Google Launches First Android Wear Devices, Featuring Always-On Displays and Card-Based Interface

[kdarling]

Why in world would anyone want to further Googles' mass consumption of data collecting by wearing this watch? Google is already dead to me because they have zero respect for consumer privacy!

Yet here you are, posting on a forum that is supported by ads

Only children think that WiFi and websites and services are free. In reality, they have to be paid for. That means donations (like some of us do here), paid services, or ads.

Of course, we can always NOT use any services or visit any websites paid for by ads. But then, that'd be a huge chunk of the internet that we'd have to avoid.

As for Google, they're not a privacy worry. Whatever they collect, they keep to themselves. I am much more worried about other, lesser, ad networks. And websites that sell info.

Here's an interesting page. It'll tell you which ad networks have you in their sights, and allow you to download cookies that disable targeted ads.

http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/

 

[Toltepeceno]

Jeez, a watch IS a timepiece. You should learn the definition before calling people a liar.

watch
wäCH

a small timepiece worn typically on a strap on one's wrist.
synonyms: timepiece, chronometer; More

Oxford Dictionary

watch

1A small timepiece worn typically on a strap on one’s wrist.

lol

When you own a 20k+ "watch" it's not a pretentious word. Anyone that "owns" a Patek and still calls them watches is a liar.

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[Faux Carnival]

I want one now! This is so convenient. Taking out my phone every minute is history.

 

[MrX8503]

Google Launches First Android Wear Devices, Featuring Always-On Displays and ...

If it's shaped like a watch.

Do you think Apple's gizmo will be watch-like as the Moto 360 is, or thin and curved like the Gear Fit, or something else?

No one knows what it'll be like. Regardless sapphire is superior, funny how you're grabbing at straws to discount that at any way possible.

They all follow each other. A lot of us would like Apple to catch up with water and dust resistance.

You're comparing dust/water resistance to mass manufacturing of sapphire? Lol ok.

 

[kdarling]

No one knows what it'll be like. Regardless sapphire is superior, funny how you're grabbing at straws to discount that at any way possible.

Well, no, I"m trying to figure out what it might mean.

It's all related. If the sapphire is indeed for a "watch", then it's not very likely that it'll be shaped like one of those curved band concepts. Although if it were, that would indeed be unusual, as they'd have to carve out the sapphire in that shape.

You're comparing dust/water resistance to mass manufacturing of sapphire? Lol ok.

I'm comparing what's more important to most people. Scratches have not been a big problem for years. Water resistance, on the other hand, is something that's asked for quite often.

I'm not sure what you think is unique about mass manufacturing of sapphire, something which has been going on for close to a hundred years. Is it neat that Apple is funding a manufacturing company to build lots of furnaces? Sure. Is it something nobody else could do? Hardly.

 

[MrX8503]

I'm comparing what's more important to most people. Scratches have not been a big problem for years. Water resistance, on the other hand, is something that's asked for quite often.

I'm not sure what you think is unique about mass manufacturing of sapphire, something which has been going on for close to a hundred years. Is it neat that Apple is funding a manufacturing company to build lots of furnaces? Sure. Is it something nobody else could do? Hardly.

Are you serious? Bringing sapphire to the masses affordably is what makes it unique. The fact that it's done for a hundred years yet not done affordably at a mass scale is exactly what makes Apple's manufacturing of sapphire impressive. Water/dust resistance? Not even in the same league when it comes to manufacturing challenges. Samsung and LG is researching it as well and if it were easy they would have it, but they don't.

 

[kdarling]

Are you serious? Bringing sapphire to the masses affordably is what makes it unique. The fact that it's done for a hundred years yet not done affordably at a mass scale is exactly what makes Apple's manufacturing of sapphire impressive.

Apple is neither manufacturing sapphire, nor did they create the affordable method being used.

GTAT did. They invented, own, and operate all the furnaces.

Apple put up the money that GTAT needed to build enough furnaces to supply their needs. GTAT will pay that money back over five years.

