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[Phoenix]

Sure, if you put it strictly as the version of the product. But then anything new out there is 1.0 and that's meaningless in a discussion about what a product can actually be. It's fairly unlikely that 2.0 will come close anywhere to the ideal.

You're confusing product vision with production reality. I'm sure Musk would have liked the Model S to be able to go cross country on a single charge - but it couldn't. The realities of version 1 are what shaped the business plan for Solar City -> SuperCharger, Battery Swap plan, and Gigafactory. He is building the stuff that he needs to make his future vision work instead of waiting for the rest of the world to catch up. In the interim, however, the product is restricted to those that can afford it and can live within its current limitations. There isn't anything wrong with that, you just have to accept those limitations when you go to market.

The first version of this watch isn't going to be able to cover all of the use cases that everyone will want. The technology just isn't there yet. But you launch what you can and you build what you need in the subsequent versions to get to where you want to go (or where the market tells you there is an actual need).

The ideal is most often not something that you ever reach, it is the vision statement that keeps you making more and more versions of your product. If you ever DO reach it, your market is dead (hello eBook readers).

 

[Totakeke]

You're confusing product vision with production reality. I'm sure Musk would have liked the Model S to be able to go cross country on a single charge - but it couldn't. The realities of version 1 are what shaped the business plan for Solar City -> SuperCharger, Battery Swap plan, and Gigafactory. He is building the stuff that he needs to make his future vision work instead of waiting for the rest of the world to catch up. In the interim, however, the product is restricted to those that can afford it and can live within its current limitations. There isn't anything wrong with that, you just have to accept those limitations when you go to market.

The first version of this watch isn't going to be able to cover all of the use cases that everyone will want. The technology just isn't there yet. But you launch what you can and you build what you need in the subsequent versions to get to where you want to go (or where the market tells you there is an actual need).

The ideal is most often not something that you ever reach, it is the vision statement that keeps you making more and more versions of your product. If you ever DO reach it, your market is dead (hello eBook readers).

You were initially responding to a post about product vision and not production reality.

Anyway I don't think we're fundamentally disagreeing much here and I don't want to argue about terminologies.

 

[Bboy AJ]

My one concern is the battery life?
Will I have to charge this every day?

Exactly. I don't want to charge it everyday, even if I could wirelessly charge it. And who's to say whether the screen is always on? How would that work with a tiny battery?

 

[Extra Sauce]

Exactly. See it's cool when you're asking Siri on your phone if it's raining. But Google Now on your wrist. Fuck that.

You can only pull off giving orders to your watch if you're rocking a curly mullet.

 

[Tenck]

All I need is a good battery life and I'm set. I use Google Now a lot. I use traffic reports, reminders for stuff like buying groceries, reminders for appointments/other important stuff. And other small stuff that makes me appreciate Google Now a lot.

 

[SapientWolf]

I still don't understand the point of smart watches. Why not just use your phone?

You have to pull it out your pocket. Ain't nobody got time for that.

 

[flamingotripod]

If this allows google now on a watch, apple is fucked.

 

[sant]

I will buy this if its under $400, the battery doesn't suck, and it works as well as that concept video

 

[DXPett1]

The Moto 360 is a smart watch that looks beautiful. Finally. Now I can jump aboard this train

 

[SRG01]

Have they released the dimensions of the 360 yet? My wrists are kind of small and I typically wear the smaller-scale watches...

 

[Jo Shishido's Cheeks]

For what technical reason can these watches not be solar powered?

 

[Maiar_m]

For what technical reason can these watches not be solar powered?

Solar powering requires large surfaces exposed to sunlight to product a relatively poor amount of energy, not enough to power a high-res screen with touch capacity, a BLE radio and so on anyways. Photoreceptors on such a tiny surface wouldn't amount to much, I believe.

You have solar powered Quartz watches, but those require such a fraction of the energy needed to run electronics that the feat is doable. Moving needles is a thing, powering a touch screen with at least two levels of lighting, at least one radio, a vibrating motor I would hope and so on isn't on the same scale.

