Google to Release Android SDK for Wearable Devices in Two Weeks

[evansls]

Except that Google has been in development of Google Glass before the iWatch was even rumored. So perhaps it is Apple following the leader again. The iWatch hasn't even been unveiled so how can Google be reacting to something that doesn't even exist and wasn't even rumored at the time they created their product? I'm sure the fanboys though will try to rewrite history again like usual.

Sorry to break it to you, but here's Apple's patent from 2006 (before iphone) on their own head mounted apparatus -- however, google is obviously more vocal about their project.

http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=...&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page)

Also, don't forget the guys in Redmond are also working on their own apparatus says their 2011 patent, but again google is obviously more vocal about their project.

http://pdfaiw.uspto.gov/.aiw?Docid=...ageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=BEEEFC68CCB3

 

[xoneo]

Isn't that because of new Samsung galaxy gear with Tizen?

 

[69650]

carry a "full" version of iOS

I very much doubt the iWatch will have a full version of iOS. That would make it power hungry and reduce battery life. Plus the screen will be too small to run most current iOS apps anyway. I suspect they will do what they did with the iPod nano and build a stripped down version of iOS capable of running specific iWatch apps in conjunction with their equivalent iPhone app.

 

[dannyyankou]

No one will want wearable devices until apple releases one, then everyone will want it and copy it.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

My question would be whether you think Google's valuation is in fact sensible. That should first be established prior to doing a direct comparison.

A companies market cap it what it is. Of course direct comparison is valid. It's just what company A is worth to the market vs what company B is worth at a single, same point in time. Pundits and analysts can argue all day long on what kind of multiple is reasonable, but that doesn't change the stock price one iota. But lets not kid ourselves here. Both Google and Apple are money printing machines.

But I fail to see how any of that is relevant to the topic of an Android wearable SDK.

----------

No one will want wearable devices until apple releases one, then everyone will want it and copy it.

No one will want? Except for the millions of people who already own sports bands.

If anything Apple is copying the idea from Nike who copied the idea from Fitbit. Tim Cook has said he wears a Fuelband and its what made him think about Apple getting into the wearable market. An Apple band will presumable be the most robust band ever, but it won't be the first and people are already enjoying them.

 

[dannyyankou]

No one will want? Except for the millions of people who already own sports bands.

If anything Apple is copying the idea from Nike who copied the idea from Fitbit. Tim Cook has said he wears a Fuelband and its what made him think about Apple getting into the wearable market. An Apple band will presumable be the most robust band ever, but it won't be the first and people are already enjoying them.

I meant smartwatches more specifically, which is still a new market that not many people aren't jumping on board with right now. Similar to how there was a smartphone market in 2006 but it didn't explode until the iPhone was released.

 

[musika]

I am not sure about the Google Now (or Siri) integration in a wearable device that sits on your wrist. To do so would be like the dick Tracy watch where you need to bring it up to your face to speak into the device. That is neither intuitive nor natural. I hope that if/when Apple produces their device they come up with something better than this - otherwise this will give a whol new meaning to the phrase "talk to the hand."

I actually wasn't all that interested in the speech aspect, but rather Google Now's predictive information cards. It would be very cool if the correct weather for my location popped up on my watch in the morning, or if it subtly told me train times for my commute. It would definitely have to be well-executed, which I think will be very difficult, but having a context-aware wearable is definitely something that I'm interested in.

 

[bunchofpenguins]

Basically they'll do what they did with Glass; make something so absurd that only the most fanatic Google fans will spend $1500 for it then cancel it and move on to the next thing. If there's one thing that Google does good, it's fleecing the flock.

I wish companies will stop it with this stupid "wearable" garbage; nobody wants to look like an idiot wearing a computer.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

You're lying to yourself if you don't think the sudden obsession and rush for "smartwatches" isn't fueled just a tad by the "iWatch" rumors.

Or it could be more to do with the fact that an unknown startup company with little manufacturing experience managed to raise 10 million dollars on Kick Starter and sell somewhere near half a million units in the following year with no advertising and nothing but internet hype and positive reviews?

 

[wbeasley]

Microsoft?

Time (pun intended) for a ZuneWatch

 

[Oletros]

Basically they'll do what they did with Glass; make something so absurd that only the most fanatic Google fans will spend $1500 for it then cancel it and move on to the next thing. If there's one thing that Google does good, it's fleecing the flock.

I didn't knew that Glass was cancelled, can you give us more information about that cancellation?

I wish companies will stop it with this stupid "wearable" garbage; nobody wants to look like an idiot wearing a computer.

Are you calling idiot Tim Cook for wearing a Fuel band? Are you calling idiots all the people that wear a Fitbit?

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Sorry to break it to you, but here's Apple's patent from 2006 (before iphone) on their own head mounted apparatus
...
Also, don't forget the guys in Redmond are also working on their own apparatus says their 2011 patent

Except in this day and age you dont even have to be remotely thinking about actually implementing your patent in a product to patent it. Patent Squatting.

