Google unveils Android Wear: a version of Android for smartwatches

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Dali said:
Why do I have the feeling these wearable smartphones will just be the new watch calculator? I just don't see these things taking off outside of a small group of geeks and technophiles that don't mind the gaudiness.
Click to expand...

The vision for a true smart watch is to not think of it as a watch but instead as a sensor that can gather information from the user. For example, being able to get temp, pulse, etc. from the user would be useful in healthcare. So healthcare sensors are a HUGE application here.

Looking at the NFC rings that were out there and being able to transfer things based on touch would be very useful here as well though I'm sure they will BLE based, which means getting notifications about cool little bits of information (and shit like sales and coupons) while you're walking around. This is a much more passive activity so it makes sense for it to be on something wearable like Glass or Android Wear.

Being able to CONSUME content on the watch in terms of notifications and such is very useful as well. While I'm sure that much will be done about being able to author content through voice, gestures, and such will be done - I don't believe those are the natural UXes of this form factor.
 
Just wait until this Google Now platform & devices running it integrates with their plans for home automation. Their vision is becoming clearer as the days pass.
 
From a UI designer perspective, this makes little sense. I've written up my thoughts here:
http://iosguides.net/google-wear-user-interface-expert-details-faults-failings/

There's a vast swatch of issues I can see: at the 1:00 mark, Alex Faaborg (great surname for someone working on Android) swipes down and right to see the weather, then swipes down again to see his meetings for the day. How would the user know that swiping down shows their meetings? There are no indications on the interface.

Let’s take a look at text messaging (1:25 in the video). How does Google Wear know to send the message? In the video the device just goes ahead and sends it without asking for confirmation. How does the user go back and delete a section of the message text? How do they replace a word that the system has mis-interpretated? How do they confirm to send the message?

There's more at the link.
 
tpyqVYZ.png

Wake me up then and not a moment sooner.
 
trudderham said:
From a UI designer perspective, this makes little sense. I've written up my thoughts here:
http://iosguides.net/google-wear-user-interface-expert-details-faults-failings/

There's a vast swatch of issues I can see: at the 1:00 mark, Alex Faaborg (great surname for someone working on Android) swipes down and right to see the weather, then swipes down again to see his meetings for the day. How would the user know that swiping down shows their meetings? There are no indications on the interface.

Let’s take a look at text messaging (1:25 in the video). How does Google Wear know to send the message? In the video the device just goes ahead and sends it without asking for confirmation. How does the user go back and delete a section of the message text? How do they replace a word that the system has mis-interpretated? How do they confirm to send the message?

There's more at the link.
Click to expand...
The interface in the video is just a concept.

Oh, and sounds like you've never used Google Now and Android platform voice commands before. Google Glass has this same implementation and it works fine.
 
trudderham said:
From a UI designer perspective, this makes little sense. I've written up my thoughts here:
http://iosguides.net/google-wear-user-interface-expert-details-faults-failings/

There's a vast swatch of issues I can see: at the 1:00 mark, Alex Faaborg (great surname for someone working on Android) swipes down and right to see the weather, then swipes down again to see his meetings for the day. How would the user know that swiping down shows their meetings? There are no indications on the interface.

Let’s take a look at text messaging (1:25 in the video). How does Google Wear know to send the message? In the video the device just goes ahead and sends it without asking for confirmation. How does the user go back and delete a section of the message text? How do they replace a word that the system has mis-interpretated? How do they confirm to send the message?

There's more at the link.
Click to expand...

I'm sure Google has thought of these things.
 
trudderham said:
From a UI designer perspective, this makes little sense. I've written up my thoughts here:
http://iosguides.net/google-wear-user-interface-expert-details-faults-failings/

There's a vast swatch of issues I can see: at the 1:00 mark, Alex Faaborg (great surname for someone working on Android) swipes down and right to see the weather, then swipes down again to see his meetings for the day. How would the user know that swiping down shows their meetings? There are no indications on the interface.

