Smart Watches and Mobile Platform Evaluation
AsSiMiLaTeD
Posts: 11,728
Anyone picked up a SmartWatch?
I've resisted the urge to pick one up until a few days ago, not really due to cost so much as not understanding the need or even desire for one.
The thing that enticed me enough to try one out was the idea of being able to change and customize my watch face, it's the one thing that none of the marketing guys are really talking about on any of these watches and yet the one thing that I think may get 'watch' people such as myself at least mildly interested (especially those of us who are also gadget people).
I'll talk about some of the other features and functions that I like as I get through testing each of the watches, but safe to say at this point that there's certainly a lot more to like here than the ability to change watch faces :-)
Mobile Platforms
The interaction between a watch and phone is the first instance where I truly believe the choice in ecosystem really matters, at least in how the devices interact and relate to each other. Sure it's nice to be able to AirPlay vacation videos and photos from my phone to my AppleTV, or pick up my iPad and start reading an article online where I left off reading it on the Mac. However, while I'm slightly annoyed when those things are not available on other stuff like my work gear, those aren't really all that important or meaningful. It's different with the watches.
Since even the decent watches today (and the good watches we know about coming down the pipe) are all linked to a phone OS, the platform that we choose becomes more than just about the phone - for those of us wanting a watch and who will use it regularly that decision becomes almost as much about the watch. I've ordered a few watches and played with a couple of them enough over the last few days to know that I'm definitely going to want one. The trick will be finding the right watch, and the right platform in general, for my 'needs'.
Testing and Evaluation
I picked up a few smartwatches and have the best phones on each platform (iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S6) and will be testing them all out over the next few weeks. I'll be doing an evaluation of the watches and the mobile platforms (iOS and Android) as they relate to the watches. This will NOT be an evaluation of the phones or the mobile platforms overall as that analysis is available everywhere online and is out of scope here.
I thought about waiting until after the move to start this, but I've got a LOT more crap going on than usual the next couple weeks and figured that could actually prove to be a great test case, using these things in my daily life. I may post notes along the way but the idea is to follow up this post with my full thoughts in a month or so after using all these for a while.
I have the Pebble Steel, Apple Watch, Asus Zenwatch, Motorola 360, LG Watch R, and the LG Urbane should be here in a couple days. I also picked up a Samsung Galaxy S6 to test the Android watches on and am using my iPhone 6 Plus to test the Apple Watch on.
So...why am I posting this now instead of after the review is complete?
I've got a couple watches in hand and several more coming in the next couple days that pretty much cover the market, and I have a pretty good sense of what should be covered in a review on a watch. But I thought I'd see if you guys have any specific thoughts or questions to pass along to me for the review process.
I've resisted the urge to pick one up until a few days ago, not really due to cost so much as not understanding the need or even desire for one.
The thing that enticed me enough to try one out was the idea of being able to change and customize my watch face, it's the one thing that none of the marketing guys are really talking about on any of these watches and yet the one thing that I think may get 'watch' people such as myself at least mildly interested (especially those of us who are also gadget people).
I'll talk about some of the other features and functions that I like as I get through testing each of the watches, but safe to say at this point that there's certainly a lot more to like here than the ability to change watch faces :-)
Mobile Platforms
The interaction between a watch and phone is the first instance where I truly believe the choice in ecosystem really matters, at least in how the devices interact and relate to each other. Sure it's nice to be able to AirPlay vacation videos and photos from my phone to my AppleTV, or pick up my iPad and start reading an article online where I left off reading it on the Mac. However, while I'm slightly annoyed when those things are not available on other stuff like my work gear, those aren't really all that important or meaningful. It's different with the watches.
Since even the decent watches today (and the good watches we know about coming down the pipe) are all linked to a phone OS, the platform that we choose becomes more than just about the phone - for those of us wanting a watch and who will use it regularly that decision becomes almost as much about the watch. I've ordered a few watches and played with a couple of them enough over the last few days to know that I'm definitely going to want one. The trick will be finding the right watch, and the right platform in general, for my 'needs'.
Testing and Evaluation
I picked up a few smartwatches and have the best phones on each platform (iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S6) and will be testing them all out over the next few weeks. I'll be doing an evaluation of the watches and the mobile platforms (iOS and Android) as they relate to the watches. This will NOT be an evaluation of the phones or the mobile platforms overall as that analysis is available everywhere online and is out of scope here.
