4 ms·

I disagree with you in parts. I've a pebble while my wife has an android watch. The killer feature on the android phone is voice commands. I agree that when in

I disagree with you in parts. I've a pebble while my wife has an android watch. The killer feature on the android phone is voice commands. I agree that when in public it's a privacy concern to use voice commands hence an alternative is necessary. But its incredibly convenient and useful to control your phone and watch say when you are driving or at home. It's incredibly useful to set reminders just by saying "Ok Google, Set reminder for..." etc. Btw, our native language is not english and have bit of accent although that hasn't caused any issues. The second great feature on android watch is gestures. Just swiping and tapping to control is useful than having to fiddle with 4 buttons. However the best thing I find on the pebble is - Battery Life, - Readability in daylight, - Slim and light weight. Smart Watches are quite nascent tech and if we get to where we get ones that are amalgamation of all these features, I'll be a content man.

feld 12y ago
Why can't you just ... issue voice commands to your phone?
- myth_buster 12y ago
  Because at home I don't carry it around. Outside, I would have to get it out of my pockets to be able to access it. Also in inclement weather a cheap/water proof watch is less of a risk.
  - feld 12y ago
    What's the range on that smartwatch before it is disconnected from your phone?
    - myth_buster 12y ago
      We have not tested it in the open. Inside home it stays connected when I'm in kitchen and the phone is in bedroom. It has also stayed connected when I went out to my car which was across my patio.
      - feld 12y ago
        that's incredible; much better than I would have guessed.
        myth_buster 12y ago
        Yes it is. Although, I believe it depends on the bluetooth's strength which may be device specific. Mine is a SGS4.
freehunter 12y ago
Basically the only things I use voice commands for is "set a timer for..." while cooking or "remind me at noon to..." when I need a time alert. Oh, and saying "What's my name" and having Siri respond "Your name is <name>, but since we're friends I get to call you Captain James T Kirk". But that's just personal amusement.
- jorjordandan 12y ago
  Huh. When I ask my name, it says "Your name is <name>. That's what you told me, anyway." Seems a lot more suspicious of me for some reason..
  - GuiA 12y ago
    It's like a tamagotchi- you have to take care of it everyday for a bond to develop.
- mod 12y ago
  I'm not sure if it works with Siri, but my favorite google voice command is "remind me to {do something} when I'm at {some place}" I use it for stuff I forget to buy when I'm shopping, mostly. The stuff you don't buy often, like "remind me to get deodorant when I'm at Kroger." Also the timer-type reminders/alarms are great. I really wish it was easier to compose notes and the like. I finally found how to reliably get a newline with the voice keyboard (by saying "period newline"...the period is required). "Her" was pretty inspiring for all of the voice-related stuff. But I'm still weird about using voice commands in public. If everyone was, I'd get over it.
georgeecollins 12y ago
I agree that voice commands are sometimes useful, but they also sometimes aren't. One problem is that voice is more reliable when it has context, like a complete sentence. That doesn't always fit the use case of openign an oddly named app. Another problem is typified by a commmon Android Wear app which allows you to request a fake phone call on your phone. This example shows one of the use cases for a wearable: its a device you can look at when its socially or physically awkward to pull out a phone. You don't want to say, "Google, this meeting is boring!" But you might want a button that lets you do something about it.
- stcredzero 12y ago
  voice is more reliable when it has context, like a complete sentence. That doesn't always fit the use case of opening an oddly named app. One could get around most of that by being able to set aliases for often used apps, like, "quick open 1." If it's hard to open a seldom used app, it's not that big a deal.
- myth_buster 12y ago
  As I said earlier, I agree that in certain circumstances voice commands are not adequate. But in cases where they are, they are extremely efficient, handy or safe. Hence I believe selection of user interface be at user's discretion.
jeremy8883 12y ago
> Just swiping and tapping to control is useful than having to fiddle with 4 buttons What's fiddly about buttons? It's much faster than swiping a couple of times to get to the option you want.
- myth_buster 12y ago
  The screen interface is more accessible than the buttons. With buttons I've to feel my way around since there are three on the right side. Also I've to support the watch from the side opposite to the one where the button is being pressed. Also with gloves, jackets etc I've to wiggle my way to be able to press buttons also sensing which button I'm pressing is not easy.
  - mbrubeck 12y ago
    For me, being able to operate the buttons by feel is a key feature, and I find it pretty easy to do on my original Pebble. It's useful for controlling music playback or dismissing alarms without having to look at the watch. I agree that there are disadvantages too. One of my jackets does make it harder to access all the buttons. And scrolling through a list one item at a time can be more annoying than just swiping and tapping on the item you want.
  - jeremy8883 12y ago
    I do wish the pebble buttons were easier to press.

