
LG's Smartwatch Shows Android Wear Operating System Has a Long Way to Go - aaronbrethorst
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/24/technology/personaltech/lg-g-smartwatch-shows-android-wear-operating-system-has-a-long-way-to-go.html
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codeka
> Android Wear seems still in the experimental stage, but this app is not
> labeled a beta.

This is the impression I get, after using one for about a week. Not only does
it seem rather unfinished, it's also quite buggy (some notifications never
disappear, the navigation integration is basically unusable, and there was a
point where I was getting _no_ notifications and had to clear data for the
Google Play Services app to get them back).

However, when it _does_ work, it works brilliantly and I'm kind of lucky that
it doesn't look monstrously big on my wrist, so I think I'm going to stick
with it for now.

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k-mcgrady
> Android Wear seems still in the experimental stage, but this app is not
> labeled a beta.

That seems to be how Google is doing things now. Look at Google Glass. It's
listed on the Play Store as 'explorer edition' and marketed on the page not as
an experimental product but as something hikers, cyclists, photographers etc.
should use. It's actually quite dishonest especially considering it costs
£1,000.

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Zigurd
Two things make it worthwhile:

1\. Replying by transcribed voice to Hangouts messages, including SMS, by
speaking into the watch. This works even in very loud environments. That's
pretty amazing.

2\. Google Now notifications that I have to be on my way to my next meeting.

It's not amazing, but it is very convenient to take notes and to-dos by voice
when driving, since I don't usually wear a headset all the time when driving.
This is the best general-purpose voice note-taking setup I have used.

I have not found it to be buggy. To the contrary, it handles being in and out
of range of the phone very well. I never have to fiddle with Bluetooth
settings to get it to connect.

I'm not that keen on the round watch-faces either. While the UI might work on
a round display, there is nothing about the UI that would actually _use_
roundness in any useful way. That is, apart from analog-style watch faces,
there are no other "gauge" metaphors in the UI or any other UI element that
wants to be on a round display.

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couchand
Am I the only one that thinks voice interfaces are a scourge on technology?
Leave them to science fiction. It's already bad enough with people walking
around with their bluetooth headsets chatting away looking literally insane.
But call me a luddite.

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nnnnni
I use voice control for one thing: to send text messages while driving. It's a
lot safer to say "text bob i will be there in fifteen minutes" then "send"
than to try to type while driving. It's also (understandably) illegal to type
the messages while driving in many areas!

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VLM
It's telling that I find it less frustrating to find a stop sign or parking
lot, than to suffer thru using speech. Error rate is too high. Getting angry
while driving is no fun.

Also I can call someone with one button press on my car. Much less
distracting, and much faster, than trying to text/email.

~~~
neumann
Agreed - I have yet to successfully send a text through voice commands. Or
navigate. And I quickly realised it was dangerous to try, because I would
inevitably have to look down to see what the phone is actually doing.

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bookwormAT
having a second screen for notifications and short information bits is really
useful. After a month with the LG Watch, I'm convinced this is an essential
addon to use with a smartphone.

It feels really stupid now to think that my phone would make some kind of
noise to inform me that something new happened, and that I should probably get
it out and unlock it to check if this is maybe something I want to act on
right now.

Android wear is smartly not about "an Android phone on your wrist". It
acknowledges that your wrist is a great place to glance at information, that
this is what watches have always been used for, and provides a dead simple
interface for exactly this usecase.

It's the calculator apps and the pizza ordering apps (stupidly featured at
I/O) that put this great product in danger of being misunderstood.

~~~
hyp0
BTW: you can check some notifications without the unlocking step (at least, in
4.2.2).

On the lockscreen, swipe left. There'll be a "+". Unlock on this screen, and
you get a choice of apps to show on it (email, messaging, calendar etc). You
can have several such screens (it seems, one app per screen). A long press
gives allows deletion of that screen.

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gaius
It's not clear to me what the target market for this is, esp. given you need a
phone as well. A whole generation has gotten used to telling the time by
looking at their phones (ironically, exactly the same gesture as using a
pocketwatch). The rise of the wrist watch in the mass market is tied to some
very specific events in history (lots of people being issued them in WW2). Who
is going to buy this and why?

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jbuzbee
I've got a Pebble - It's much easier for me to glance at my wrist to get the
date, time, weather, or to tell who that email came from rather than fishing
my phone out of my pocket - especially when driving. On the downside, it's a
pretty ugly watch, but when I accidently let the battery run down I miss it.

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hadoukenio
Change to a watchface that includes the battery charge. Better yet, install
Pebble Canvas and create your own watch face.

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weego
"oh best take my phone out of my pocket, my watch is ringing".

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bane
For people who have one. What's the battery life been like?

~~~
pdx6
About 3 days assuming you have the display off when it is not in use. About a
day if you like to leave the screen on.

~~~
bookwormAT
I leave the screen on and I'm at about 40% in the evening.

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jotm
_" operating system for wearable devices like smartwatches"_

/facepalm

Please, just focus on Glass and preferably other wearable displays, so we
don't need to waste a ton of money and time on something that will never be
anything other than a fad.

~~~
jotm
If someone could explain why smart watches (especially with their own OS, I
get phone-pairing, but standalone just seems stupid) are a good idea, I'd be
glad to read and upvote it.

~~~
Zigurd
They are a good idea because they expand the physical interface to
smartphones.

In general mobile devices face the challenge that they can't be too large. So
you will find wearables, sensors, radio beacons, and other technologies used
to make the interaction "surface" larger.

~~~
jotm
OK, I get that problem, but AR glasses will solve it and many others, making
smart watches and possibly any LCD displays obsolete. In my opinion, smart
watches are a DOA product, no point in pushing for a market for them.

Imagine a perfected version of these with an optional front cover so you only
see the displays when needed:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOBo05xvSVk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOBo05xvSVk)

~~~
Zigurd
I've got both an LG AndroidWear watch, and Glass. At first, I thought "Glass
is radical enough, and watches won't be." But I wear the smartwatch almost
every day and I've only found Glass really useful for recording PoV video for
tutorials and reviews. Glass needs a "killer app."

At this stage of development, Glass is too obtrusive and has too limited
battery life. I could see some high-value enterprise apps for Glass. AR
glasses are a step or three beyond that.

