Topic: Smart watches: The latest in unnecessary technology

[NWR_insanolord]

So it seems I'm in the market for a smart watch. Quick access to essential info is appealing to me, and being able to see what an email or tweet is before deciding to pull my phone out would be nice.


The current buzz has Apple's entry into the market not hitting till next year, so right now I'm looking at the Pebble, which was successfully Kickstarted and has now gone into production. He's anyone else looked into any of these?

[BranDonk Kong]

I don't see the need, but then again when the N-Gage debuted I thought gaming on a phone was dumb.

[nickmitch]

I've been thinking about it, and there are some cool models out. I just don't wear the same watch everyday, so I don't want to invest in a watch that will be useful, but only if I decided to wear it that day.

[Stogi]

I looked into it as well and there's nothing WATERPROOF. So it's a waste of money as far as I'm concerned. Wash your hands a little too aggressively and bam, your watch is broken.

Hopefully, someone solves that problem soon.

[nickmitch]

Sony's is water-resistant.

[pokepal148]

which i am happy for, seriously, samsung, if you are going to go for gimmicks at least go for a useful one that isn't 'scroll by rolling your eyes

[BranDonk Kong]

Eye scrolling is useless but the smart pause feature is pretty damn cool

[Oblivion]

I'm probably gonna get the Meta-watch, the AGENT, the Pebble, or if I ever get another Apple product, the Apple smartwatch.

[pokepal148]

except the apple one will probably not work on android

[Stogi]

Thanks mitch. But I'll probably wait until it has the backing of developers and also detaches for quick texting and photo taking.

[Oblivion]

Thanks mitch. But I'll probably wait until it has the backing of developers and also detaches for quick texting and photo taking.

Sony's being water resistant isn't anything special, sorry. Most SW out there do just that.

[shingi_70]

Waiting for Google's to come out. I just want a watch that has the feature and minimalist design of a fitbit.

[NWR_insanolord]

I looked into it as well and there's nothing WATERPROOF. So it's a waste of money as far as I'm concerned. Wash your hands a little too aggressively and bam, your watch is broken.

Hopefully, someone solves that problem soon.

The Pebble is waterproof to several meters. You can't dive with it, but it's perfectly fine to wash your hands or even shower with.

[nickmitch]

Thanks mitch. But I'll probably wait until it has the backing of developers and also detaches for quick texting and photo taking.

Samsung has said that the company is working on one. They've made two "watch-phones" before, so I would almost expect that a 3rd shot at it would be what you're looking for, since it sounds like a medium between what they've done and what's in the market now.

[BranDonk Kong]

I'll just stick with my Casio calculator watch from 1992.

[EasyCure]

"No officer, I wasn't texting, I swear, I was just checking my watch for the time!"

[shingi_70]

I'd say don't get a pebble and wait till Apple and Google show their smart watches. Its pretty likely that Pebble is dead product walking and its viability in both ecosystems will be killed by iwatch and nexus watch.

[Plugabugz]

As long as there's some form of connectivity nintendo references for the win! back to my primary phone then this may be interesting.

[shingi_70]

As long as there's some form of connectivity nintendo references for the win! back to my primary phone then this may be interesting.

Well that is what a smartwatch is in a nutshell. It connects to your phone and aggregates all pertinent information and feeds it too you through the display.


Depending on how each company plans to do it you may not even have to connect the watch to your phone through bluetooth or wifi direct. I'm guessing you could get more expensive models with 3G/4G a la the more  expensive kindle models. Using icloud and Google Drive (what is google's cloud service called?).




In reality this is just another way for the big two to grab more ecosystem lock down.

[ShyGuy]

How horrible is the battery life?

[NWR_insanolord]

The Pebble apparently lasts a whole week on a charge, probably because it uses an e-ink display.

[lolmonade]

As someone who never enjoys wearing a regular watch in the first place, I don't think having to grab my phone out of my pocket for personal computing is enough of a nuisance for me to consider investing in wearable computing.
 
Granted, I didn't get any sort of smart phone until 2010, so I've always been behind the curve on this type of stuff anyway, but I just don't personally see enough advantage to this yet.

[Ceric]

Honestly I would consider a Smart Watch if I could talk on it from just where it was at.

[NWR_insanolord]

I'm bumping this thread to say I got my Pebble and I think it's safe to say it's the greatest thing I've ever owned in my entire life. I canceled my PS4 preorder to buy it and I don't regret that decision at all.

[nickmitch]

What are your favorite things about it?

[NWR_insanolord]

Just having all my phone notifications is pretty great. I can see what emails and whatnot are without having to take out my phone all the time. I've also got a watch face that shows the current weather and the next event on my calendar. The really great thing is it makes it easier to subtly ignore people.

