Apple CEO Tim Cook Shares New Details on Apple Pay, Apple Watch

— -- From admonishing his home state's record on gay rights to revealing new details about the Apple Watch, it's fair to say Tim Cook has had a busy 24 hours.

The Apple CEO was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor on Monday, and he used the opportunity to encourage lawmakers in the state to move toward equality for all people.

Alabama is "still too slow on equality for the LGBT community. Under the law, citizens of Alabama can still be fired based on their sexual orientation," Cook said, according to the Associated Press. "We can't change the past, but we can learn from it and we can create a different future."

In the evening, Cook attended the Wall Street Journal Digital Conference in Laguna Beach, California, where he revealed more details about Apple's success and dropped hints about what's to come.

Apple Pay

Apple's mobile payments solution had a strong debut -- in the first three days, Cook said there were more than 1 million credit cards activated.

"We're already No. 1. We're more than the total of the other guys," Cook said, according to the Associated Press, "and we've only been at it a week."

Apple Watch Battery Life

Apple dazzled when it debuted its watch last month, however the company left many unanswered questions about the device, which is scheduled to ship in early 2015. Among them was battery life.

Cook shed more light on that Monday night, revealing, "You’re going to wind up charging it daily," the Wall Street Journal reported.

Potential Partner

Cook said he plans to meet with Jack Ma, CEO of Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba, about a possible partnership, however the AP reported that Cook stayed mum on the details.

Earlier in the day, Ma, a fellow conference attendee, told the crowds he would be "very interested" in the possibility of a partnership to bring Apple Pay to China.

"We're not Big Brother," he said. "Your data is yours."

Why the iPod Classic is Dead

The old school 160 GB iPod Classic that can hold tens of thousands of songs isn't being manufactured anymore because Apple wasn't able to get the parts anymore from anywhere in the world, Cook said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

He Listens

Cook remarked that he gets more feedback from users than "any CEO alive."