 

[Oletros]

Isn't that because of new Samsung galaxy gear with Tizen?

Yap, they have developed an API for wearables in less than a month

 

[SlCKB0Y]

That's Linux for you.

Oh you mean the kernel which probably powers more devices on the planet than any other?

----------

Are you calling idiot Tim Cook for wearing a Fuel band? Are you calling idiots all the people that wear a Fitbit?

No, we're all idiots for using a wearable unless it has a  on it. duh!

 

[samcraig]

which is said to carry a "full" version of iOS that emphasizes biometrics and integration with other iOS devices.

I would be VERY surprised if the wearable device has full iOS

It's crazy to see so many brands put out products in a never before thought of market segment solely based on the rumor that Apple is planning on creating a product in that market...

Never before thought of market? Where have you been for the last several years. Before the rumors of Apple even entering (yes entering, not creating) the market.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Samsung is gradually moving away from Android. Switching Gear to Tizen is the first step. It's the only way Samsung will be able to control their own destiny (in the mobile technology arena).

There's absolutely no evidence of this whatsoever.... in fact it's likely that Motorola Mobility was sold to Lenovo to appease Samsung and the other OEMs and guarantee they stay with Android.

 

[samcraig]

So wait...!! What you are saying here is that, when and if Apple does release the iWatch or whatever they may call it, on which am sure they been working for quite few years, it has to be a copy of ..... let's say one of these many Galaxy Gear stuff that Samsung has been working on the last few months?? Yeah man, that has to be it

Apple doesn't just create a new hardware product overnight!!! It works on it for years before you even see it (but that does not stop people from hearing about it). For every single new product that Apple have brought on the last decade, rumors have existed long before you have seen it. And to me and you this iWatch thing may be just a rumor but for big tech companies out there who are in the game is just as real as the air you breath!! I believe you are naive if you think Apple competitors like Samsung have no idea what Apple is working on and react to it accordingly.

Yes - No other single company that competes with Apple has a product roadmap. They troll news and rumor sites and then whip up a product in a few months.

EVERY company looks at the competitive landscape. Every company has product roadmaps. Every company has "closets" full of tech that has never reached the market and/or patents that are decades old but where the tech didn't exist to make it a reality.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Because there will be proof once their product doesn't take off and they go and copy the iWatch. Sure, there was that Android prototype that ripped off Blackberry that offered some proof. Then you could see everyone change course to react to the iPhone.

Maybe read about what actually occurred from someone who was there:
http://www.osnews.com/permalink?517243

There's no doubt iPhone has influenced Android (and vice versa), but there as a lot more going on there at the beginning than the third hand rubbish being quoted by BGR and others.

 

[BuddyRich]

I dunno but having used a garmin forerunner since 2008 the smart watch isn't new. I do think it will be more "health" watch than fashion with HRM, accelerometer and gps. It will likely interface with iPhone for some things, perhaps via btle and connect to various other sensors. Waterproofing is a must and would be inline with waterproofing being one of the next big features of the next iPhone. Of course devices already exist for this but apple could take a chunk of the market.

 

[Mockenrue]

It's crazy to see so many brands put out products in a never before thought of market segment solely based on the rumor that Apple is planning on creating a product in that market...

One could easily argue that Apple is the follower and copier here... reacting to the Fitbit that has been around for years. Reacting to the Nike Fuelband (and hiring the studio director of the team that invented it!). Reacting to the Pebble watch - one of Kickstarter's biggest success stories. Reacting to Google Glass, a wearable that is genuinely innovative and new. All of these are real products on the market today. Yet, Apple rumors are the only thing driving a market that's "never been thought of"?

 

[spinedoc77]

I expect the world will shrug at whatever Google does, just like they've done with every other smart watch so far.

Honestly, I wouldn't be too surprised if Apple iWatch flops just like everyone else's smart watches - I don't think many people really want or need a device in this category. (Two other possibilities that wouldn't surprise me: Apple dominates the Smart Watch market or Apple never even enters the Smart Watch market.)

I'm much more interested in seeing Apple break some new ground in television than in wearable tech. Something that'll bring families together rather than drive them apart (that was the promise Nintendo made with the Wii U. So far the games have utterly failed to live up to that, or any other standard, by not materializing at all. I'm looking forward to seeing some asymmetric games that can bring casual and hardcore gamers together.)

I don't think that's the case at all. My opinion is that nothing has been released that is appealing, aesthetically or functionally. Look at smartphones. What kind of market did smartphones have before the iphone? What kind of market does the smartphone enjoy today? I'm not saying Apple is the one to innovate this round, maybe maybe not. But what's been released now has little mass appeal.

I think smartwatches are a VERY useful category functionally, although today's smartwatches are not great examples of that. But give people aesthetics, coolness, exclusivity and all of the sudden everyone wants one. Look at the iphone, what percentage of consumers use 100% of the iphones power and potential? What percentage even use half or 10% of the potential? I'll bet you could take the majority of smartphone owners and from a functional point of view replace their iphone with a regular phone and functionally they wouldn't know the difference.

