Wow. There are quite a few people talking about yesterday’s Canalys estimate of 720,000 Android Wear shipments in the last six months of 2014. And most of that talk is ridiculous, with little to no perspective on the market itself. All of the doom and gloom I’m reading about Android Wear may yet come to pass, but to base it on shipment data at this point in time is premature for several reasons.
It’s an interesting perspective, and the author certainly makes some good points, but disappointing or no, the real problem for me is still that Android Wear and current smartwatches in general are, simply, shit.
I’ve never based my opinions on popularity, and I don’t intend to start now.
I don’t think you need to worry about your opinion in this respect. I am fairly certain these watches are as you say, execrable as in excrement…
Operating systems and postage stamp sized screens just don’t go well together. Early mobile phones of the 1990s proved this.
When the technologists combine a watch with a holographic projector we might find the thing to be a little more usable… as long as it has the power of a small AC generator then it might just work.
Haha! Yeah, the energy density of batteries is pretty bad, and it’s going to take a little bit of a learning curve for companies to figure out how to make a watch.
I was looking at watches a few months back, and the Pebble is the only smartwatch that I would consider. It doesn’t look as nice as the other watches, but the screen is right, the build is solid, and the design is nice enough. It’s functional.
Of course, I ended up buying a vintage, automatic Seiko, which is a step down from the quartz and solar watches I have as far as accuracy and reliability goes, but it has style, which the others don’t.
e-ink is the obvious choice for a smartwatch because of battery-constraints and because the screen simply doesn’t have to update at 60 fps…or hardly ever
But it wouldn’t solve the generic problems that smartwatches have….they aren’t smart, have tiny screens and controls and there is that similar priced smarthphone a few centimeters away.
The second that smartphones get better at notifications (and that second is close) smartwatches have lost all their purpose as ‘second screen’
The second that anyone can tell me a killer application that isn’t “look how modern and cool I am” I am willing to change my mind, but for now I spend my geek-budget on other things
Best value budget :
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/FECHI-Mens-Automatic-Watch-Moonphase…
No battery, includes a calculator
More non-smart stunning watches :
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/Mechanical-watches/810288_254…
Geeks and their need to spend their money…
What’s your experience with watches AliExpress? I was just browsing through your link, and as a watch enthousiast, these things fascinate me. I’ve always wanted a skeletal watch, but properly branded ones are crazy expensive. I’m just curious how these things compare to branded watches, and for these prices, it’s a simple impulse buy away.
I’ve also bought (2 weeks delivery time) :
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2013-New-Hot-Sales-Automatic-Stainle…
Other seller (5 weeks delivery time) :
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/A079-Hot-Sale-Lovely-Cartoon-Small-T…
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Black-Tone-Hunter-Case-Roman-Numeral…
You can check my comments under ‘D***d K.’ (french flag)
Cost : very reasonable, you can compare them with the following import site to get an idea of the impressive margin, hence the impressive “bargain” they can “offer” :
http://www.mamontreautomatique.com/10-montres-automatiques-homme
Shipping : from 2 to 5 weeks, good packaging
Quality : very good, only the previous clock (moon phase) have the background layer slightly shifted hence renders the calculator really imprecise. And the needles are white (instead of red) against a white background, so prefer the black background version. Glasses are made of very strong plastic, this is no saphir or cornilla.
Got for it, it really really worth. Just remember to wind the spring each night before sleep as you would have put in charge your smart watch
Edited 2015-02-13 11:37 UTC
Impressive, I got down voted on the previous message, some people should really buy a brain instead of a smart watch
Give people the right to vote and they’ll do anything but the right thing.
I think you should’ve bolded the hell out of current smartwatches in general are, simply, shit because it’s one of the truest things I’ve heard all day.
Not getting any disagreement with me.
The main issue is they seem to want to jump straight from watch to smartwatch. Maybe a simple feature watch (similar level to a Nokia 3310). You know walk before you run.
Do a few simple things well.
Yeah, I preferred a “feature phone” over smart phones for a while too. There are early adopters that just love new stuff and do crazy things and change their habits to make them useful, and there are most people like me that just want things to be worth the effort after purchasing.
I quoted feature phone because when the razr phones were new people called them smart phones. And they were smarter than what came before.
Still can’t justify even a pebble, but its the best one out there right now. My friend with a moto 360, has finally got the hang of the crazy gesture to turn on the screen. So it “works” for him. They’ll get better, more battery life, better screens, better gesture recognition. Not sure what size the market will be, maybe 1/5 of the tablet market and probably upgraded just as often ( 5-7 years).
I have had a Pebble for over a year now, and I think it strikes the right balance. It does not try to do everything my smartphone does; it is a watch with extras.
That being said, I have found it very handy. I never have my phone on ring or vibrate anymore; I get all the notifications on my wrist in a very unobtrusive manner. I can leave the phone charging in my office and wander around the house and still get messages. The battery life of at least seven days is more than adequate. The screen is good enough for the purpose the Pebble is meant to serve.
I have looked at the newer smart watches, and they just try to do too much. As people have said, the packaging and controls are woefully inadequate for the functionality they are trying to cram into them.
I think we need a standard protocol for connected watches or remotes.
Pebble has its own, as does the Sony (infact Sony has a few) and so does Casio.
I hate having to run an extra app, that may in 3 years no longer work my new phone.
A standard api for: Controls (media, call), notifcation display, track, latest sms. Something that the Bluetooth standards have in their spec, like USB HID.
Anyway back to your Pebble. To be honest it seems the best of the lot.
They had those….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculator_watch
I look forward to the blunt truth, whatever it is, about the Apple Watch.
Edited 2015-02-13 17:05 UTC
I have a non-steel Pebble. I love it. I reminds of the Palm vs the PocketCE. Palms were simple, quick, easy to use. I receive notifications – any app that supports notifications. I only allow my “real email” and sms. It show the time, weather, forecast. It will even measure my sleep or running. I can also delete email as it comes in if I want. I can even check my Facebook or Twitter feed, and “sort of” view the pictures in black and white. One of the most useful features is being able to find my phone with my watch, or my watch with my phone. Lastly, having set so I don’t need an unlock pattern on the phone as longs as the watch is connected. When they are separated, then it automatically goes back to needing the pattern. This cost $79.
I really think someone could make a lot of money by making the watch even simpler. All it needs is the ability to receive small amounts of text from the phone. It display it. And it shows the time. That is it. That should only cost about $10-20. Right now you can get watch/phone combo’s for $45. This device would be so simple, it shouldn’t cost much. But, it shows your calls, your text, email, and any other short data you want displayed.
A “smartwatch” is just another tool for companies to data-mine me with, giving them something else to peddle to advertisers. And another device the govt. will use to spy on everyone.
I don’t see how. After all, they’re useless without your smartphone which they’re already using to data mine you. So I doubt it’ll increase what they can get from you, unless they care on which wrist you wear it.
I’ve read that they will track your health/biometrics & store medical data, gps, nfc, etc. And of course battery life will improve which means they’ll become more independent. How hard is it to put a micro-mic in one and have a personal audio recorder? Not hard.
It doesn’t take much imagination to see what smartwatches may look like in a couple generations, and they’re already headed towards things your cellphone doesn’t do. Given that smartwatches are only going to become more capable, do you honesty believe the govt. isn’t interested in exploiting them? People should know by now that abuse is always on the menu.