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Really cool stuff! From what it looks like this is a big departure from the previous Android smart watches that look like they jammed Android 1.0 on there. Tw

by Yhippa 13y ago

Really cool stuff! From what it looks like this is a big departure from the previous Android smart watches that look like they jammed Android 1.0 on there. Two big concerns for me: 1) Battery life 2) Display visibility They go hand-in-hand for me. Get that nice high-res display but will it last me a day? For battery life it would be nice to have induction charging if it were to last about 8 hours (my personal guess).

zacinbusiness 13y ago
See that's one of the problems with current tech and these watch devices. First of all, it will take a whole lot of convincing to make me buy another watch as I currently own an $800 Seiko that's nearly 15 years old and I've never had to change the battery (because it's kinetic). Second, if I DID buy a new watch it would take even more convincing to get me to take it off more than once every few years just to charge it. A normal watch lasts at least a year on a battery, and a kinetic watch such as mine literally never "winds down" unless I stop moving for months at a time. And finally, a watch as a display device is fine, but I'm simply not going to use it as an input device. Thus, I can see context-sensitive info on my watch (which is cool, I readily admit) but I still have to whip out the smart phone or laptop or tablet in order to really do much with that data. Now I'm not saying that someone won't make a good interface, but I just think the physical size limitations of making a watch that doesn't look and feel ridiculous will make any such interface very (very) difficult to pull off.
- ghotli 13y ago
  I work from home so most of the time unless I'm in a google hangout I'm largely alone. I've found that using voice activated input for my moto x is something that I use more and more often. There will likely be a social stigma around voice oriented device control initially but for me it's just the simplest thing that gets the job done. All that said I agree with you about the battery. It'll have to be nice enough to make it worth it. Lots of people need one less reason to get sucked into checking notifications on their phone.
  - zacinbusiness 13y ago
    I do think voice is an under utilized method of input, but in a crowded and loud urban environment it won't work well because of all of the background noise (I would think, honestly I've never tried it). I do think a lot of people assume that you would get angry looks from people, but I know that in NYC and in London people will largely ignore you unless you're doing something very annoying or disgusting (a travel companion was chewing her finger nails on the Tube once and was reprimanded by an older gentleman, rightly so). And so I don't think that voice input would be an issue socially, except in obvious cases like restaurants and offices. I just wonder how it would work logistically "in the field."
  - lando2319 13y ago
    +1 If I am knee deep in code and need to calculate something quick, I just yell out, "ok google now, what's 34 time 324". Also Adding new calendar events and setting the alarm, are both so much easier via voice. Sports too "ok Google Now, did the Bulls Win?" Once you get in the habit of using it, its very convenient. Glad to see this is being integrated within the watch.
pachydermic 13y ago
Right... in theory, a smartwatch type device sounds great. Battery life, screen brightness/visibility (can I read the screen on a clear summer day at noon?), size, and ease of use are all really important. Price matters for business purposes, but I wonder what could be done if that were not considered as a factor. But since they'll have to compromise on those parameters (or just physically can't push them too far) it makes you wonder if this thing will actually be worth it. It's definitely cool, but is it really that much better than just having a smart phone? Is it $600-$1,000 better? I have a hard time imagining it would be... hopefully I'm wrong!
sliverstorm 13y ago
Maybe it's a color e-ink display...?
- knodi123 13y ago
  No, that would be an incredible, revolutionary, first-of-its kind feature. You'd see it trumpeted all over every single piece of concept art and advertising. There's absolutely zero chance that the first color e-ink display would be a stealth feature only shown off at launch.
  - jack-r-abbit 13y ago
    Maybe not at the level this watch is sporting but E Ink's Triton is a color e-paper display. If the Moto 360 had one, it certainly would not be the first device. But you are right about them trumpeting the feature if it was there.
RyanZAG 13y ago
If they price this to compete with typical mid-high watches, then you're looking at about $4000 [1] which is more than enough to get some very impressive display technology in there. If they skimp and try to put in cheap hardware and go for a $500 price target then this is going to fall flat. Hopefully they understand the watch market and know to charge more and put in the best materiel, but knowing the tech industry I doubt it a lot. [1] http://www.thewatchquote.com/List-Price-and-tariff-for-Montblanc-TimeWalker-Chrono-Automatic-ref-09668-watch-No_5108.htm http://www.thewatchquote.com/List-Price-and-tariff-for-Montb...
- untog 13y ago
  If they price this to compete with typical mid-high watches, then you're looking at about $4000 ...which will render the product DOA.
- wffurr 13y ago
  $4000 is insane for a piece of consumer electronics OR a watch. A watch that expensive is purely status-indicating jewelry. If all you want to do is tell the time quickly, a $10 quartz watch does the job just fine. I am sure Vertu or some other ridiculous company will sell you your insane diamond-encrusted titanium penis size signifier with a touch screen and Android Wear integration, but it won't be any more functional than the regular version.
  - lewaldman 13y ago
    This was, by far the best cost/benefit watch that I found latelly: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004VR9HP2/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004VR9HP2/ref=oh_details_o... Also, Swatch have some very nice ones, with a VERY good price.
    - User8712 13y ago
      Why does everyone go crazy about the timex weekender? Am I the only person that thinks it looks like a dollar store watch for children?
pkulak 13y ago
I'm sad that no one is going e-ink here. That solves the battery and screen visibility problems so nicely, plus the screen is always on. If Pebble is going to be it going forward, I hope they continue to innovate.
- MBCook 13y ago
  The problem is that eInk is relatively slow (I know the newer versions are much faster than the old 500ms ones) and can't do color (well).
  - darklajid 13y ago
    It's a teeny tiny clock on your wrist. The use of color is limited imho, you won't look at high res pictures (or really anything that isn't very limited in size and scope). Monochrome or 'a couple' colors would be more than enough for me.
    - milesokeefe 13y ago
      Sounds like you want a Pebble.
    - megablast 13y ago
      Colour is required exactly because you have a tiny screen. You have a lot smaller interface to communicate, so you use colours as well.
  - InclinedPlane 13y ago
    Don't care. I would be ok with a watch without a second hand and the slight sub-second delay of eInk for displaying notifications. And a lack of color too. Especially if it meant that I got 10x the battery life (which it would).
    - MBCook 13y ago
      Battery life is my immediate concern as well. Between the big 'gorgeous' display (it's only simulated, so hard to call) and the high frame rate interaction I wonder if this will end up being another Galaxy Gear that may only last 12 hours. eInk has serious benefits, especially when it comes to battery life. I love my Kindle. I can see how something like the Pebble would be a nice watch and eInk's battery drain is probably a big part of what makes it work so well. But if you want it to feel interactive with a nice touch screen for swipes, eInk isn't going to do it. Take that video but change all the animations to 5 fps... would it be an amazing watch or just feel like a product that was reaching too far? Similarly, color is a nice add but it could go wrong. The only pictures of color eInk I've seen look much worse than cheap newsprint. At that point the color isn't adding much, it's just detracting. Samsung supposedly has much better battery life on the Gear 2. Keeping the display off most of the time would definitely help too. I want to see a review of this. If it's half as cool as it looks in their promo I'll be quite impressed.
deong 13y ago
> 2) Display visibility I can't decide whether this is genius or ludicrous, but on your phone, you can ask Google Now "What time is it" and get a spoken-word response. So presumably, you could wear a watch that you have to just ask for the time when you're outside. :)
- MBCook 13y ago
  That sounds dangerously close to the first digital watches. They used so much battery to drive the display you had to press a button to see the time.
a1a 13y ago
My opinion is that you forgot the biggest concern; "Google sued for data-mining students' email" is another post on HN today. The features presented (est. time to work based on my route, etc) is not data I want to be present in googles dataset. On the other hand these wearables are pretty great in this sense, for the first time you are the customer (usually the businesses buying ads are).