feld 12y ago

Why can't you just ... issue voice commands to your phone?

myth_buster 12y ago
Because at home I don't carry it around. Outside, I would have to get it out of my pockets to be able to access it. Also in inclement weather a cheap/water proof watch is less of a risk.
- feld 12y ago
  What's the range on that smartwatch before it is disconnected from your phone?
  - myth_buster 12y ago
    We have not tested it in the open. Inside home it stays connected when I'm in kitchen and the phone is in bedroom. It has also stayed connected when I went out to my car which was across my patio.
    - feld 12y ago
      that's incredible; much better than I would have guessed.
      - myth_buster 12y ago
        Yes it is. Although, I believe it depends on the bluetooth's strength which may be device specific. Mine is a SGS4.

freehunter 12y ago

Basically the only things I use voice commands for is "set a timer for..." while cooking or "remind me at noon to..." when I need a time alert. Oh, and saying "What's my name" and having Siri respond "Your name is <name>, but since we're friends I get to call you Captain James T Kirk". But that's just personal amusement.

jorjordandan 12y ago
Huh. When I ask my name, it says "Your name is <name>. That's what you told me, anyway." Seems a lot more suspicious of me for some reason..
- GuiA 12y ago
  It's like a tamagotchi- you have to take care of it everyday for a bond to develop.
mod 12y ago
I'm not sure if it works with Siri, but my favorite google voice command is "remind me to {do something} when I'm at {some place}" I use it for stuff I forget to buy when I'm shopping, mostly. The stuff you don't buy often, like "remind me to get deodorant when I'm at Kroger." Also the timer-type reminders/alarms are great. I really wish it was easier to compose notes and the like. I finally found how to reliably get a newline with the voice keyboard (by saying "period newline"...the period is required). "Her" was pretty inspiring for all of the voice-related stuff. But I'm still weird about using voice commands in public. If everyone was, I'd get over it.

georgeecollins 12y ago

I agree that voice commands are sometimes useful, but they also sometimes aren't. One problem is that voice is more reliable when it has context, like a complete sentence. That doesn't always fit the use case of openign an oddly named app. Another problem is typified by a commmon Android Wear app which allows you to request a fake phone call on your phone. This example shows one of the use cases for a wearable: its a device you can look at when its socially or physically awkward to pull out a phone. You don't want to say, "Google, this meeting is boring!" But you might want a button that lets you do something about it.

stcredzero 12y ago
voice is more reliable when it has context, like a complete sentence. That doesn't always fit the use case of opening an oddly named app. One could get around most of that by being able to set aliases for often used apps, like, "quick open 1." If it's hard to open a seldom used app, it's not that big a deal.
myth_buster 12y ago
As I said earlier, I agree that in certain circumstances voice commands are not adequate. But in cases where they are, they are extremely efficient, handy or safe. Hence I believe selection of user interface be at user's discretion.

jeremy8883 12y ago

> Just swiping and tapping to control is useful than having to fiddle with 4 buttons What's fiddly about buttons? It's much faster than swiping a couple of times to get to the option you want.

myth_buster 12y ago
The screen interface is more accessible than the buttons. With buttons I've to feel my way around since there are three on the right side. Also I've to support the watch from the side opposite to the one where the button is being pressed. Also with gloves, jackets etc I've to wiggle my way to be able to press buttons also sensing which button I'm pressing is not easy.
- mbrubeck 12y ago
  For me, being able to operate the buttons by feel is a key feature, and I find it pretty easy to do on my original Pebble. It's useful for controlling music playback or dismissing alarms without having to look at the watch. I agree that there are disadvantages too. One of my jackets does make it harder to access all the buttons. And scrolling through a list one item at a time can be more annoying than just swiping and tapping on the item you want.
- jeremy8883 12y ago
  I do wish the pebble buttons were easier to press.