other electronics makers are feeling the effects of a prolonged slowdown in the tablet market, with the iPad declining in annual growth for five consecutive quarters and competing tablets experiencing similar trends. The launch of the larger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and lack of major updates to the iPad lineup since 2013 are likely contributing factors to falling iPad sales over the past few years, while consumers also upgrade their tablets less often than smartphones.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, during the company's recent earnings call, said he believes that continued investments in the company's product pipeline and shift to the enterprise market will help the iPad be an "extremely good business over the long-term," although he stopped short of providing a forward-looking statement about when iPad sales could begin growing again.

"And so my belief is, that as the inventory plays out, as we make some continued investments in our product pipeline, which we're doing, that we already had planned and have had planned for some time," said Cook. "Between that, the inventory playing out, the enterprise starting to take over, I think still, i believe the iPad is an extremely good business over the long-term. When precisely it begins to grow again I wouldn't want to predict, but I strongly believe that it will."

Strategy Analytics shared smartphone data for the first quarter on Wednesday.

During its Wednesday earnings call, Apple rival Samsung Electronics reported net profit of 4.63 trillion won ($4.35 billion) for the January to March quarter, a 39% drop from its net profit of 7.49 trillion won in the year ago quarter. A sizable portion of the lost profit came from Samsung's mobile division, which brought in 2.74 trillion won ($2.5 billion) in the first quarter of 2015, vs. 6.43 trillion won in the first quarter of 2014.

Despite the year over year profit loss, Samsung's earnings release highlighted its quarter over quarter improvement and pointed towards increased sales of middle-end smartphones including the Galaxy A series. Samsung doesn't divulge its smartphone sales, but analysts believe the company sold 83.2 million smartphones during the quarter, compared to Apple's 61.2 million.

The high number of sales let Samsung regain its title of the worlds largest smartphone maker, but many of those sales were for lower-priced phones and not flagship devices, causing it to lose profit year over year. Much of Samsung's profit loss can be attributed to the introduction of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, letting Apple devices compete with Samsung devices on screen size for the first time.

Ahead of the launch of the two larger-screened iPhones, big screens were a feature that set Samsung devices apart from iPhones and drew customers for the South Korean company, but with the iPhone 6 and the 6 Plus, Samsung has lost some of its grasp on customers seeking devices with bigger displays.

Samsung expects its profits to increase during the second quarter following the global launch of the company's new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge and on the strength of its semiconductor business. According to Samsung, demand for its curved S6 Edge has been high, but limited supplies have restricted sales.

The Apple Watch has been available in extremely limited quantities since pre-orders for the device launched on April 10, and a new report from The Wall Street Journal sheds some light on why supplies have been low. A key component of the Apple Watch, the Taptic Engine, was made by two separate suppliers, and the devices created by one of Apple's suppliers were "found to be defective."

After mass production began in February, reliability testing revealed that some taptic engines supplied by AAC Technologies Holdings Inc., of Shenzhen, China, started to break down over time, the people familiar with the matter said. One of those people said Apple scrapped some completed watches as a result.

Apple was unable to use the Taptic Engines from the supplier in Shenzhen, China, but those produced by a second supplier in Japan did not have the same issue. The majority of Taptic Engine production is now being done in Japan, but it will take some time for the factory to increase production, and with a single supplier, quantities of the taptic engine available for use in Apple Watch devices likely remains low.

The Taptic Engine is a linear actuator, creating motion in a straight line by moving a small rod. It powers the haptic feedback capabilities of the Apple Watch, delivering the small taps that are felt on the wrist with notifications, pings from friends, heartbeats, and more. The Taptic Engine is a major part of the Apple Watch, working in conjunction with audio cues to deliver subtle alerts and notifications to Apple Watch wearers.

To resolve some of the supply constraints on the Apple Watch, Apple is said to be planning to add Foxconn as a second assembler of the Apple Watch, alongside Quanta Computer. Foxconn may begin manufacturing the Apple Watch in late 2015 at the earliest, so according to The Wall Street Journal, it may take several months for Apple Watch supplies to improve significantly.

Apple has repeatedly said that it's working to get Apple Watch orders as out as quickly as it can, and it has indeed been shipping orders out before their prospective delivery dates. Many customers who originally had 4 to 6 week shipping estimates have already begun receiving their devices.

Apple Watch orders placed today offer shipping estimates ranging into June and beyond, but it's possible that many orders will reach consumers ahead of that time as Apple works to increase available supply.

During a recent earnings call relayed by CNET, Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes said he believes Apple will launch an Internet-based television service and that Apple is "very forward-thinking" when it comes to TV.

"We think Apple is very forward-thinking about television," he said, noting the computer maker's deal with Time Warner as the launch partner of streaming service HBO Now. "It's no surprise to anyone that Apple would be interested in launching a TV product."