by Yhippa 13y ago

zacinbusiness 13y ago

See that's one of the problems with current tech and these watch devices. First of all, it will take a whole lot of convincing to make me buy another watch as I currently own an $800 Seiko that's nearly 15 years old and I've never had to change the battery (because it's kinetic). Second, if I DID buy a new watch it would take even more convincing to get me to take it off more than once every few years just to charge it. A normal watch lasts at least a year on a battery, and a kinetic watch such as mine literally never "winds down" unless I stop moving for months at a time. And finally, a watch as a display device is fine, but I'm simply not going to use it as an input device. Thus, I can see context-sensitive info on my watch (which is cool, I readily admit) but I still have to whip out the smart phone or laptop or tablet in order to really do much with that data. Now I'm not saying that someone won't make a good interface, but I just think the physical size limitations of making a watch that doesn't look and feel ridiculous will make any such interface very (very) difficult to pull off.

ghotli 13y ago
I work from home so most of the time unless I'm in a google hangout I'm largely alone. I've found that using voice activated input for my moto x is something that I use more and more often. There will likely be a social stigma around voice oriented device control initially but for me it's just the simplest thing that gets the job done. All that said I agree with you about the battery. It'll have to be nice enough to make it worth it. Lots of people need one less reason to get sucked into checking notifications on their phone.
- zacinbusiness 13y ago
  I do think voice is an under utilized method of input, but in a crowded and loud urban environment it won't work well because of all of the background noise (I would think, honestly I've never tried it). I do think a lot of people assume that you would get angry looks from people, but I know that in NYC and in London people will largely ignore you unless you're doing something very annoying or disgusting (a travel companion was chewing her finger nails on the Tube once and was reprimanded by an older gentleman, rightly so). And so I don't think that voice input would be an issue socially, except in obvious cases like restaurants and offices. I just wonder how it would work logistically "in the field."
- lando2319 13y ago
  +1 If I am knee deep in code and need to calculate something quick, I just yell out, "ok google now, what's 34 time 324". Also Adding new calendar events and setting the alarm, are both so much easier via voice. Sports too "ok Google Now, did the Bulls Win?" Once you get in the habit of using it, its very convenient. Glad to see this is being integrated within the watch.

