Google Launches 'Android Wear' Project for Wearable Devices

[cdmoore74]

Didn't Google just release a red Nexus 5

Your point would be valid if there was a Nexus 6. The red Nexus 5 come out a few months after it was initially released. Apple is basically re-releasing discontinued product because their ancient product is not moving off the shelves. There are no fresh ideas out of Apples camp.

 

[unlinked]

Actually looks like a decent product if it really works as intended.

Hopefully it will work with iOS, android, and windows phone, but I wouldn't hold my breath on anything other than android.

iOS is very possible. windows phone on the other hand......

 

[Serelus]

I could have wet hands using my pebble and switch messages and then dunk my wrist into the water to wash "blood" away. Try that with most smart phones.

Next scenario?

Assuming the watches will be waterproof? These things are going to be charged somehow, unless this is done wirelessly I wouldn't go near water with your watch. Anyway the point I was trying to make is that if you have dirty hands your watch is going get dirty also inevitably, wether it's your phone or watch really doesn't matter.

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I could activate it by touching it with my nose, then speaking a reply.

...and if you think anybody is too busy catching fish to glance at a text message on their watch, you've obviously not done much fishing. It's called fishing for a reason - not "catching".

PS - thanks for telling me that my needs as a consumer are completely invalid - I appreciate it. I had no idea that features I was looking for in a device were pointless until you showed me the light.

You're speaking under the notion that I insinuate your comsumer needs are meaningless, while nothing is further from the truth. I am simply expressing why I find this kind of thing to be gimmicky and hyped up too much. Just because I am arguing my opinion doesn't mean I insinuate anything of the sort of things you're describing. We disagree and that's fine. Just keep arguing your point. The fact that you're willing to use your nose amazes me. I think it's kind of silly but hey, what works for you works for you.

 

[billystlyes]

Google is by far the coolest company in Tech now. Apple is slowly but surely becoming yesterday's news. They are like the new Microsoft. Plus, everything is closed which leaves no room for growth in a saturated mobile market. Tim is taking Steve's ship right into the ground. Into the ground with a lot of money... sure, but into the ground.

 

[AstronomyiPhone]

Not bad. I definitely like the voice control since that's something that my Pebble can't do.

It'll be interesting to see if these can get more penetration than the Gears because the Pebble is doing a really nice job spreading through the market but it does so covertly (which a lot of people like), so it's not like smartwatches are spreading in a way that people notice at first glance.

 

[Bobleh]

Forget everything else. Why does the watch in the video have a crown on the side? What purpose would that serve—to set the time on this digital watch? Yet another reason why Google will never be Apple: Lack of attention to detail. He also says "Thanks we'll get you something from New York" and it puts on the screen "Thanks will get you something from New York". Details! Another thing—there is no hardware design here. Maybe that's on purpose since it will run on a variety of designs. But it's uninspired—it just looks like a watch. It will be funny when Apple releases the iWatch (probably won't even be called that, as we used to call the iPad the iSlate or iTablet) and it looks completely different from what we think of as a watch. And then all Android manufacturers will follow suit.

I am sure Apple legal has already a file containing all pre-iWatch products to later show in court what competitors design philosophy was before copying the iWatch

Frankly, I find it rather amusing that a multi-billion company as Google shows a product based on 1900s design connected to the internet.

 

[jm001]

This looks great. I love Motorola's round watch face. Really impressive.

It looks like it still is a concept. No images of the actual finished product. The round watch face is a nice design, but I hope one can change the wrist strap. I use Pebble and it's been pretty stable, although since the update there have been glitches (DAMN YOU UPDATES!) with the display such as messed up graphics that correct themselves with a scroll through the difference faces.

 

[Rot'nApple]

I see a George Carlin-like comic skit in here somewhere…

I wear my smart watch, so I don't have to bring along my smart phone, that saved me from bringing my tablet, which kept me from hauling my laptop around that I got when I didn't want to be tied down at home to my desktop!
/
/
/

More stuff…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

 

[pedrotaquelim]

"We're very excited to introduce Android Wearable Devices today, but we're just getting started"

Translation:

"We're on a stressful hurry to introduce this thing fast and incomplete because we want to beat Apple in this race."