I thought about waiting until after the move to start this, but I've got a LOT more crap going on than usual the next couple weeks and figured that could actually prove to be a great test case, using these things in my daily life. I may post notes along the way but the idea is to follow up this post with my full thoughts in a month or so after using all these for a while.
I have the Pebble Steel, Apple Watch, Asus Zenwatch, Motorola 360, LG Watch R, and the LG Urbane should be here in a couple days. I also picked up a Samsung Galaxy S6 to test the Android watches on and am using my iPhone 6 Plus to test the Apple Watch on.
So...why am I posting this now instead of after the review is complete?
I've got a couple watches in hand and several more coming in the next couple days that pretty much cover the market, and I have a pretty good sense of what should be covered in a review on a watch. But I thought I'd see if you guys have any specific thoughts or questions to pass along to me for the review process.
Comments
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I look forward to your reviews,always good reading. Thanks
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I think I'm going to keep an eye on this, considering the Apple watch to pair up with my 6 Plus...it'd be nice to keep the big phone in the pocket in some areas of town.
Whaaat, I thought Canada was crime free...
Anyway I too carry the six plus, mainly for the size of the viewing screen. I use the phone for dictation along with my bluetooth while I drive...so what would I gain from the watch
....bring it Danny
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erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
Can't wait to read your reviews.Pio Elete Pro 520
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+1 to all above.
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Smart watches won't be anything I consider until the watch itself has ALL the functionality of the PHONE and I don't need the phone. I only use a cheap track phone and I HATE having to remember to put it in my pocket so something I could wear around my wrist, as I always have a watch on, would be PERFECT!
I hope APPLE or someone else is listening here! Stop being lazy and get with the program. We're out here and we're waiting! Not even a question of price but convenience.
But I do understand those who use their phone almost like a tablet device (music, video, internet, etc.) and need the screen size. I'd be happy if I could just voice search the web and take calls on my wrist.Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!
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[sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash] -
This smart watch thing cracks me up. A whole lot of folks stopped wearing a watch because their phone shows the time. Now, the tech companies are trying to get you to wear a watch again and you still need your phone for its full functionality. Yes indeed, the world is full of suckers.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
If you find something that could be a big warning in the classroom, please let me know. I'm curious what these devices will do for integrity in the classroom.
Interesting! I don't allow anyone to have such devices on or use them in my classrooms and I've rarely had problems with that.
Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!
Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
[sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash] -
If you find something that could be a big warning in the classroom, please let me know. I'm curious what these devices will do for integrity in the classroom.
Interesting! I don't allow anyone to have such devices on or use them in my classrooms and I've rarely had problems with that.
do you make them check their bags at the door? I teach honors students, and am usually pretty lax about this stuff, but I admit that a watch is a whole new kind of crazy, especially if you're at the high school level like Skip. Heck, I'm scared sh!tless about my daughter getting to the age where other kids in her class have phones.
Sorry for the digression Danny. I too am interested in what you find, although this is probably out of my league...Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
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Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
This smart watch thing cracks me up. A whole lot of folks stopped wearing a watch because their phone shows the time. Now, the tech companies are trying to get you to wear a watch again and you still need your phone for its full functionality. Yes indeed, the world is full of suckers.
Exactly how I feel lately with all this techy stuff. Advertising gets big bucks for getting people to feel the "need" for this or that, again. Amen brother...
Remember, when you're running from something, you're running to something...-me -
Quotes like that, ESPECIALLY on a forum where we spend what the rest of the world would consider to be absurd amounts of money on a piece of WIRE, are somewhere between strange and ridiculous. I'll make a couple brief points then move on...This smart watch thing cracks me up. A whole lot of folks stopped wearing a watch because their phone shows the time. Now, the tech companies are trying to get you to wear a watch again and you still need your phone for its full functionality. Yes indeed, the world is full of suckers.
- Obviously not everyone cares about this stuff, but calling those of us who are into it "suckers' is a bit much
- I'm not getting into those yet here since I have not yet had the chance to evaluate the watches, but there are several features on these watches that are simply not available on traditional watches or phonesPost edited by AsSiMiLaTeD on -
I get what you're saying and am also looking forward to watches with more functionality, but companies are gonna need time (and money) to perfect all that and get things working well. We're gonna need a couple fundamental changes in technology before we're ready for full watch-phones that work well. We're gonna need an iteration or two before we're ready to produce a really good all-in-one watch, this is obvious enough when you look at the attempts so far at creating such a device.Smart watches won't be anything I consider until the watch itself has ALL the functionality of the PHONE and I don't need the phone.
