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I thought he was pretty clear when he said > If it actually doesn’t do much more, or allow much more, than what they demonstrated on stage last week, I am inde

I thought he was pretty clear when he said > If it actually doesn’t do much more, or allow much more, than what they demonstrated on stage last week, I am indeed going to be deeply disappointed, and I’ll be concerned about the entire direction of the company as a whole. But I get the impression that they’ve only shown us the tip of the functional iceberg, simply because they wanted to reveal the hardware — particularly the digital crown — on their own terms. The software they can keep secret longer, because it doesn’t enter the hands of the Asian supply chain. He thinks Apple is holding some details close to the vest and he has a plausible reason for why. Say what you will about Gruber's Apple partisanship, but he's always been great at reading between the lines of Apple's publicity events.

DannyBee 12y ago
"He thinks Apple is holding some details close to the vest and he has a plausible reason for why. Say what you will about Gruber's Apple partisanship, but he's always been great at reading between the lines of Apple's publicity events." And he also thinks that no android wear device manufacturer is doing the same, for no plausible reason. He's basically saying "apple has secret plans, they are awesome" and "Nobody else has secret plans, because they are not Apple. Thus, we can ignore anything they haven't talked about" That doesn't seem very sane to me.
- freshyill 12y ago
  AND he says that if it turns out Apple doesn't have secret plans, then he will indeed be very disappointed. Everybody else's watches are shipping. If they've got secret plans, they should probably get around to revealing them.
  - elblanco 12y ago
    just like he backed out of being disappointed in the watch itself?
- notatoad 12y ago
  Other people might have secret plans (like Tag Heuer's rumoured smartwatch maybe), but i think it's fair to assume that the android wear manufacturers have shown their cards. Android Wear is a released product at this point. Samsung has released four (or more?) iterations of their smartwatch. LG has released two. Motorola took some extra time to release theirs - if they had a secret awesome plan and were rushing a placeholder to market just to get their foot in the door, they would have released three months earlier. None of these companies did anything beyond the basic "smartphone notifications and action buttons on your wrist" feature set. I'm sure there are plans for the next version to be better in lots of little ways, but i think it's perfectly rational to assume that what we are currently seeing from android wear is indicative of the general vision for android wear. If anybody had a truly game-changing idea, we would have seen some hint of it in their products by now. It's probably unreasonable to pin your hopes on apple have some revolutionary breakthrough with their smartwatch (they've been pushed to market by public pressure just as much as LG and Samsung have), but it's even more unreasonable to think that samsung has some amazing secret plan.
  - fpgeek 12y ago
    > i think it's fair to assume that the android wear manufacturers have shown their cards. Um, the Android Wear manufacturers may not have any secret plans of their own, but... The Android Wear OS developer is practically jumping up and down in the corner saying "I have secret plans! I have secret plans!" See, for instance: http://www.cnet.com/news/google-says-android-wear-about-to-get-even-smarter-q-a/ http://www.cnet.com/news/google-says-android-wear-about-to-g... This shouldn't be surprising. The existing Android Wear hardware is unusually powerful (a 2010 smartphone or better?) for what it is currently doing. Given the importance of battery life, that's a strange choice - unless more is coming. I'd also note that the GP commenter works for the previously mentioned OS developer, and the comment seems entirely consistent with someone who knows more is coming, but can't do much beyond hinting at that.
    - DannyBee 12y ago
      "I'd also note that the GP commenter works for the previously mentioned OS developer, and the comment seems entirely consistent with someone who knows more is coming, but can't do much beyond hinting at that." Just to note: While it's true I work for Google, I don't speak for them on hacker news unless i explicitly say otherwise. Here, i'm just some guy. If everyone starts treating everyone otherwise, a lot of commenters would not be able to comment.
- megablast 12y ago
  Well, since most of the Android devices have been released and are out there, not sure what they are waiting for in releasing whatever they have?
tlipeep 12y ago
That's wishful thinking from Gruber so he can withhold judgement/criticism. Apple clearly demonstrated the fundamental functionality of their Watch and the hardware does determine the software — they have a hardware button dedicated to one particular feature ffs. Any additional functionality via WatchKit will at best be supplemental. It'd take a while for iOS developers to get to grips with the new paradigm. Furthermore, in his haste to differentiate Apple from the competition > My impression of Android Wear is that it’s best thought of as a wrist-worn terminal for your Android phone and for Google’s cloud-based services. An extension for your phone, not a sibling device. Android Wear devices are almost useless other than for telling time when out of Bluetooth range from your phone. I don’t think that’s a device that many people want; it’s a solution in search of a problem. Call me biased if you want, but I think Android Wear is simply the result of the rest of the industry trying to get out in front of Apple, out of fear of how far behind they were when the iPhone dropped in 2007. On the surface, they do look like the same basic thing: small color LCD touchscreens on your wrist. But all Android Wear devices are larger and clunkier than the larger 42mm Apple Watch, and none of them are even close to the smaller 38mm one. Is there anyone who would dispute that Apple Watch is far more appealing to women than any other smartwatch on the market? The new Sony Smart watch(1) already has more functionality (gps, waterproof, longer estimated battery, transreflective screen visible in sunlight) than the specs of the AppleWatch while the Asus ZenWatch(2) matches it in feminine looks (if not in expensive materials). Both will be out before the AppleWatch and likely for lower prices than the cheap entry-level AppleWatch. AndroidWear OEMs are iterating faster with a wider range of options. Gruber is comparing actual shipping products (Moto360) to promised unreleased products from Apple, indeed he's hoping Apple exceeds their promises. That's his bias showing (1) http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/smartwear/smartwatch-3-swr50/ http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/smartwear/smart... (2) http://www.asus.com/Phones/ASUS_ZenWatch_WI500Q/ http://www.asus.com/Phones/ASUS_ZenWatch_WI500Q/
- ismavis 12y ago
  Also wrong about being useless outside of phone range: offline music playback (for bluetooth music playback) and GPS Support. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/android-wear-moving-forward-like.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/android-wear-moving-f...