 

[Mario007]

Interestingly Sony isn't listed as a partner in Android Wear. Looks like they are opting to go down their own path.

 

[Ninja Dom]

Interestingly Sony isn't listed as a partner in Android Wear. Looks like they are opting to go down their own path.

I thought Samsung were going their own path by dropping Android on their latest smart watches and using their own Tizen OS.

 

[Jzero]

I still don't understand the point of smart watches. Why not just use your phone?

Yea try using your phone and cycling at the same time, not a good idea.

 

[Mario007]

I thought Samsung were going their own path by dropping Android on their latest smart watches and using their own Tizen OS.

Yeah its surprising to see them back, but this is Samsung, they'll experiment with everything. Sony had its own OS running on Smartwatch 2 and the ecosystem had over 400 apps when it launched so I can see why they might be reluctant going down Android Wear path

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Watch wars will be interesting

How are apple going to sue people when they're last to market with a concept

 

[monome]

sounds like a good companion to home automation in addition to smartphones.

 

[Jzero]

How are apple going to sue people when they're last to market with a concept

It's apple, they'll find a way.

 

[Turin Turambar]

I still don't understand the point of smart watches. Why not just use your phone?

They are just a remote screen/mic for your phone.


Which isn't very useful for most people, the majority just will take out the phone from their pockets/purse... but in a few years when the price is low enough, it will be a nice commodity to have.

 

[Jo Shishido's Cheeks]

Solar powering requires large surfaces exposed to sunlight to product a relatively poor amount of energy, not enough to power a high-res screen with touch capacity, a BLE radio and so on anyways. Photoreceptors on such a tiny surface wouldn't amount to much, I believe.

You have solar powered Quartz watches, but those require such a fraction of the energy needed to run electronics that the feat is doable. Moving needles is a thing, powering a touch screen with at least two levels of lighting, at least one radio, a vibrating motor I would hope and so on isn't on the same scale.

Ahhh I see thanks for the explanation, I still dream of a solar-powered everything future but I guess it's never coming :'(

 

[thetrin]

Finally, my Dick Tracy dreams come to life!

 

[Maiar_m]

Ahhh I see thanks for the explanation, I still dream of a solar-powered everything future but I guess it's never coming :'(

Progress are being made, photoreceptors are getting more and more advanced. The issue is that nowadays we can harness only a portion of the energy light emits. The best cell on the market only harnesses 45% of that spectrum, and we're talking about the stuff Nasa uses, not your everyday residential solar panel. Costs for the Nasa stuff are MAD, and even then I don't know how much electricity can be produced by a smallish surface of those cells. The scientific community's short-term goal is to reach 50% efficiency, so all those elements give you a sense of the way left to go. It's however perfectly imaginable that 100% efficiency could be achieved in 50-100 years I suppose, and thus make small surfaces highly capable of charging or augmenting the battery life of various devices. Wait and see.

 

[Brandson]

I'm sorry to say but watches made by electronics companies are not ever going to hit a huge mass market like mobile phones. A phone is primarily an electronics device. A watch is primarily jewellery first, and functionality second. Realistically, smart watches aren't going to really take off until the big names of watchmaking can just take an existing platform and screen and put it in their own desirable watch housings. So if Google's move is to get us closer to that eventuality, then that's probably a good strategy overall.

 

[Totakeke]

I'm sorry to say but watches made by electronics companies are not ever going to hit a huge mass market like mobile phones. A phone is primarily an electronics device. A watch is primarily jewellery first, and functionality second. Realistically, smart watches aren't going to really take off until the big names of watchmaking can just take an existing platform and screen and put it in their own desirable watch housings. So if Google's move is to get us closer to that eventuality, then that's probably a good strategy overall.

... as if smartwatches are not niche enough already.