We've only had a couple watches with that functionality so far. One of them has been on the market for a while and you could probably walk in to a store and pick it up today if you want. It sucks though, and it's a Samsung so not some third rate company run out of a garage. The other model is coming soon and is the LG Urbane LTE but I know someone who has a review sample and is having issues with it.
People like me have to be on the edge with new technology and have to be willing to pay more and deal with the initial issues so that everyone else can walk into a store a year or two down the road and buy a phone that basically works 100% of the time for $99.
You're welcome
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AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »People like me have to be on the edge with new technology and have to be willing to pay more and deal with the initial issues so that everyone else can walk into a store a year or two down the road and buy a phone that basically works 100% of the time for $99.
Yes, thank you very much. I don't have the time, energy, or expendable income to be that guy. So I will live vicariously through you
Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
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Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
Smart Watches are only the beginning to what will come. I like where this is heading and what new concepts It will bring. Perhaps I am spoiled by the ability to leave my phone at home and pickup whatever I was doing on the tablet I brought with me or the computer I may use while overseas. Technology gave people the abilities to respond to me on this forum, embrace it.
I do not care about watches, jewelry or anything on me. I tried it before and can't stand it. But the concept opens so many doors to so many possibilities. I guess I may be a sucker too. But I sleep well knowing, one day, my line of work helps other people.
Halen
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Quotes like that, ESPECIALLY on a forum where we spend what the rest of the world would consider to be absurd amounts of money on a piece of WIRE, are somewhere between strange and ridiculous.
Not really if you got my point. Let me provide another example. For years and years it's been you need the biggest TV possible to enjoy the experience. Now, they are saying isn't it great to be able watch TV on a 5" screen. Say what!?!Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Good points Jess, agree on all counts. Some peoples lifestyle though it may benefit, but I don't see it for the masses.
Technology can sometimes be a double edged sword. I harp on it a lot mostly because all I see is tech being used to sell stuff instead of making real changes that benefit all people.
I find it hard to believe we send people into space and back, talk to someone anywhere on the globe by a watch, but not turn sea water into drinkable water yet. That would have such a far reaching impact on the worlds populations than a over priced watch.
Anyway, if the apple watch floats your boat, who gives a rats arse, go get one and enjoy.HT SYSTEM-
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I'll admit it's strange for me to read that above post coming from someone who fully embraces and advocates music streaming services...
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I'll admit it's strange for me to read that above post coming from someone who fully embraces and advocates music streaming services...
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AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »I have the Pebble Steel, Apple Watch, Asus Zenwatch, Motorola 360, LG Watch R, and the LG Urbane should be here in a couple days. I also picked up a Samsung Galaxy S6 to test the Android watches on and am using my iPhone 6 Plus to test the Apple Watch on.
Who are you, Goro? Even then, you're 2 arms short unless they'll fit around your ankle...
So what does all that mean? You have 1 apple based vs 5 Android based? Would you actually drop Apple if their watch doesn't cut the mustard and switch to an android phone if they're watch proves superior?
Where’s the KABOOM?!?! There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering KABOOM!!! -
The real issue for me is, I'd never be able to read anything on a watch
sized device. So no interest here. You younger guys can have this one!"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
So what does all that mean? You have 1 apple based vs 5 Android based? Would you actually drop Apple if their watch doesn't cut the mustard and switch to an android phone if they're watch proves superior?
I think it simply means that he is 1. evaluating a number of different products and 2. he is a developer and needs to be able to use both platforms. With Apple there is only one product obviously. With android, he wants to find the best implementation.
You fellas crack me up. If Danny was evaluating 5 DACs, transports, headphones, speaker cables, h3ll, even POWER CABLES, $h!t that NO ONE ELSE IN THE WORLD CARES ABOUT, everyone here would be all over it. But smartwatches! Great Scott he's gone too far!!!!
How about we go back to the rule, if the thread doesn't interest you, then move along.
Sorry for the rant Danny...
Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
Game Room 5.1.4: Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
I am VERY interested Danny. Especially to get your thoughts on the Moto 360.