DannyBee 12y ago

"He thinks Apple is holding some details close to the vest and he has a plausible reason for why. Say what you will about Gruber's Apple partisanship, but he's always been great at reading between the lines of Apple's publicity events." And he also thinks that no android wear device manufacturer is doing the same, for no plausible reason. He's basically saying "apple has secret plans, they are awesome" and "Nobody else has secret plans, because they are not Apple. Thus, we can ignore anything they haven't talked about" That doesn't seem very sane to me.

freshyill 12y ago
AND he says that if it turns out Apple doesn't have secret plans, then he will indeed be very disappointed. Everybody else's watches are shipping. If they've got secret plans, they should probably get around to revealing them.
- elblanco 12y ago
  just like he backed out of being disappointed in the watch itself?
notatoad 12y ago
Other people might have secret plans (like Tag Heuer's rumoured smartwatch maybe), but i think it's fair to assume that the android wear manufacturers have shown their cards. Android Wear is a released product at this point. Samsung has released four (or more?) iterations of their smartwatch. LG has released two. Motorola took some extra time to release theirs - if they had a secret awesome plan and were rushing a placeholder to market just to get their foot in the door, they would have released three months earlier. None of these companies did anything beyond the basic "smartphone notifications and action buttons on your wrist" feature set. I'm sure there are plans for the next version to be better in lots of little ways, but i think it's perfectly rational to assume that what we are currently seeing from android wear is indicative of the general vision for android wear. If anybody had a truly game-changing idea, we would have seen some hint of it in their products by now. It's probably unreasonable to pin your hopes on apple have some revolutionary breakthrough with their smartwatch (they've been pushed to market by public pressure just as much as LG and Samsung have), but it's even more unreasonable to think that samsung has some amazing secret plan.
- fpgeek 12y ago
  > i think it's fair to assume that the android wear manufacturers have shown their cards. Um, the Android Wear manufacturers may not have any secret plans of their own, but... The Android Wear OS developer is practically jumping up and down in the corner saying "I have secret plans! I have secret plans!" See, for instance: http://www.cnet.com/news/google-says-android-wear-about-to-get-even-smarter-q-a/ http://www.cnet.com/news/google-says-android-wear-about-to-g... This shouldn't be surprising. The existing Android Wear hardware is unusually powerful (a 2010 smartphone or better?) for what it is currently doing. Given the importance of battery life, that's a strange choice - unless more is coming. I'd also note that the GP commenter works for the previously mentioned OS developer, and the comment seems entirely consistent with someone who knows more is coming, but can't do much beyond hinting at that.
  - DannyBee 12y ago
    "I'd also note that the GP commenter works for the previously mentioned OS developer, and the comment seems entirely consistent with someone who knows more is coming, but can't do much beyond hinting at that." Just to note: While it's true I work for Google, I don't speak for them on hacker news unless i explicitly say otherwise. Here, i'm just some guy. If everyone starts treating everyone otherwise, a lot of commenters would not be able to comment.
megablast 12y ago
Well, since most of the Android devices have been released and are out there, not sure what they are waiting for in releasing whatever they have?

tlipeep 12y ago

That's wishful thinking from Gruber so he can withhold judgement/criticism. Apple clearly demonstrated the fundamental functionality of their Watch and the hardware does determine the software — they have a hardware button dedicated to one particular feature ffs. Any additional functionality via WatchKit will at best be supplemental. It'd take a while for iOS developers to get to grips with the new paradigm. Furthermore, in his haste to differentiate Apple from the competition > My impression of Android Wear is that it’s best thought of as a wrist-worn terminal for your Android phone and for Google’s cloud-based services. An extension for your phone, not a sibling device. Android Wear devices are almost useless other than for telling time when out of Bluetooth range from your phone. I don’t think that’s a device that many people want; it’s a solution in search of a problem. Call me biased if you want, but I think Android Wear is simply the result of the rest of the industry trying to get out in front of Apple, out of fear of how far behind they were when the iPhone dropped in 2007. On the surface, they do look like the same basic thing: small color LCD touchscreens on your wrist. But all Android Wear devices are larger and clunkier than the larger 42mm Apple Watch, and none of them are even close to the smaller 38mm one. Is there anyone who would dispute that Apple Watch is far more appealing to women than any other smartwatch on the market? The new Sony Smart watch(1) already has more functionality (gps, waterproof, longer estimated battery, transreflective screen visible in sunlight) than the specs of the AppleWatch while the Asus ZenWatch(2) matches it in feminine looks (if not in expensive materials). Both will be out before the AppleWatch and likely for lower prices than the cheap entry-level AppleWatch. AndroidWear OEMs are iterating faster with a wider range of options. Gruber is comparing actual shipping products (Moto360) to promised unreleased products from Apple, indeed he's hoping Apple exceeds their promises. That's his bias showing (1) http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/smartwear/smartwatch-3-swr50/ http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/smartwear/smart... (2) http://www.asus.com/Phones/ASUS_ZenWatch_WI500Q/ http://www.asus.com/Phones/ASUS_ZenWatch_WI500Q/

ismavis 12y ago
Also wrong about being useless outside of phone range: offline music playback (for bluetooth music playback) and GPS Support. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/android-wear-moving-forward-like.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/android-wear-moving-f...