 

[MrGerbils]

All the people saying, "why would I need a smart watch when I already have a phone" are probably the same people who were saying, "ipad? Pshhh that's just a huge iphone. What's the point? Won't ever be a big market."

Technically my phone can do everything my tablet can, but my tablet is much more comfortable / convienent to use for a lot of tasks. The same will be true for watches.

 

[rkn]

I think this has me convinced that whatever Apple is working on isn't going to be something with a screen that works like a mini version of a phone. Probably will end up being a thing with many different sensors with a small power draw and mostly supplements the primary ui of a phone.

 

[schuey7]

Surprisingly the moto360 looks great.If it turns out to be good I'm definitely all over it.

 

[HawkeyeIC]

I think this has me convinced that whatever Apple is working on isn't going to be something with a screen that works like a mini version of a phone. Probably will end up being a thing with many different sensors with a small power draw and mostly supplements the primary ui of a phone.

It seems like Apple's watch will mainly be fitness based, but we'll see. Honestly, that might be a good route to take at this point.

 

[Blackhead]

It seems like Apple's watch will mainly be fitness based, but we'll see. Honestly, that might be a good route to take at this point.

Like the MotoActv or the Samsung Gear Fit?

 

[kehs]

Better details on how the wear ui works.

Pretty much like glass.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014...ar-googles-quantum-leap-of-a-smartwatch-os/2/

 

[Maiar_m]

All markets are niche until they're not anymore, guys. Smartphones weren't all that crazy before the touchscreen, and yet Palm, Windows Phones, even the Nokia E series were all available. It's design and marketing that made it happen (through Apple's push obviously).

Smartwatches are of the same kind, you've got a niche market today (Pebble, Sony's smartwatch, Samsung's gear, Fossil already had some, LG as well): it happened. The scale is possibly smaller than the first smartphone market was, but in the meantime things are also moving way quicker.

I'd agree though that for it to go wide, you'd have to create technology that's as attractive to the public as the original iPhone was. Remember too that this doesn't mean a "no tradeoffs" package: the touchscreen age made us all say goodbye to weeklong battery life, varied designs and tiny phones.

 

[Blackhead]

All markets are niche until they're not anymore, guys...

And there's already a smartphone accessory market that's both fashionable and mainstream: headphones! Many Teens spend more on Beats by Dre bullshit that I did for my Pebble.

 

[Future]

All the people saying, "why would I need a smart watch when I already have a phone" are probably the same people who were saying, "ipad? Pshhh that's just a huge iphone. What's the point? Won't ever be a big market."

Technically my phone can do everything my tablet can, but my tablet is much more comfortable / convienent to use for a lot of tasks. The same will be true for watches.

What will be more comfortable and convenient about the watch? That's what needs to be proven. While iPad is the good example of proving its use, google glass is the more meh example of the opposite.

Getting easier access to notifications in general: time (as with any watch), agenda, twitter...maybe that's ok. A red flag is that the phone has already replaced the watch for time notification for many, do we know people don't mind looking at their phone for the time and similar notifications. Watch screen is so small that any notification is probably inferior to your phones

Simple command execution, like music player or voice command google now cards... Could work if the execution was awesome. The simple fact that the watch is attached and links to your phone for data means passcodes are probably unnecessary, and access to anything may be a few steps quicker

Fitness monitoring and other things that a wristband can do best: better idea. Now it's bringing utility different from the phone itself, and I think we need to see more ideas like that to prove its worth. Such as detaching the watch face and attaching it to other electronics to get more functionality, maybe

 

[HawkeyeIC]

Like the MotoActv or the Samsung Gear Fit?

I'm sure it will look better. Main pull is supposed to be the additional sensors which will sync with a new health app on your iPhone. But who knows at this point.

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/03/17/healthbook-renderings-details/

 

[MrGerbils]

What will be more comfortable and convenient about the watch? That's what needs to be proven. While iPad is the good example of proving its use, google glass is the more meh example of the opposite.

