News Google teases Android Wear for smartwatches

That Motorola looks sweet - but I'm used to just looking at my wrist, not had to press a button to see the time since, what, 1977?

 

If it has a compass function, it will basically have movement/acceleration sensors built in. It could be programmed to recognise you lifting your arm and flicking your wrist to look at the watch.

I've played with the Motorola Aura --I know that they're capable of making a lovely round LCD screen and lovely stainless steel gadgets. So want.

 

One of my Casio Pro Trek's has that flick thing for auto back light - good idea tho...

 

Help, my left arm's drifted off into the sunset! How am I going to operate my smartwatch now?!

 

Looks like a gimmicky sales flop in the making. No one I know wears a normal watch in the first place they just use their phone to check the time.

 

In principle I agree with you, and I am one of those people nowadays since my watch ran out battery and I can't be arsed to replace it for the phone reason, however it is irritating to dig phone out of pocket whenever I want to just check the time (which I need to do often given that I have NO internal sense of time at all!)

 

Alternatively it'll help enter in a new era of connecting us to our devices and our digital lives. Some people have smart phones. Some people have watches. Some people have running watches. Some people have fitness bands. Some people have navigation devices. Some people have heart rate monitors. Some people have glucose monitors. Some people have blood pressure monitors. Some people have location trackers. Some people have emergency alert buttons.... there's lots of devices out there.

And soon some people will also have a new range of 'smart watches'. Not everyone, I don't think anyone is claiming that everyone wants one or will buy one.

But don't be too upset. You're not the first person to predict the death of a technology prematurely.

 

OK, Google. Stop tracking me and serving up adverts based on what shops i go into.

 

I was like that in 2007 up to last year, then I grew up and got an awesome automatic chronometer, now I wear it most of the time, and feel naked without it.

A good timepiece is more than a watch, it's a style symbol and valuable piece of information for your daily life.



For this smart watch business, I'm with Tony. The dial should not be optional screensaver, it needs to be visible all the time. I would rather have a timepiece with the interactive smart screen in the middle, like most car's instrument cluster these days. The main job of car instruments is to tell the speed, thus the speedometer should be at a fixed location and always visible, same with a watch's ability to tell time.

 

Agreed with 'watch first, smart thingy second'... It should also work, as a watch at least, if it can't connect to the device it's paired with...

Would I buy/wear one? probably not... but I don't wear a regular watch either...

 

A nice mechanical is much better in my opinion, the watch won't do anything that your smart phone won't, why have two devices doing the same job, a good quality mechanical automatic is a much better buy.

I'm not really sure who this is for.

 

Still have 0 intrest in a Smartwatch till the battery can actually live more than 24hrs. What good is a watch that needs daily charging.

Also not a fan of it from the looks of it, Big clunky most of them are.

 

While skeptical at first, the more I think about this the more open I am to the idea. The various navigation features in particular could be great to have on your wrist. Just depends on the actually capability, and the reliance on having a linked smartphone for these features.

That link to a smartphone is my biggest complaint with the device. If I've got my smartphone in my pocket why bother with using the watch to do everything? It seems like an oddly expensive way of eliminating the slight hassle of reaching into your pocket.

 

Where do you put your watch at night? Surely you don't sleep with it? Of course not, it goes on the nightstand. When it's a posh, expensive one it may even go on a stand. Now imagine that stand is a wireless charger. Job done.

As for its uses: in clinical sessions my phone is on silent (vibrate), but it would be damn handy to be able to tell with a casual glance at a watch whether the call is urgent, or whether the next client has cancelled (my NHS Outlook calendar is updated all the time by my secretary). In meetings it is an unobtrusive way of keeping informed of calls, emails, messages.

As you strap on the watch in the morning it could tell you the weather, commute time based on current traffic conditions (I have Nokia Here Drive on my Windows Phone doing this, and it's pretty nifty), and updates to my diary or emails since I last looked yesterday.

Fitness freaks can think of more applications. People who travel a lot may be reminded of their travel schedule and details (your diary says you're having a meeting in London this morning. Your GPS says you're in Birmingham. Your email confirms you bought train tickets on the TrainLine.com. I can now remind you of your train departure time, tell you what platform it's leaving from, warn you about delays and cancellations. If you book a taxi to the station (number here, based on your contacts or a local Google), expect travel time to take 20 mins. in current traffic. I'll remind you to collect the tickets when GPS says you've arrived at the station). The watch can show boarding pass codes. Etc.

 

People quite fairly are sceptical of the the battery life, the size and whether there's a need for a smart watch when we all have smart phones.

I already have a 'smarter than normal' watch that is both clunky and has 'limited' battery life. It's a garmin Forerunner that I bought for trail runs in all conditions. 20hrs of GPS battery life (longer than my phone) and 100% waterproof so I can use it when I hit a water obstacle. I get alerts on my pace, heart rate and when I need to change course.

It's my 'how am I doing?' and 'get me home if I get lost in the hills' device and thus works as a lovely backup to my phone. I'll put up with the clunk because it's a lot more convenient and appropriate than my phone.

A lot of people could very good use out of a phone connected wrist device. It's SO EARLY DAYS when it comes to smart watches. It's virtually impossible to guess how we'll be using them in years to come.

And of course next years models will be slimmer and lighter with longer running batteries. Like duh!

 

This is something I want to happen, and im glad to see google is getting on top of it.

Ever since I saw Samsungs latest entry I have wanted one. Only thing that has stopped me from buying one was the fact it only worked with Samsung phones despit them being android, and the fact that Sony's entry seems limited feature-wise compared to Samsungs smartwatch(I currently have the Sony Xperia ZL).

 

I sleep with my watch on my wrist, why wouldn't I?
Also, I doubt wireless charging can be incorporated in a wrist watch, at least not in a metal one.

 

Also sleep with your socks on? (I just think it would be really uncomfortable).

As long as the watch has a non-metal (sapphire? Ceramic?) back, it would be possible. My two Junghans watches have a ceramic housing. Tougher than metal: scratch proof, non-magnetic, light.