spinedoc77
macrumors G4
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/03/0...-ios-but-battery-life-an-issue-in-prototypes/
Of course it's only a rumor from a source, but it's a possibility. You can't say yes or no until it's announced.
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Google Launches 'Android Wear' Project for Wearable Devices
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https://www.macrumors.com/2013/03/0...-ios-but-battery-life-an-issue-in-prototypes/
Of course it's only a rumor from a source, but it's a possibility. You can't say yes or no until it's announced.
This isn't something quick, it is well thought out and looks good from the videos. What samsung did with the galaxy watch is crap both in design and UI. But this google version looks very nice.
Apple is really losing their touch, feels like the grumpy old grandpa defending itself moving at a dinosaur pace in this industry.
It used to be they would release a new device none has even thought of or tried, and shock the world. Nowdays it takes them forever to release, by the time it comes out (even if it is a bit better), all the surprise/awe is long gone as other companies already have comparable products on the market.
Apple needs to get their act together and get the iwatch out, time to market is everything now with all the big players releasing the same watch. There is no excuse with the amount of resources/money they have invested.
Tim cook is a good operations guy but not an innovator or someone who goes into the trenches with the team to develop/design the product like jobs, that's fine, but he needs to hire someone who does.
I understand, I question my desire, too. But I guess it will be like with any other Apple product before - once you've seen the Johny Ive design, once you've EXPERIENCED using it and once you've tried the apps - you will have one before you know it 🙂
"How does somebody know what they want if they haven't even seen it?"
kdarling
Contributor
I think that third party app development is crucial to wearables, simply because everyone seems to have their own ideas of what is important / useful to them.
Some want health monitors. Most want notifications. A big group likely would love little time-wasting games.
On the WiFi-equipped WIMM One smartwatch which I often wore without also carrying a smartphone, I used a world clock (to check times in India and Hawaii for conf calls), timer app (for quick reminders), weather for various cities (for when my wife would ask), and oddly, a newsreader for CNN, Gizmodo, etc, to pass the time in waiting rooms.
Others, like you, will want golf apps. Someone else might want to be able to show off photos of their grandkids at any time. Many would want a list of next appointments.
Possible uses are as broad as with smartphones. Especially if it doesn't need a smartphone mothership, but I doubt these models can do that.
Next up: kid's smartwatches, with simpler apps for position monitoring, virtual fences, emergency notifications, parent-controlled timers for play times, and cute visual watchfaces telling them when to brush their teeth or go to bed.
I agree, an app ecosystem is key. I am also with you on the watchfaces for kids. I am a strong beliver of the all-band all-display concept - this way, you can have custom skins and easily pick a theme suiting your age. This design generally allows for an all-age, unisex device.
I don't really care for wearable electronics. With the advent of mobile phones, I got rid of wearing a watch and I don't ever see it returning, no matter what cool things it does.
dontwalkhand
macrumors 604
Finally a ROUND smart watch. I doubt Android Wear will support iOS, so let's hope Apple outs a round one instead of square.
szw-mapple fan
macrumors 68040
No I'm trying to promote the idea that Android will probably have a do-over if Apple introduces their version.
spinedoc77
macrumors G4
Just for the guys saying x company copied Apple, etc. I think they all copied someone down the line. Look, here is a smartring from the 17th century, hehe, no seriously.
http://gizmodo.com/this-wearable-abacus-is-basically-the-worlds-oldest-sm-1545627562
http://gizmodo.com/this-wearable-abacus-is-basically-the-worlds-oldest-sm-1545627562
I used actor in its most general definition - one who acts. I don't know who's hairy arm is shown, it does look like it's Alax Faaborg's though. "Screen images simulated" fine print at the 0:23 mark.
It's possible that there are working prototypes that look and function like the production models, but they weren't shown here.
As an aside, Apple's ads use simulated screens too, real screens don't look good when recorded. However, they also give live demos of their devices at the announcement time. While I understand the preview SDK is the star of Google's show here, Motorola and LG have not shown us working prototypes, so it's hard to say where they are in the development stages, or how reasonable their release time-frames are.
D.T.
macrumors G4
Absolutely, in fact, you can pretty much substitute wearables for any technology platform (phones, tablets), but a new platform definitely needs that surge of 3rd party apps, not only to cover all the various types, but thats where all the really creative products come from.
