By Joseph Vitale

Apple announced on Tuesday  its newest personal tech gadget: Apple Watch.

Long-awaited and highly speculated, the watch sports a diverse array a features, with emphasis on personalization, fitness and ease-of-use.

For starters, the watch comes in a variety of colors and sizes. Each model has a 38 mm by 42 mm display size. The three editions — Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition — also have a variety of wrist strap options that come in a number of colors. Some options — like the fitness-oriented model — boasts a water and chemical-resistant material.

Skipping over a heavy reliance on the touch display, the watch sports a dial on the side of the device that allows its wearers to scroll, zoom and move among apps. The screen is still responsive to touch, though its main uses are for swiping and navigating through screen options.

Apple’s newest product is one of its most intimate yet. The watch comes in a variety of styles and sizes, and monitors numerous fitness-related information, such as heart rate. Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

“It will redefine what people expect from a watch,” Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said during the conference in San Francisco.

A variety of apps will also be available on the watch, including messaging. (During the presentation, two users “sent” each other their heartbeats using the watch).

The watch can run various apps, like a calendar, map navigation and a music player. In addition, the watch will take advantage of Siri, Apple’s voice commands application.

Following up an expected emphasis on fitness, the watch — using internal sensors — tracks movement, heart rate, calories burned and more.

Making use of the iPhone — necessary for watch use — the watch uses the phone’s accelerometer, gyroscope and GPS to determine your location.

On Tuesday, however, Apple provided little information on the watch’s battery life. It is know that the watch will charge using a magnetic inductive charger that attaches to the rear of the watch face.

Even less information was provided in regard to the watch’s storage capabilities and price ranges. It will start at $349.

How Apple’s entrance into an unconvinced market (just 4 percent of U.S. households with high-speed Internet say they are likely to purchase a smart watch within the next 12 months, according to Parks Associates survey) only time will tell how the product will sell when it launches early 2015.