It is not clear if Bewkes has insider knowledge regarding Apple's television plans, but Apple and Time Warner have been entwined in deals several times in the past, most recently with the HBO Now deal. Apple and Time Warner, HBO's parent company, partnered up for the HBO Now launch, with Apple's Apple TV and iOS devices being some of the first to offer the HBO Now service.

Aimed at cord cutters, HBO Now is priced at $14.99 and offers all of HBO's content without a cable subscription. Beyond HBO Now, Apple and Time Warner have discussed television many times in the past and have attempted to establish content deals, but those have yet to materialize.

Apple's ongoing difficulties establishing content deals with companies like Time Warner have spanned several years and have repeatedly delayed its television efforts. Apple's inability to convince cable companies and content providers to change the status quo has also caused Apple to scale back on its ambitious television plans.

Apple may have begun having more luck getting companies on board with its television plans, however, as recent rumors have indeed pointed towards the imminent launch of a streaming television service and possibly a new set-top box. Apple's new service may include content from CBS, Fox, Walt Disney, and more, with approximately 25 channels available at a cost between $30 and $40 per month.

Apple's rumored streaming television service may make an appearance in June at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

Earlier this year, Microsoft debuted a new browser designed to succeed Internet Explorer. At the time, it was still under development with the code name Project Spartan, but at today's BUILD conference for developers, Microsoft shared additional details on the new browser and unveiled its name: Microsoft Edge.

According to Microsoft, the Edge name refers to being on the edge of consuming and creating. Microsoft is calling Edge "a browser built for doing," with a simple, no-frills design and access to tools for enhancing the browsing experience.

Edge has built-in note taking capabilities, letting users annotate, draw, and take notes right within the browser, and then share those website notes with friends. Microsoft says that Edge uses "blazing fast core technology," with more details available on the speed enhancements in the future.

Edge includes a distraction-free reading mode and a tab page for getting to frequently-used apps quickly. There's support for Microsoft's virtual assistant Cortana, a competitor to Apple's assistant, Siri. Cortana integration helps to build a user's home tab page, populating it with relevant content and making suggestions on related sites to visit.

One of Microsoft's earlier BUILD announcements covered tools to bring Android and iOS apps to Windows 10, and similarly, the company has built support for Chrome and Firefox extensions into the Edge browser. These existing extensions will be able to be quickly repackaged and submitted to Microsoft's extension portal, giving Edge users a wealth of extensions to use shortly after the browser launches.

One of the Chrome-based extensions that Microsoft demonstrated on stage was the Reddit Enhancement Suite, a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari that improves the browsing experience on reddit. The RES extension took "virtually no work" to take it from the Chrome Extension store to Edge.

Microsoft Edge is a next-generation browser designed to replace Internet Explorer, but Internet Explorer will stick around as its used by many of Microsoft's Enterprise customers. The Microsoft Edge browser will be built into Microsoft's upcoming Windows 10 update.

Microsoft held its annual BUILD conference for developers this morning, where it made several announcements that may be of interest to Mac and iOS users. First off, the company announced cross-platform add-ins that will deeply integrate third-party apps and services into multiple versions of Office, including Office for iOS.

Microsoft's add-ins (which can be thought of as plug-ins) will enable a range of third-party services to integrate with Office on Windows, iOS, Android, and presumably Mac when the new Office 2016 is released. For example, Uber might be built into Outlook, letting users call for rides directly from their calendar appointments. Another example shown on stage was PicHit, an app offering a photo marketplace within the PowerPoint app.

The implementation sounds similar to Apple's own use of app extensions, letting third-party apps interact with Microsoft's offerings in new ways, but with Microsoft's tools, add-ins created for one platform will work on all platforms. On stage, third-party apps integrated into Office were shown off on an iPad and an iPhone 6.

According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, deep cross-platform app integration is aimed at preventing users from needing to jump from application to application to accomplish tasks. The company's vision is to make it easier to use Office apps and various services regardless of the device the software is being run on, turning Office into a platform.

Microsoft is also planning to make it easier for developers to bring their iOS and Android apps over to Windows 10, its upcoming cross-platform operating system, by releasing new tools. iOS developers will be able to compile Objective C code using Microsoft's Visual Studio to quickly create apps compatible with Windows 10.

On stage at the conference, Terry Myerson demonstrated an iPad app that had been converted to a Windows 10 app. Getting Android apps on Windows 10 is even easier, as Windows 10 includes "an Android subsystem" to support Java and C++ code Android apps are already built from. App availability has always been the major downside to Microsoft's Windows mobile devices, as they lag behind iOS and Android when it comes to the number of apps available.

The introduction of tools to make it simple to port existing apps over to Windows 10 could be a huge boon for Microsoft, growing its App Store exponentially in the coming months.

Microsoft's final Apple-related announcement was the introduction of a Mac version of Visual Studio Code, its former Windows-only coding app. According to Microsoft's site, the app is free and aimed at letting developers build and debug modern web and cloud applications.