So yes, anyone with the money and desire could've put up 1/2 billion for a similar facility. As I said, no doubt other factories will spring up around the world, just as happened with Gorilla Glass.

 

[MrX8503]

Apple is neither manufacturing sapphire, nor did they create the affordable method being used.

GTAT did. They invented, own, and operate all the furnaces.

Apple put up the money that GTAT needed to build enough furnaces to supply their needs. GTAT will pay that money back over five years.

So yes, anyone with the money and desire could've put up 1/2 billion for a similar facility. As I said, no doubt other factories will spring up around the world, just as happened with Gorilla Glass.

The point is Apple is bringing it to the masses, just like they have done in the past with other materials including GG.

"Aluminum is now cheaper and easier to implement thanks to Apple itself," says noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/6/5667618/supply-chained-apple-aluminum-and-sapphire

You may continue to deny deny, but Apple brings it again and again.

 

[fortysomegeek]

You should really read that Verge article.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/6/5667618/supply-chained-apple-aluminum-and-sapphire

Apple is neither manufacturing sapphire, nor did they create the affordable method being used.

The large initial 1/2 billion dollar investment will make it affordable.

Here is a quote from HTC's former Chief Designer regarding the mass adoption of Aluminum.

"Ten years ago, you couldn’t find enough people to build an all-aluminum phone, even if you could afford it," says HTC’s former chief designer Scott Croyle.

There’s still a great deal of clever engineering required to make a metal phone functional — particularly in working around the issues of antenna interference —
but Croyle makes the important point that smaller companies don’t have the same luxury of "reinventing a whole new supply chain around a material" that Apple does.

Other companies do not have the luxury of re-inventing the supply chain like Apple. There are numerous quotes like this from many companies from Motorola, HTC, and others since 1997.

1/2 a billion dollars. The only other company with similar resource is Samsung.

So yes, anyone with the money and desire could've put up 1/2 billion for a similar facility. As I said, no doubt other factories will spring up around the world, just as happened with Gorilla Glass.

Sure, it will happen eventually but the key thing is the first mover's advantage. This first mover's advantage means it will take others about 1 to 2 years to materialize.

 

[sebastian...]

Those watches look hideous. Like something from the 90's.

Do they really look like something from the 90's ? Do they look retro ? They have a sporty look yes, but not retro. I mean there are a lot of analog watches today with a classic look which you can easily say they look like they were made in the 90's or 80's . But these ones ?

I think it's an interesting change for Casio. They started with digital watches and in the 80's they pioneered the touch screen smart watch. They even had a smartwatch in the 90's with no buttons. Only touch screen. And now since they done that successfully they are trying to perfect and improve the analog types, with multiple engines, smart pointers which can turn backway and can move independent from each other and much more.

Perhaps some better pictures. The second more expensive model has radio sync also.
Also a plus point - these are not huge giant like some casio watches and like these new Google/Samsung smartwatches. These are pretty small.

 

[fortysomegeek]

Do they really look like something from the 90's ? Do they look retro ? They have a sporty look yes, but not retro. I mean there are a lot of analog watches today with a classic look which you can easily say they look like they were made in the 90's or 80's . But these ones ?

Those watches do look like they're from the 90s. Garish. 80s and 90s are not retro. Retro is mid-century 50s-early 70s.

I say they're garish because they try to do everything all at once and it ends up looking like a dork's watch. Utterly confusing dial and feature set.

They're trying to go for the tough guy's, Alpha male chronograph but it doesn't work here due to the clutter.
A Tachymeter w/ an inner UTC timezone bezel. 29 zones? Really, there are only 24 zones in the world. Why the duplicates and you have to know the initials of the cities. The Tachymeter doesn't tell you instantly anything above 60 seconds because the sub-dials are being used for un-necessary things except give you info you need. E.G. day of the week or a a count-down. Who is going to run lap times and countdowns at the same time? Ever? Then you have a lap timer along w/ a full calendar day/date of the week? Really, do I need to know it is Thursday. And for odd months that don't fall int 30 days, you are going to have to reset the date complication.