Let’s take a look at text messaging (1:25 in the video). How does Google Wear know to send the message? In the video the device just goes ahead and sends it without asking for confirmation. How does the user go back and delete a section of the message text? How do they replace a word that the system has mis-interpretated? How do they confirm to send the message?

There's more at the link.
Click to expand...

The interface setup works. It's very similar to google glass, and voice on android devices. You get a 5 second window to cancel your message, or it sends it automatically.

http://developer.android.com/wear/preview/start.html
 
Really liking the Motorola one, hopefully northern Europe will see it soon after the bigger markets. Too bad half the apps won't work here, no speech recognition for my language and it will cost a whole lot more than in the USA. Yay.
 
trudderham said:
From a UI designer perspective, this makes little sense. I've written up my thoughts here:
http://iosguides.net/google-wear-user-interface-expert-details-faults-failings/

There's a vast swatch of issues I can see: at the 1:00 mark, Alex Faaborg (great surname for someone working on Android) swipes down and right to see the weather, then swipes down again to see his meetings for the day. How would the user know that swiping down shows their meetings? There are no indications on the interface.

Let’s take a look at text messaging (1:25 in the video). How does Google Wear know to send the message? In the video the device just goes ahead and sends it without asking for confirmation. How does the user go back and delete a section of the message text? How do they replace a word that the system has mis-interpretated? How do they confirm to send the message?

There's more at the link.
Click to expand...

Sorry, not giving a click to someone that makes fun of someone's name "because they work on Android" (which is essentially what you said) - which is to be expected when your link goes to something called "iosguides.net." I know what kind of attitude I'll be getting there.
 
jooso said:
Really liking the Motorola one, hopefully northern Europe will see it soon after the bigger markets. Too bad half the apps won't work here, no speech recognition for my language and it will cost a whole lot more than in the USA. Yay.
Click to expand...

HAHAHAHHAAHA that shocking realisation of truth slapping you in the face. God damnit, and I was actually excited for once.

still excite though
 
bob page said:
Just wait until this Google Now platform & devices running it integrates with their plans for home automation. Their vision is becoming clearer as the days pass.
Click to expand...

It will tie in with Nest for sure (or at least it makes sense). Nest products already work with smartphones so the next step is these wearable devices.
 
teiresias said:
Sorry, not giving a click to someone that makes fun of someone's name "because they work on Android" (which is essentially what you said) - which is to be expected when your link goes to something called "iosguides.net." I know what kind of attitude I'll be getting there.
Click to expand...

Whoa dude, no need to be hostile for no reason. He wasn't "making fun" of the guy, just noticing something a little silly. Android = Borg.
 
Barbacoatl said:
So you have the fitties, techies, who else? Do you see sedentary granny getting something like this, as opposed to an iphone (or any other sp) that she already owns?
Click to expand...

First of all, when have grandmas ever been the metric for whether a technology adoption has been succesful? That age group is probably the highest holdouts for smartphones today.

Second, I think you're misunderstanding the technology and goals here. Smartwatches aren't meant to be replacements for phones, they are meant as extensions. They pair to your phone the same way a headset would and use the data & network capabilities from the phone (this is why they don't need their own SIM cards). So you don't buy a smartwatch instead of a phone, you buy it as an augment to it.
 
Women won't wear the Moto360 as it as it is too big. They will need to make a smaller one but that reduces the screen size and it's not known if they can really shrink these down at this time.
 
3N16MA said:
Women won't wear the Moto360 as it as it is too big. They will need to make a smaller one but that reduces the screen size and it's not known if they can really shrink these down at this time.
Click to expand...

I think that viewpoint is a bit myopic. The ONLY people I know wearing the Samsung Gear are women.
 
I feel like this is just going to be a cheaper version of Google Glasses, it's something neat with no direction in terms of what does this product do great. This isn't the first time smart watches went to market, I still remember Microsoft's fossil smart watches that got all the information over radio waves.
 