pachydermic 13y ago

Right... in theory, a smartwatch type device sounds great. Battery life, screen brightness/visibility (can I read the screen on a clear summer day at noon?), size, and ease of use are all really important. Price matters for business purposes, but I wonder what could be done if that were not considered as a factor. But since they'll have to compromise on those parameters (or just physically can't push them too far) it makes you wonder if this thing will actually be worth it. It's definitely cool, but is it really that much better than just having a smart phone? Is it $600-$1,000 better? I have a hard time imagining it would be... hopefully I'm wrong!

sliverstorm 13y ago

Maybe it's a color e-ink display...?

knodi123 13y ago
No, that would be an incredible, revolutionary, first-of-its kind feature. You'd see it trumpeted all over every single piece of concept art and advertising. There's absolutely zero chance that the first color e-ink display would be a stealth feature only shown off at launch.
- jack-r-abbit 13y ago
  Maybe not at the level this watch is sporting but E Ink's Triton is a color e-paper display. If the Moto 360 had one, it certainly would not be the first device. But you are right about them trumpeting the feature if it was there.

RyanZAG 13y ago

If they price this to compete with typical mid-high watches, then you're looking at about $4000 [1] which is more than enough to get some very impressive display technology in there. If they skimp and try to put in cheap hardware and go for a $500 price target then this is going to fall flat. Hopefully they understand the watch market and know to charge more and put in the best materiel, but knowing the tech industry I doubt it a lot. [1] http://www.thewatchquote.com/List-Price-and-tariff-for-Montblanc-TimeWalker-Chrono-Automatic-ref-09668-watch-No_5108.htm http://www.thewatchquote.com/List-Price-and-tariff-for-Montb...

untog 13y ago
If they price this to compete with typical mid-high watches, then you're looking at about $4000 ...which will render the product DOA.
wffurr 13y ago
$4000 is insane for a piece of consumer electronics OR a watch. A watch that expensive is purely status-indicating jewelry. If all you want to do is tell the time quickly, a $10 quartz watch does the job just fine. I am sure Vertu or some other ridiculous company will sell you your insane diamond-encrusted titanium penis size signifier with a touch screen and Android Wear integration, but it won't be any more functional than the regular version.
- lewaldman 13y ago
  This was, by far the best cost/benefit watch that I found latelly: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004VR9HP2/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004VR9HP2/ref=oh_details_o... Also, Swatch have some very nice ones, with a VERY good price.
  - User8712 13y ago
    Why does everyone go crazy about the timex weekender? Am I the only person that thinks it looks like a dollar store watch for children?

pkulak 13y ago

I'm sad that no one is going e-ink here. That solves the battery and screen visibility problems so nicely, plus the screen is always on. If Pebble is going to be it going forward, I hope they continue to innovate.

MBCook 13y ago
The problem is that eInk is relatively slow (I know the newer versions are much faster than the old 500ms ones) and can't do color (well).
- darklajid 13y ago
  It's a teeny tiny clock on your wrist. The use of color is limited imho, you won't look at high res pictures (or really anything that isn't very limited in size and scope). Monochrome or 'a couple' colors would be more than enough for me.
  - milesokeefe 13y ago
    Sounds like you want a Pebble.
  - megablast 13y ago
    Colour is required exactly because you have a tiny screen. You have a lot smaller interface to communicate, so you use colours as well.
- InclinedPlane 13y ago
  Don't care. I would be ok with a watch without a second hand and the slight sub-second delay of eInk for displaying notifications. And a lack of color too. Especially if it meant that I got 10x the battery life (which it would).
  - MBCook 13y ago
    Battery life is my immediate concern as well. Between the big 'gorgeous' display (it's only simulated, so hard to call) and the high frame rate interaction I wonder if this will end up being another Galaxy Gear that may only last 12 hours. eInk has serious benefits, especially when it comes to battery life. I love my Kindle. I can see how something like the Pebble would be a nice watch and eInk's battery drain is probably a big part of what makes it work so well. But if you want it to feel interactive with a nice touch screen for swipes, eInk isn't going to do it. Take that video but change all the animations to 5 fps... would it be an amazing watch or just feel like a product that was reaching too far? Similarly, color is a nice add but it could go wrong. The only pictures of color eInk I've seen look much worse than cheap newsprint. At that point the color isn't adding much, it's just detracting. Samsung supposedly has much better battery life on the Gear 2. Keeping the display off most of the time would definitely help too. I want to see a review of this. If it's half as cool as it looks in their promo I'll be quite impressed.

deong 13y ago

> 2) Display visibility I can't decide whether this is genius or ludicrous, but on your phone, you can ask Google Now "What time is it" and get a spoken-word response. So presumably, you could wear a watch that you have to just ask for the time when you're outside. :)

MBCook 13y ago
That sounds dangerously close to the first digital watches. They used so much battery to drive the display you had to press a button to see the time.

a1a 13y ago

My opinion is that you forgot the biggest concern; "Google sued for data-mining students' email" is another post on HN today. The features presented (est. time to work based on my route, etc) is not data I want to be present in googles dataset. On the other hand these wearables are pretty great in this sense, for the first time you are the customer (usually the businesses buying ads are).