They were better off going digital for certain things and analog for the rest to clean it up. E.G. click some push buttons to get your date and laps.

Take a look at any of the classic tool watches. The most important thing is legibility.

A NATO pilot, astronaut has a split 1/40th of a second to glance at his watch to get the information he needs.
The pilots on the ill-fated Apollo 13 used an Omega to help them time the firing of the rocket boosters to turn their dead spacecraft back on a safe trajectory back to earth. It was a life-n-death dilemma and they did it with simplicity.

This is how you do a Chronograph. Flight qualified for all manned spaced missions including Apollo lunar landings. Extremely legibile even when driving laps in the car. The true and classic Tachymeter and matte black dial.

And how Omega updated it to a modern take w/ all the digital doodads. The Speedmaster X33. It uses an extra pusher to toggle for all the similar functions as the Casio. E.G. Lap timer but the mail dial is still uncluttered for legibility.

If you need stop timer, laps, and any of those other things like the Casio but in a better UI. Time calculation functions are big and bold when you need them and off when you don't.

Turn off the rest of the clutter when they're out of the space craft doing walks.

 

[sebastian...]

And for odd months that don't fall int 30 days, you are going to have to reset the date complication.

They were better off going digital for certain things and analog for the rest to clean it up. E.G. click some push buttons to get your date and laps.

The odd months problems doesn't apply to Casio watches. I remember being amazed in the 90' when I tried to set the date in a Casio watch and discovering I couldn't set the day of the week. I realized then the day of the week is adjusted automatically because the Casio watches had (even then - back in time) a complete calendar inside.

You raise perhaps some good points about legibility, but you probably know that casio have tons of models from ultra simplistic and classic to sophisticated models with sensors and multiple screens.

Attached a picture with a simple model (legible ?) screen with titanium body, solar power, radio sync and also the digital screen you mentioned it should have. It is also very thin.
I wanted to buy also this model but I feel the (even if small) digital screen doesn't go so well with the elegant look and classic analog dials. And I also grew tired of the mixed look - with the analog dials and digital display.

I also think you are probably Omega biased and probably equal things could be said against the Omega watches.

The opinions about looks are subjective but what's not subjective are Casio research about watches field. They had a number of firsts, or clear improvements in this field. I mentioned before the touch screen watches in the 80' which not only they were a first, but also had a simple and elegant look, they were small and thin, had a metal body, huge screen (especially for 1984) and water proof. They didn't look dorky and were not black plastic. For me at least in 1984 they were like something from the future.

Their new analog watches also have some improvements which frankly I expected them for quite a few years. Computerized motors pointer movements. I mean if I want to set the clock back a few hours (perhaps I had to change the battery, or my watch stopped) why should I turn the pointers clockwise which is the longest road ? When the shortest way is backwards ? Casio can do that and not only that, the pointers can move separately for the shortest road.
Not to mention invisible features like radio time sync, solar power without a visible solar energy screen, very long power time in the dark and others.
Also most people heard about the Casio watches reliability. There are stories about watches found on a bottom of a lake after years and they were still able to function and in good condition.

I shouldn't mention the price comparison because a good design is a good design, but still the Omega watch posted before cost like $ 3400 so they could in theory use 5 times more money on research but somehow I could swear Casio has a larger budget for that.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

You can have rectangular designed watches like the JLCs. So there is no real need to have a "circular" dial just for the sake of it.

Image

That is hideous

 

[APlotdevice]

A watch that cannot be seen in sunlight isn't very useful IMO.

 

[diamond.g]

After watching the demo in I/O this is exactly what I hope the iWatch is not. I don't want a clunky 2.5" laggy touchscreen bombarding me with notifications and trying to shoehorn the smart watch experience onto a small screen.

Sadly it appears Apple has more or less done the same thing...