And that's ok. 3, 2, 1… May the best Smart Watch win.

 

[AstronomyiPhone]

It looks like it still is a concept. No images of the actual finished product. The round watch face is a nice design, but I hope one can change the wrist strap. I use Pebble and it's been pretty stable, although since the update there have been glitches (DAMN YOU UPDATES!) with the display such as messed up graphics that correct themselves with a scroll through the difference faces.

That shouldn't be happening; my Pebble has been working flawlessly for the past 4 months since they released the first 2.0 beta; you might want to wipe it and to a clean install of the firmware. If that doesn't work then you probably have a bad watchface or watchapp on there.

 

[samcraig]

While I must admit these are some very good examples of how it helps things along the lines of quick notifications. I really don't mine taking my phone out of my pocket once a while. When I am called I pick up, period. If it's someone I can talk to later I won't, or i'll just call back. The phone is an accessory itself, I find that it doesn't need another extension added to it. The same goes for google glass.

Can you always hear or feel your alerts?

I admit - these are particular to my use case. At home, after my toddler goes to sleep - I don't want my phone going off. Having my wrist vibrate is justification enough for my $90 spend (I got a great deal on a Pebble).

 

[knewsom]

Assuming the watches will be waterproof? These things are going to be charged somehow, unless this is done wirelessly I wouldn't go near water with your watch. Anyway the point I was trying to make is that if you have dirty hands your watch is going get dirty also inevitably, wether it's your phone or watch really doesn't matter.

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You're speaking under the notion that I insinuate your comsumer needs are meaningless, while nothing is further from the truth. I am simply expressing why I find this kind of thing to be gimmicky and hyped up too much. Just because I am arguing my opinion doesn't mean I insinuate anything of the sort of things you're describing. We disagree and that's fine. Just keep arguing your point. The fact that you're willing to use your nose amazes me. I think it's kind of silly but hey, what works for you works for you.

This is also assuming that it requires a touch to "activate". It could well be voice activated. You may find it gimmicky and over-hyped, but I think it's a legitimately useful feature - like the motion-activated backlight, solar cell, and radio-tower time sync on my old Casio G-Shock. Sure, seems like a gimmicky feature, but sometimes not having to touch it to see what time it is in the dark is pretty dang nice, plus I've never had to set the time on it or change a battery in over TEN YEARS of ownership.

You began by stating that it doesn't fill any real needs - I demonstrated that it does. It may not fill any of YOUR needs, but it does mine. So it does indeed fill needs. Real needs. Just not yours. ...which is fine - you can save yourself the trouble and money and not buy one.

 

[paradox00]

I'd rather have an announcement of a 'product' with amazing potential, than the previously listed 8gb 5C and iPad 4.

You must have loved the Palm Pre then... I love products that are amazing when they ship, not before.

Naturally, I'm not too interested in Apple's announcements today either (not the target market), but I don't lose my mind over something that is months away (assuming there are no delays).

 

[samcraig]

Assuming the watches will be waterproof? These things are going to be charged somehow, unless this is done wirelessly I wouldn't go near water with your watch. Anyway the point I was trying to make is that if you have dirty hands your watch is going get dirty also inevitably, wether it's your phone or watch really doesn't matter.

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My Pebble doesn't charge wirelessly and can be dunked in the water to be cleaned.

And again - you can rinse your watch very easily. A phone - not so much.

Also - the Pebble (for example) is $149 (retail) vs a $600+ (retail) phone replacement.

 

[b0nd18t]

This looks cool. I do believe Apple will enter this arena. People say they don't want or need it... I can see this taking over the most frequent smartphone tasks, just like the smartphone took over the most frequent PC tasks.

 

[paradox00]

That's because you are still trying to make a comparison. He wasn't. Let's just chalk it up to you didn't get the irony in his statement.

Regardless, I see no downside. You obviously do. Totally cool. We can agree on something else some other time.

I don't see a downside of Googles announcement.

There's simply no irony in the statement, so it's natural to assume it's a comparison. For the statement to be ironic, Apple and Google would need to have their traditional roles swapped. They aren't. So many things are called ironic when they're not.

You could call Apple's announcement boring and Google's exciting if you want, but it's still not ironic.