[Stogi]

lol

I figured it's greatest tool would be so you wouldn't have to. BTW, does it do anything obnoxious like vibrate, beep or blink whenever you receive a new notification?

[ShyGuy]

Great, now we have five sizes of internet devices.

[NWR_insanolord]

lol

I figured it's greatest tool would be so you wouldn't have to. BTW, does it do anything obnoxious like vibrate, beep or blink whenever you receive a new notification?

It does vibrate, but you can turn that off in the settings.

[Stogi]

I think the watch or bracelet is a great idea down the line. As phones start to reach the abilities of modern day laptops, all we really need is something like a CPU we plug into a shell ala the Moto Matrix. Give me a keyboard, a track pad and a bigger screen and run it with my phone. Voila! No more need for dedicated laptops for most people (as long as the software's on par). On the flip-side, if I could tone down the checking and rechecking of my phone when carrying it around and just have the barebones experience of checking messages and simple facts from my arm. Voila! Now there's a choice I make to look at my phone and not just one to see if I've received something consequential.

[NWR_insanolord]

This is really the first generation of these that don't suck. If they can get a decent number of people to buy in, they'll only get better over time.

[shingi_70]

Too Lazy to look for the Android thread this is a much better fit.

Most of us are rarely without our smartphones in hand. These powerful supercomputers keep us connected to the world and the people we love. But we're only at the beginning; we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible with mobile technology. That’s why we’re so excited about wearables—they understand the context of the world around you, and you can interact with them simply and efficiently, with just a glance or a spoken word.


Android Wear: Information that moves with you
Today we’re announcing Android Wear, a project that extends Android to wearables. And we’re starting with the most familiar wearable—watches. Going well beyond the mere act of just telling you the time, a range of new devices along with an expansive catalogue of apps will give you:
Useful information when you need it most. Android Wear shows you info and suggestions you need, right when you need them. The wide variety of Android applications means you’ll receive the latest posts and updates from your favorite social apps, chats from your preferred messaging apps, notifications from shopping, news and photography apps, and more.
Straight answers to spoken questions. Just say “Ok Google” to ask questions, like how many calories are in an avocado, what time your flight leaves, and the score of the game. Or say “Ok Google” to get stuff done, like calling a taxi, sending a text, making a restaurant reservation or setting an alarm.
The ability to better monitor your health and fitness. Hit your exercise goals with reminders and fitness summaries from Android Wear. Your favorite fitness apps can give you real-time speed, distance and time information on your wrist for your run, cycle or walk.
Your key to a multiscreen world. Android Wear lets you access and control other devices from your wrist. Just say “Ok Google” to fire up a music playlist on your phone, or cast your favorite movie to your TV. There’s a lot of possibilities here so we’re eager to see what developers build.

The concept watch hat might be the Nexus W



LG



Motorola 360

[BlackNMild2k1]

That looks pretty dope.

I can't see myself wearing one, but the execution looks spot on, like that is target renders and not anything like what we will actually get.

Google Now is also pretty damn awesome, for the limited things I use it for, and to be able to tie all that to home automation from your wrist also sounds like worthwhile innovation going on at Google.


Google Now: Temp 62^o out, 25 minutes from home
You: Ok Google, turn on heat to 70^o
You: Message Jenny - please pick up milk from store - send


I assume the watches work on Bluetooth/wifi connected to your phone for internet connection though.
This will not work if I need yet another cell contract to use the watch.

[Plugabugz]

Motorola completely nailed it. They realised - unlike Samsung and others - that it needs to look like a watch and not a piece of technical equipment.

I assume the watches work on Bluetooth/wifi connected to your phone for internet connection though.
This will not work if I need yet another cell contract to use the watch.

Bluetooth is the most likely choice given Bluetooth 4 supports low power mode, although having wifi would help (so it can reach google servers and skip the phone). Having a 3G/LTE modem would probably shorten the battery life to hours though.

[NWR_insanolord]

I've gotta wonder what the battery life on those models is. My Pebble lasts about a week between charges, but that's with it using an e-paper screen. These would seem to have considerably less than that.

[Ceric]

This emphasizes that point I need to get out of my runt and actually start programming in something that can be used by interesting devices instead of soul killing business work.

[BranDonk Kong]

Moto 360 has just killed all over smartwatches. Nice job.

[EasyCure]

I'm digging the Moto360 but I can't find any videos of the display in action. I like the fact that it looks more like a watch but I also want to make sure i can see the damn thing; I wouldn't like if some text is cut off because of the rounded display.

[shingi_70]

The Moto360 google hangout

I'm hoping for an Android wear product that's more along the lines of a fitbit or Galaxy gear fit.

[BranDonk Kong]

It's thicker than I thought it would be (that's what she said)...I hope it's waterproof.