I hope Apple breaks into this as they have with the smartphone and tablet. They seem to understand you can have all the functionality in the world but if the aesthetics are not there then only the hardcore minority will buy it. Google seems too driven at shoving internet searches down your throat, that's why Google Now will always suck as a personal assistant and I shudder to think what it will be like on a tiny smartwatch screen. Plus I don't think Google has that aesthetics smarts, their products are still clunky and cheapie IMO, but they seem more willing to release beta versions of their hardware and slowly perfect them which is fine by me. Still, I'm intrigued and definitely want to check it out.

 

[samcraig]

I don't think that's the case at all. My opinion is that nothing has been released that is appealing, aesthetically or functionally. Look at smartphones. What kind of market did smartphones have before the iphone? What kind of market does the smartphone enjoy today? I'm not saying Apple is the one to innovate this round, maybe maybe not. But what's been released now has little mass appeal.

I think smartwatches are a VERY useful category functionally, although today's smartwatches are not great examples of that. But give people aesthetics, coolness, exclusivity and all of the sudden everyone wants one. Look at the iphone, what percentage of consumers use 100% of the iphones power and potential? What percentage even use half or 10% of the potential? I'll bet you could take the majority of smartphone owners and from a functional point of view replace their iphone with a regular phone and functionally they wouldn't know the difference.

I hope Apple breaks into this as they have with the smartphone and tablet. They seem to understand you can have all the functionality in the world but if the aesthetics are not there then only the hardcore minority will buy it. Google seems too driven at shoving internet searches down your throat, that's why Google Now will always suck as a personal assistant and I shudder to think what it will be like on a tiny smartwatch screen. Plus I don't think Google has that aesthetics smarts, their products are still clunky and cheapie IMO, but they seem more willing to release beta versions of their hardware and slowly perfect them which is fine by me. Still, I'm intrigued and definitely want to check it out.

In short - you can't compare the Smartphone market to the watch (or wearable) market. Completely different.

I enjoy reading everyone's take on what amazing features Apple's wearable might have. The more "colorful" the description, the more enjoyable it is. Quite frankly - I think (my opinion of course) is that simplicity will win out. That's why the Pebble raised so much money. While it may not be the most stylish watch. It's simple. There's no touch UI. At its core - it's a timepiece that also gives alerts and has modest controls. The biggest "fatal" flaw for it (and other smart watches) is battery life. People are used to never having to worry about their watches for months at a time.

I really don't think (as cools as it might be in concept) people want a computer on a tiny screen on their wrist. A stylish watch that also sends data back to a phone or tablet - sure. One that even incorporates NFC sure. But all the bells and whistles (and full OS?!) - not so much.

My .02

 

[Nevaborn]

Hopefully it works out better than Glass. That had promise but was never given its full potential, treated as an exercise and not a viable product.

The key to this watch for me is that it can be used with a proper ui to reply to messages etc without using the phone. If not it's pointless just like the gear.

 

[samcraig]

Hopefully it works out better than Glass. That had promise but was never given its full potential, treated as an exercise and not a viable product.

The key to this watch for me is that it can be used with a proper ui to reply to messages etc without using the phone. If not it's pointless just like the gear.

Sorry - I missed the announcement that GLASS was done?

 

[spinedoc77]

In short - you can't compare the Smartphone market to the watch (or wearable) market. Completely different.

I enjoy reading everyone's take on what amazing features Apple's wearable might have. The more "colorful" the description, the more enjoyable it is. Quite frankly - I think (my opinion of course) is that simplicity will win out. That's why the Pebble raised so much money. While it may not be the most stylish watch. It's simple. There's no touch UI. At its core - it's a timepiece that also gives alerts and has modest controls. The biggest "fatal" flaw for it (and other smart watches) is battery life. People are used to never having to worry about their watches for months at a time.

I really don't think (as cools as it might be in concept) people want a computer on a tiny screen on their wrist. A stylish watch that also sends data back to a phone or tablet - sure. One that even incorporates NFC sure. But all the bells and whistles (and full OS?!) - not so much.

My .02

I'm actually not comparing the smartphone market to the regular watch market at all, but come to think of it that would be a valid comparison as well in some aspects. The comparison between smartphones and smartwatches is very relevant though, quite similar, not exact of course, but definitely have a lot in common. Certainly we don't "need" smartwatches like we need phones so I wouldn't expect sales to ever be 1:1. But my point was I don't think the majority of consumers "need" smartphones either, they could function exactly the same with a non-smartphone.

Once again it's not 1:1 because consumers still "need" some kind of phone, although if pricing and aesthetics are right then it's possible to also tap into that market that "needs" some kind of watch. I cannot leave the house without my regular watch, with the time in front of me constantly, on my PC, on my phone, on my car dashboard, etc do I really need a watch? No, but I still cannot leave the house without it. You can't factor out that aesthetics/jewelry factor, one that Apple has built a business on.

Besides a smartwatch would offer me tangible benefits such as not having to pull my phone out of my pocket when I'm doing 80mph on the highway.