Michal Ždanský Google is serious about wearables, and yesterday's launch of Android Wear is proof of that. Android Wear is an operating system based on Android, but adapted for use in smart watches. Until now, smart watches have relied on either their own firmware or modified Android (Galaxy Gear), Wear should unify smart watches for Android, both in terms of functions and design.
In terms of features, Android Wear focuses on a few key areas. The first of these are, of course, notifications, either system or from third-party applications. Furthermore, there will be Google Now, i.e. a summary of relevant information that Google collects, for example, from e-mails, from tracking your location, search results on Google.com and more. This way, you will find out at the right moment when your plane leaves, how long it will take you to get to work or what the weather is like outside. There will also be fitness functions, where the device records sports activities like other trackers.
The whole philosophy of Android Wear is to be an extended hand of your Android phone, or rather a second screen. Without a connection to the phone, the watch will more or less only display the time, all information and functions are closely linked to the phone. Google will also release an SDK for developers within the week. They will not be able to create their own applications directly for smart watches, but only some form of extended notifications that are supposed to expand the functionality of the applications installed on the phone.
The watch will have two ways to interact. Touch and voice. As with Google Now or Google Glass, just activate voice input with the simple phrase "OK Google" and search for various information. Voice commands can also control some system functions. For example, it will go with them to turn on the streaming of the music played on the phone via Chromecast.
Google has announced cooperation with a number of manufacturers, including LG, Motorola, Samsung, but also the fashion brand Fossil. Both Motorola and LG have already shown what their devices will look like. Probably the most interesting of them is the Moto 360, which will have a unique circular display that supports Android Wear. They thus retain the appearance of a classic analog watch. It's no exaggeration to say that Motorola watches definitely look the best of all smart watches to date and leave the competition, including Pebble Steel, far behind in terms of design. G Watch from LG, in turn, will be created in cooperation with Google, similar to the last two Nexus phones, and will have a standard square display.
Compared to other user interfaces among Android Wear smartwatches, it looks really good, the interface is simple and elegant, Google really cared about the design. It's a really big step forward for the smartwatch segment when one of the biggest players in the field of mobile operating systems has entered the game. The step that Samsung even Sony has yet to achieve, and their smartwatches have fallen short of user expectations.
It will be even more difficult now for Apple, which is yet to come out with a smart watch, perhaps this year. Because he has to show that his solution is in every way better than anything we've seen and "disrupt" the market like he did in 2007 with the iPhone. There is definitely still plenty of room for improvement. Apple seems to be focusing on on-device sensors that provide biometric tracking. This can be one of the functions that the watch can do without a connected phone. If Apple's smartwatch or bracelet could remain smart even after losing the connection to the iPhone, it could be an interesting competitive advantage that no other similar device has yet offered.
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I have to say I like this :)
It looks a lot like iOS 7 to me, but it's cool, I have to admit.
So Google did a great job on this… :)
the round ones are good, but the giant cubes are a shock.
first thing i like about android, thumbs up :-)
Finally, a smart watch that looks like a watch first and foremost and not like a tiny mobile attached to your wrist. :-)
I'm already looking forward to the new watch. I have a box for 10 watches and I keep the last place for a smart watch. so maybe apple will score and the place of honor will belong to them and not to anyone else (although the other patek philippe wouldn't be bad either :P)
I'm more and more curious about Apple in this direction. It has been going on for quite some time now and the competition is gaining ground. At least these already look really nice. But hopefully they will score and the wait will be worth it.
I would say that now Apple has an advantage, they see what the competition has messed up, they can learn a lot from it and finally also give them a taste of the soda that the competition gave them, inventing it, producing it, takes a lot more work than effortlessly compiling someone else's idea and product. The rest of the world is now looking at each other and stealing from each other, quite without invention.
Maybe I'm a fool, but the first thing that came to my mind about the article is that I'm already starting to understand the round buttons in iOS 7.1, and this time Google showed the product before APPLE. All in all, I would guess that a regular Key Note will be announced within a week, and in the next mandatory week, Apple will show a very similar watch....
Well, we will see.. :-)
There's nothing better than having a watch on the charger next to your phone
Well, that's a PICK! So I can find out what the weather is like outside from my phone, tablet, laptop, even a WATCH, it's a revolution! I'm glad I was born in such a wonderful time. If he was simply opening the window with such a revolutionary accessory? Or I'm walking around the city, it's raining outside so it's not nice, but I have a GREAT watch that tells me that there might be showers when I'm soaked like a sponge! And the very best thing is that I will find out when my plane is leaving when I get to work:-D Keep it up Adnroid….just give it a go:-)