Apple Daily: More Leaked Apple Watch News; Apple to Join Dow Jones Industrial Average

It's our last Apple Daily before Monday's big "Spring Forward" event that's expected to place a heavy emphasis on the Apple Watch, and new, credible rumors about the device are dropping left and right. In other news, Apple is at last joining the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Apple Watch Can Reportedly Handle Five Hours of Heavy Use

A new Apple media event is scheduled for Monday, and as usual (or so it seems), that means it's time for information pertaining to what we'll see to leak at a ridiculous pace. The morning, for instance, 9to5Mac's insider sources revealed that the Apple Watch can endure around five hours of heavy application use, and that its battery usually won't run dry on a typical day. However, in line with earlier reports, it appears that you'll have to charge the unit nightly.

Apparently Apple also has a safeguard in place to make sure that the device can keep telling time for as long as possible. This is Power Reserve Mode, which dims the screen, switches to standby after two seconds of interaction, and keeps interaction with your phone down to on-demand use. The sources also hinted that the Apple Watch will boast a fairly impressive 8 GB of storage space for music and apps.

TechCrunch's inside sources also had some information to share — most notably that it would only take two hours to charge an Apple Watch to full. In addition, the device's sensors will reportedly ensure that the Apple Watch only sends you notifications for things such as e-mail while it's actually being worn on your wrist, thereby keeping battery life as optimal as possible. At 10 percent battery life, when it's being worn on the wrist, the Apple Watch will stop sending notifications entirely.

The latter report also reveals that holding down the "crown" on the side of the device will contact Siri, which Apple Watch users can use for directions and commands when the device is paired with an iPhone.

More information will likely be revealed during Apple's "Spring Forward" event on Monday, which is set to go live at 10:00 a.m. PST. As always, we at Mac|Life will be on hand to relay the news as Apple delivers it.

Apple to Replace AT&T on Dow Jones Industrial Average

Apple's record-breaking fourth quarter for 2014 was undeniably impressive — so impressive, in fact, that the Dow Jones Industrial Average will soon boot AT&T from its list of 30 powerful companies in order to make way for Apple. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Cupertino company will join the list at the end of the trading day on March 18.

The idea to include Apple in the DJIA has been around for a while, especially since other tech companies like Microsoft and Intel have been on the list for several years now. But Apple's spectacularly profitable quarter helped cement the deal, as did continuing statements from investors like Carl Icahn claiming that Apple's stock is still undervalued.

It's worth noting that Apple's inclusions will also allow the Dow to "correct" itself a tad, as credit card company Visa is heading for a stock split, and Apple's high stock prices will reportedly help counter the soon-to-be lower Visa stock prices.

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