Right now I use a iPhone 6 Plus but that was only because of the integration with my car which I thought I would utlize more than I have.
I'm not going to buy a Apple Watch as its just too pricey, however the Moto 360 intrigued me, and I'm not a die hard apple guy so switching back to a Android may happen......"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
I think you're reading a little to far into my post. Dan is a known Apple supporter but i'm asking whether or not he would dump his iPhone to swap over just because the watch is better. He wouldn't go through all this trouble to compare the two OS's if he wasn't.I think it simply means that he is 1. evaluating a number of different products and 2. he is a developer and needs to be able to use both platforms. With Apple there is only one product obviously. With android, he wants to find the best implementation.
You fellas crack me up. If Danny was evaluating 5 DACs, transports, headphones, speaker cables, h3ll, even POWER CABLES, $h!t that NO ONE ELSE IN THE WORLD CARES ABOUT, everyone here would be all over it. But smartwatches! Great Scott he's gone too far!!!!
How about we go back to the rule, if the thread doesn't interest you, then move along.
Sorry for the rant Danny...
You can't afford it anyway so you might as well not be here either.....Where’s the KABOOM?!?! There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering KABOOM!!! -
[/quote]
I think you're reading a little to far into my post. Dan is a known Apple supporter but i'm asking whether or not he would dump his iPhone to swap over just because the watch is better. He wouldn't go through all this trouble to compare the two OS's if he wasn't.
You can't afford it anyway so you might as well not be here either.....[/quote]
Sorry but only the first paragraph was directed at you. He's not looking to dump apple, he's looking to develop apps for both platforms.
I am not sure what the point of your last comment is.
Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
Game Room 5.1.4: Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
Actually I have 2 Apple watches, one of each size (38mm and 42mm), plus one of each Android model.AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »I have the Pebble Steel, Apple Watch, Asus Zenwatch, Motorola 360, LG Watch R, and the LG Urbane should be here in a couple days. I also picked up a Samsung Galaxy S6 to test the Android watches on and am using my iPhone 6 Plus to test the Apple Watch on.
Who are you, Goro? Even then, you're 2 arms short unless they'll fit around your ankle...
So what does all that mean? You have 1 apple based vs 5 Android based? Would you actually drop Apple if their watch doesn't cut the mustard and switch to an android phone if they're watch proves superior?
But yes that's the idea, to go with the platform that works the best for me overall, and that evaluation now includes the interaction with the watch. I've been on iPhones for a while, but Android is further along now and the hardware on the Samsung phones is nice enough now that I could use one of those as my daily driver. Ultimately the integration of the phone into the rest of my gear isn't nearly as important as the phone and the watch, so it's time to step back and evaluate each platform again give the options out there now. -
I read it as Danny is just interested in the consumer side of the watches, not development. I develop for both platforms (and WP as well) but there is little incentive for myself to develop for the watch platforms.
The developer API documentation might still be of interest even for non-developers as they would tell what each platform supports or doesn't support. -
Sami,
I don't think I am quite at your level yet. I am leaving the Java world and getting into the Ruby on Rails high. Also, do you mess with Angular, Reflections, or Mongo?
Halen -
I do mainly enterprise application and for that the Xamarin platform is hard to beat. I can write 100% C# code, of which 80-90% is shared across the platforms, and still get a fully native application on all of them with a GUI that looks exactly like it would if written in ObjC/Swift (iOS) or Java (Android).
This is the Xamarin C# guide to developing Watch Kit applications (you will still need a Mac to build the applications): http://developer.xamarin.com/guides/ios/watch/
Android Wear guide: http://developer.xamarin.com/guides/android/wear/
If you are familiar with Android development then you can download the free trial (business edition for 1 month) and play around with the samples to write applications for Wear (or Android).
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I have been using Xamarin for over a year now. I have not used it for cross platform development but here it is built in. Former Microsoft genius right?
Code once debug everywhere.
Halen -
Actually an ex-Nokia employee. Worked on low level phone OS stuff with ASM & C back in the day, then C++. First got into smart phones with Symbian (C++). I just find C# to be one of the better languages out there (after long resistance) with the benefit of it running on virtually any OS (not to be confused with .NET runtime). Anyways this is starting to feel like thread hijacking so I'll leave it at that.
Code once, debug everywhere, you're thinking of HTML + JavaScript...
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