Create an interesting SDK, with a good support community, and decent chance to get reasonable distribution, i.e., simple channel for discovery by users, ease of install, plenty of devices ... and the great developers will come, and the hardware will be way more successful.
Not really. No one doubts prototypes exist. Does it look like the product displayed? Does it offer the same functionality displayed? Is it as responsive as the simulated screens suggest? Is the battery life reasonable? Of course he thinks it will ship this summer, that's why they said it. That belief doesn't alone mean it will happen though. Hopefully they do. The Moto 360 looks great, I just just won't put the cart before the horse. Hopefully they provide a real demonstration soon.
mdelvecchio
macrumors 68040
...which is not Google TV. you know, the product Eric Schmidt said would be in every television two years ago, but isn't.
ease of use? even my senior citizen dad can pop around ATV w/o problems -- what on earth is so difficult about the ATV stone-simple interface? "move cursor. push button."
response time for what? pixel refresh has never been an issue on any ATV I've owned.
not a product.
agreed.
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of course they did. their own senior engineers said so -- when they say the iPhone announcement they realized they had to start over. so they did.
http://www.imore.com/how-google-had-start-over-android-day-iphone-was-announced
...only a food would deny it, when google said so themselves.
I like how if you dare be critical of something non-Apple you MUST be a "biased fool" and a "fanboy".
Yeah, I like Apple stuff, generally speaking.. but I spent the last 2 years on an ANDROID phone because I was digging the larger screen, and the iPhone 5, at least to me, really isn't 'bigger' than the iPhones before it.. it just has an extra column.
So yeah. Guess that makes me a "fan boy" and a "biased fool".
Samsung and Google have scrambled to come up with something in a watch since the moment they got wind Apple might be entering that market.. now Google is announcing an SDK for hardware that doesn't even exist.
Whatever.
But to further cement my "biased fool" and "fanboy status" in the minds of you super unbaised wise sages.. I think a watch is a pretty stupid idea, regardless of WHO makes it.
Look around. Nobody wears watches. If I want to know the time, I'll pull out my phone. If I want to send a text, I'll pull out my phone. If I want to know the weather, I'll pull out my phone. Seeing a pattern here?
I'll pull out my big beautiful screen phone. Not squint at something on my wrist that I have to remember to take off before I wash dishes or shower, etc.
The ONLY way a wrist device makes sense to me is if it has some super cool biometric data/information/sensors built in.. and not just heart rate and a pedometer.. and even then, I'm probably not going to give a squat because I'm not a fitness buff.
So stick THAT in your "Android fanboy" juice box and suck it.
Yeah, I like Apple stuff, generally speaking.. but I spent the last 2 years on an ANDROID phone because I was digging the larger screen, and the iPhone 5, at least to me, really isn't 'bigger' than the iPhones before it.. it just has an extra column.
So yeah. Guess that makes me a "fan boy" and a "biased fool".
Samsung and Google have scrambled to come up with something in a watch since the moment they got wind Apple might be entering that market.. now Google is announcing an SDK for hardware that doesn't even exist.
Whatever.
But to further cement my "biased fool" and "fanboy status" in the minds of you super unbaised wise sages.. I think a watch is a pretty stupid idea, regardless of WHO makes it.
Look around. Nobody wears watches. If I want to know the time, I'll pull out my phone. If I want to send a text, I'll pull out my phone. If I want to know the weather, I'll pull out my phone. Seeing a pattern here?
I'll pull out my big beautiful screen phone. Not squint at something on my wrist that I have to remember to take off before I wash dishes or shower, etc.
The ONLY way a wrist device makes sense to me is if it has some super cool biometric data/information/sensors built in.. and not just heart rate and a pedometer.. and even then, I'm probably not going to give a squat because I'm not a fitness buff.
So stick THAT in your "Android fanboy" juice box and suck it.
kdarling
Contributor
I would think that you're right. As you note, it's pretty common to use simulated screens in videos and ads.
Yep, it'd be nice for a reporter to get their own hands-on time.
Personally, I'm not too worried about the hardware showing up. And I think the software will work okay, too.
I think acceptance will hinge more on what the battery life is like.