 

[Mainsail]

So, I am confused about these wearables.

Do I still need to carry my smartphone with me to pickup data and sync to the wearable? If not, do I need to buy a data plan for the watch?

If the former, than a wearable is simply a convenience so I don't need to look at my phone. It might also have some health monitoring capabilities that add value. Nevertheless, I would guess that a smartphone would be much more capable, and you will need to have it with you anyway....so, it is basically a convenience item, which means cost would be important factor in my buying decision.

If the later, who would buy a data plan for a watch?? That seems crazy.

 

[iCore24]

WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!??

Why are you so biased and blind? I love Apple and have a Retina MacBook, iPad Air, and iPhone 5s. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate anything made without a damn Apple logo on it!

This watch IS REAL. http://moto360.motorola.com
IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND SEXY.
GOOGLE IS OPEN AND DOESNT CARE ABOUT "Surprises" like Apple.
Leave moto alone!!!

 

[paradox00]

The difference being Google believes in harnessing as many developers as possible to get apps created for products that will be produced while Apple is more secretive and often only invites a few companies to create apps that show off new hardware.

Different models.

You're right, it's different models, but it's more to do with in house development of hardware than anything. Google exposes all because they are not building any of it.

 

[sean21]

You do realize that all of you posting those Moto 360 images aren't posting real products right? They're all renderings. Just because it's on the internet doesn't make it real. If Motorola actually makes and launches that product and it works like they say it should then kudos to them, but for now it's just a concept with a launch window.

They are having a hangout session tomorrow with working models, so it's not just a concept.

 

[paradox00]

WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!??

Why are you so biased and blind? I love Apple and have a Retina MacBook, iPad Air, and iPhone 5s. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate anything made without a damn Apple logo on it!

This watch IS REAL. http://moto360.motorola.com
IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND SEXY.
GOOGLE IS OPEN AND DOESNT CARE ABOUT "Surprises" like Apple.
Leave moto alone!!!

No, the watch isn't real. It's supposed to be real by summer. We'll see, and judge it then.

 

[Bobleh]

"We're very excited to introduce Android Wearable Devices today, but we're just getting started"

Translation:

"We're on a stressful hurry to introduce this thing fast and incomplete because we want to beat Apple in this race."

And that's ok. 3, 2, 1… May the best Smart Watch win.

You're right on the money, sir

 

[AstronomyiPhone]

Why is this front page news on MacRumors?

I don't like how people criticize articles that don't explicitly say "Apple" in the headline and I get how sometimes other places in tech relate to Apple, but why is this here? Articles about the Pebble, for instance, make sense because they are iOS friendly, but this...has nothing to do with Apple. Sometimes MR makes a connection to Apple in the last paragraph by mentioning rumors about an upcoming product or something, but they didn't even try that here.

Not one place in this article does it mention Apple or even make a connection to the iWatch (a product that doesn't even exist in the first place). But if they're not going to make a connection to Apple then they could at least put in in a general news section, but this is front page news on MacRumors.

This is entirely an Android/Google thing and has nothing to do with Apple.

That aside, though, nice article and nice move, Google.

It's okay if MR staff wants to engage in their general interest in tech: we all do, whether we care to mention it or not. If you're reading this website (particularly if you're reading the comments) you probably have a love for technology, not just technology pertaining to Apple. We all like tech, so don't be afraid to admit it, MR.

 

[Gudi]

So the extension of my cell phone to my wrist helps me be more productive. I also miss less calls. Does the watch "do" anything MORE than a cell phone - perhaps not. But it provides data differently and more efficiently in several use cases.

Which makes it a peripheral not very different from a bluetooth headset. The only difference is a tiny screen, too small to make any meaningful touch input and too tiny to see through a longer list of information. It might be perfect for one missed call, but now you have 7 messages and 4 emails, some with attachments that might be important to you. The problem is not (only), what a smartwatch does MORE than a smartphone, but also what it does LESS. There is so much a smartwatch can't do, that it almost doesn't justify the effort to carry it around, even if these devices were free.

 

[HTCGAMING]

I soooo don't need one.....

Until Apple comes out with one then you will be all I don't know how I survived without it.