Honestly the arguments for tablets sounded silly at the time. Stuff like, "it's just nicer for browsing websites" doesn't sound like a convincing argument for picking up a $300-500 device.

As a side note though, I think an interesting direction that no one has taken yet would be what if the watch wasn't meant to compliment your phone, but to replace it? If digital payments were to go in to widespread use and you could stop carrying your phone or your wallet, would you be interested? Hell, throw in an RFID for your car/house and you don't need keys either.

Most of the places using a phone would be better than a watch, a tablet would be even better. So have a watch that's always on you (and mostly impossible to lose or be pickpocketed) to use for vital things that require quick short attention, and then carry a tablet for internet reading, typing emails, watching videos, etc when you want it. A phone looks like a sort of sloppy second best case solution to a lot of use cases when you think of a pairing like that.

Yes it'd be canibilizing one market for another, but companies like apple have already shown they don't mind if it's what you have to do to make a better product.

 

[Divvy]

Better details on how the wear ui works.

Pretty much like glass.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014...ar-googles-quantum-leap-of-a-smartwatch-os/2/

Controlling music with it is actually a pretty great idea. No more digging out the phone is nice, especially during the winter.

 

[SimleuqiR]

This post:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=105021629&postcount=3

Is better suited in this thread.

 

[kehs]

This post:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=105021629&postcount=3

Is better suited in this thread.

Nothing new in the video other than the size (46 mm).

 

[HawkeyeIC]

Glad you aren't going to have to plug it in to charge (no usb port)

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

No thanks. Mechanical watches for LIFE. I'll let my phone do that stuff:

 

[cartoon_soldier]

It will be funny when over lunch everybody is talking to their wrists instead of being on the cell.

 

[mreddie]

I can't see the appeal to tech jewelry. This seems silly...

*sees Moto watch*

MUST RESIST!

 

[chickdigger802]

And there's already a smartphone accessory market that's both fashionable and mainstream: headphones! Many Teens spend more on Beats by Dre bullshit that I did for my Pebble.

Pebble is about the only smartwatch thing that makes sense for me. It can remind me of events, show me text and other notifications and vibrate when i get a call (impossible to know your phone is vibrating in loud places) and can last 1 week on battery, and is easily viewable outside in sunlight.

i do hope other folks try to do something similar, maybe with other tech. I don't need a phone in my watch.

 

[Jo Shishido's Cheeks]

So yeah 'tablets are pointless' syndrome in full effect. It's crazy how short sighted and unimaginative people can be.

 

[massoluk]

Pebble is about the only smartwatch thing that makes sense for me. It can remind me of events, show me text and other notifications and vibrate when i get a call (impossible to know your phone is vibrating in loud places) and can last 1 week on battery, and is easily viewable outside in sunlight.

i do hope other folks try to do something similar, maybe with other tech. I don't need a phone in my watch.

May be they can add solar or kinetic charging to the watch also, but the price would be even more ridiculous though.

 

[rezuth]

Developers have options (which will be enhanced in future) to customise how the notifications their phone apps produce behave on the watch. But they don’t get native code at all – the developer isn’t running code on the watch, really. The device is really an extension of the phone’s Android OS itself, not an extension of your app.

That is a bit disappointing.

 

[Blackhead]

That is a bit disappointing.

?

This SDK is just a preview for Android apps to plug into the Android Wear API, but at the bottom of the Wear development page, Google says native apps are coming

.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

On the one hand, the Moto360 looks balls-out amazing. Even if the battery can last only a day without charging, if it's price-competitive with the Pebble Steal I don't think I can resist.

On the other hand, the Moto360 pretty much kills what desire I had left to get Google Glass. I guess the GoPro side of things could still be useful, but only in very specific situations (snowboarding, birthdays, etc.)

 

[Maiar_m]

Nothing new in the video other than the size (46 mm).

I disagree, they compare the tech used for the 360 to the one used on the Moto X. That includes, for me, the screen type that enables pixel by pixel light usage, that's a huuuge advantage for battery life.