--
One thing is clear: Google has leveraged their experience with Google Glass prototypes to help define the Android Wear UI.
LordVic
Cancelled
My wrist, which currently has a watch on it.. a non smart watch. A, imagine. Analogue face watch...
so yeah. Lots of people do wear watches. Epecially in the Corporate world outside of IT
beanbaguk
macrumors 65816
Looks like a great idea but it's bad enough my iPhone battery drains in less than a day under heavy usage. How long do we expect the batteries to last on these devices?
What would also be wonderful is a combination of new and traditional mechanical technology but you would end up using a device akin to one of those horrific TAG Heuer "premium" phones which were (let's face it), crap and outdated before they were even released.
What would also be wonderful is a combination of new and traditional mechanical technology but you would end up using a device akin to one of those horrific TAG Heuer "premium" phones which were (let's face it), crap and outdated before they were even released.
I have a watch, an automatic analog watch. I still look at my phone for the time.
I work in an office building, the last 23 people I saw, 2 had watches on.
Regardless of how much we want to believe we're the rule and not the exception, in REAL LIFE, that isn't the way it shakes out.
In fact, in a recent BBC study, only 1 in 7 people wears a watch in the UK.
This isn't breaking news. I wear a watch. Wanna know how many times a day people ask me what time it is?
Another survey suggests nearly 60% of persons 16 to 34 use their phone as their primary timepiece.
In fact, of the 78% that said they actually own one or more watches, over half of them said they don't wear it.
LordVic
Cancelled
your originals tatement was "nobody wears a watch"
I wear one. I'm sombody (I hope).
the numbers aren't what they used to, I wont argue nor deny it.
But there is still a watch industry. There is still the market for fashionable timepieces. and 2/10 people wearing them still means people are wearing them
what i'm trying to say
when you talk, try not to talk in generalizations and absolutes when in fact the absolute is an incorrect statement.
My original statement "Nobody wears a watch" was meant figuratively, not literally.
You know.. like when Steve Jobs said, "people dont read anymore".. he didn't genuinely mean the written word had vanished mysteriously overnight.
Obviously there ARE people who read books, and there are people who wear watches. There are guys who wear socks with sandals. And yes, Virginia, if you look around long enough, you'll even find some folks riding around in a horse drawn buggy.
But unless someone introduces a GAME CHANGER of a wrist worn watch (not merely a tiny extension screen of their phone) then it'll go the way of the Samsung smart watch.
800,000 shipped.. most of them collecting dust at the store.
You know.. like when Steve Jobs said, "people dont read anymore".. he didn't genuinely mean the written word had vanished mysteriously overnight.
Obviously there ARE people who read books, and there are people who wear watches. There are guys who wear socks with sandals. And yes, Virginia, if you look around long enough, you'll even find some folks riding around in a horse drawn buggy.
But unless someone introduces a GAME CHANGER of a wrist worn watch (not merely a tiny extension screen of their phone) then it'll go the way of the Samsung smart watch.
800,000 shipped.. most of them collecting dust at the store.
LordVic
Cancelled
I get it. It's just a personal pet pieve when people throw blanket statements that are fundamentally untrue.
I hated the reality distortion field that Steve Jobs envisioned. if he had fault (like all humans), this alongside arrogance was his greatest faults (and Arguably greatest strengths when he harnessed it).
Just because Jobs got away with blanket statements that were fundamentally untrue that masses of un-educated people swallowed up like candy, doesn't mean we should not hold ourselves to higher standards.
kdarling
Contributor
I think the Gear did pretty well considering that it only worked with a couple of phones.
Its user reviews on Amazon are actually pretty good, and some later bloggers have also said that the early kneejerk trashing was unwarranted. Resale values on eBay are still pretty high, showing there is some demand.
So it was not a waste. But neither was it the game changer that people had hoped for, considering Samsung's expertise with bendable displays.
True so true. I suppose I'll have to wait and see. Funny I felt the same way about the Apple TV since my ps3 handles all my needs and then some, but then that one feature called airplay broke me down. This iwatch could be the same, it could have just that one very useful pull the trigger feature...
The video you linked to is a totally different one to what I posted which displayed a working none simulated device. So again I have proven the device exists and has been demoed to the public.