Apple Watch unveiled at San Francisco event

The much anticipated Apple Watch was unveiled today.

Make calls, read email, control music, manage Instagram photos, keep up with your workout, open your hotel room door - Apple CEO Tim Cook says you can do it all from your wrist with Apple Watch - for 18 hours a day, which is how long the battery will last on an average day.

Pre-orders start on April 10. The device costs $349 (€321.69) for a base model, while a luxury gold version will go for $10,000 (€9,217.52) (all US prices).

Industry watchers are eager to see if Apple's version will be the tipping point for the sluggish smartwatch market.

There was similar scepticism when Apple released the iPad in 2010, yet the company has successfully sold millions and its popularity has shaken up the PC market.

The stakes are high for a company that has just dislodged AT&T as one of the 30 stocks comprising the venerable Dow Jones industrial average.

The watch is the first brand-new device Apple has launched since the death of Apple founder and former CEO Steve Jobs.

Mr Cook directed Apple's big event in San Francisco today, unveiling a shiny, skinny and silent MacBook weighing in at just two pounds that the company says is the world's most energy-efficient laptop.

Apple also has unveiled a new deal between Apple TV and HBO, touted growth in iPhone sales and Apple Pay adoption, and announced a set of tools called ResearchKit to help hospitals and research centres develop apps for patients.

It cut the price of Apple TV by $30 to $69 (€27.65 to €63.60) and is partnering with HBO to offer its stand-alone streaming service, HBO Go, on Apple devices in time for the Game of Thrones premiere on April 12.

It will cost $14.99 (€13.81) monthly.

Cook said 2,500 banks are now signed up with Apple Pay, which is available in 700,000 retail locations nationwide.