Google is SO much better at voice recognition than Apple. Curious to see how this situation turns out. I like the Moto 360 and would definitely be interested in getting one.
 
teiresias said:
I think that viewpoint is a bit myopic. The ONLY people I know wearing the Samsung Gear are women.
Click to expand...

I have never seen anyone wearing the Samsung Gear and it seems like a niche. Generally speaking women tend to buy smaller watches as they naturally have smaller wrists than men. That is not always the case but I think Motorola would be looking at a wide audience and not women who like large watches or have big wrists.

I rarely see women wearing large watches like this and in this style.
 
So is this still just a device that depends on your phone, or can it stand alone? I see the bit in the OP's quote about controlling your phone, not sure if that's how the whole thing works.

I can't imagine being able to use a reasonably watch sized screen for much, but I'm curious where these end up heading.
 
3N16MA said:
Women won't wear the Moto360 as it as it is too big. They will need to make a smaller one but that reduces the screen size and it's not known if they can really shrink these down at this time.
Click to expand...

I won't wear the Moto360 because I have tiny woman wrists, too. This, though:

BjBYgD5IUAAKEI0.png


I am on board for this.
 
trudderham said:
From a UI designer perspective, this makes little sense. I've written up my thoughts here:
http://iosguides.net/google-wear-user-interface-expert-details-faults-failings/

There's a vast swatch of issues I can see: at the 1:00 mark, Alex Faaborg (great surname for someone working on Android) swipes down and right to see the weather, then swipes down again to see his meetings for the day. How would the user know that swiping down shows their meetings? There are no indications on the interface.

Let’s take a look at text messaging (1:25 in the video). How does Google Wear know to send the message? In the video the device just goes ahead and sends it without asking for confirmation. How does the user go back and delete a section of the message text? How do they replace a word that the system has mis-interpretated? How do they confirm to send the message?

There's more at the link.
Click to expand...
Full disclaimer: I work at Google. It is about as intuitive as any other electronics these days, that is to say, not very intuitive at all. Believe it or not, your iPhone/Windows Phone/Android phone are not very obvious to first time users. You learn how to use them from start up tutorials/advertisements/your friends. It is kind of a trade off you have to take, otherwise you are hurting the power user.
 
teiresias said:
Sorry, not giving a click to someone that makes fun of someone's name "because they work on Android" (which is essentially what you said) - which is to be expected when your link goes to something called "iosguides.net." I know what kind of attitude I'll be getting there.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's fair enough, maybe I'll take out the name part. I'm approaching the video from the UI perspective, it's what I do for a living - the iOS website is something I do on an evening as a hobby. There's just a lot I see in the video that hasn't been thought through. I'd rather see a product that's close to being finished that a promised product.
 
trudderham said:
Yeah that's fair enough, maybe I'll take out the name part. I'm approaching the video from the UI perspective, it's what I do for a living - the iOS website is something I do on an evening as a hobby. There's just a lot I see in the video that hasn't been thought through. I'd rather see a product that's close to being finished that a promised product.
Click to expand...

As a fellow designer, I think your assessment is wrong, so there's that. I'd definitely be interested in hearing your opinions regarding iOS 7.

But yeah, it's all a matter of opinion and there's no point debating it based on a WIP design.
 
jvalioli said:
Full disclaimer: I work at Google. It is about as intuitive as any other electronics these days, that is to say, not very intuitive at all. Believe it or not, your iPhone/Windows Phone/Android phone are not very obvious to first time users. You learn how to use them from start up tutorials/advertisements/your friends. It is kind of a trade off you have to take, otherwise you are hurting the power user.
Click to expand...

well that's not true. The original iPhone for example was instantly useable because the team who designed it knew what they were doing. They didn't just slap together a bunch of stuff because it looked cool.
 
D4Danger said:
well that's not true. The original iPhone for example was instantly useable because the team who designed it knew what they were doing. They didn't just slap together a bunch of stuff because it looked cool.
Click to expand...

Pinch-to-zoom and side swiping are not at all obvious until you're told about them.
 
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