Motorola's Moto 360 is undoubtedly the nicest smartwatch to look at, and coming a while after both LG and Samsung opened the Android Wear market with the G Watch and Gear Live, Motorola should have had enough time to learn from its competition's mistakes.
Google’s Android Wear is one of the next big things in the technology world, and the company is ensuring that you don’t miss out on that. The Mountain View company has just released a number of ads for the Android Wear (four, to be exact) that showcase how useful the new form of gadgets can be, and what cool features they have on offer.
Google's Android Wear initiative may be in the midst of what could be called a false start, but that problem maybe alleviated once the big software companies start to integrate wearable support into their apps. Two giants of the messaging world have done just that over the last couple of days, with both Facebook and WhatsApp issuing updates to their Android apps that give Android Wear, err, wearers a little taste of the future.
When Google first took the wraps off Android Wear, a smartwatch-flavored variant of the famed mobile software, a number of manufacturing partners were also outlined. On the very day of the announcement, both LG and Motorola showcased their inaugural efforts, with the respective G Watch and Moto 360. Among most of our readers, as well as the whole team here, the Moto 360 was the stand-out, featuring a slick, traditional design, and after handing out samples at I/O, we're now beginning to see some accessories and peripherals. Below, we take a look at the wireless charging dock, which also morphs your device into a night stand / bedside clock.
Google made a whole bunch of exciting announcements at I/O in June, and today signals the first wave of deliverance on those promises. Following the news that Chromecast users will be able to beam the contents of their Android smartphone or tablet to their TVs through the new Android Mirroring feature, it is now also possible for Android Wear enthusiasts to utilize their wrist-worn gadget as a remote shutter for their device's camera.
Google's Android Wear platform is nearing maturity, and following the I/O developers conference, devices are already beginning to ship. Thus, it should come as little surprise to see the Play Store stocking up with content related to the wrist-based OS, and having already seen a few standalone apps, custom watch faces have also started popping up.
We know that Android Wear, like most smartwatch ecosystems, will rely heavily on a smartphone for a great deal of its functionality. Given that they're designed, in essence, to supplement our handsets, this isn't too much of a surprise, but with some standalone Android Wear apps having just cropped up on Google Play, it's clear that the likes of the Moto 360, and LG's G Watch will have minds of their own, too. The first batch of Android Wear apps untethered by any post-installation smartphone interaction have begun appearing on the Play Store, and although, naturally, we're talking bare basics in terms of functionality, it sets a very encouraging precedent.
Google's new Android Wear, TV and Auto ventures were front and center during Google I/O, and as the dust settles on all the biggest announcements to come out of the developer event, we're now starting to find out the more interesting details about what Google will be working on this year.
Yesterday, in case you missed the mountain of coverage, was the keynote event of Google's I/O developers conference. Held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the search company made many significant announcements relating to the home, car, smartphone, and wearables. For once, though, Google Glass was off the menu, allowing the Big G's smartwatch endeavor to command most of the limelight, and with the full Android Wear SDK having just been rolled out to developers, there's now a very easy way to check if your handset is compatible with Android Wear.
When Google first brought Android Wear to the tech world's attention back in March, both LG and Motorola presented us with their respective efforts in the form of the G Watch and Moto 360. Today, with the search giant having subsequently pushed the full Android Wear SDK out to developers, Samsung has also thrown its hat into the ring with the Gear Live, a smartwatch that doesn't look too dissimilar to the recently-released Gear 2. With these three new devices all set for release in the near future, many of you will no doubt be considering one of them as a prospective acquisition, and if so, you'll definitely want to check out our videos below, where we take a closer look at each.