8 ms·

Huawei Watch

129 points by fridek 12y ago

cheeze 12y ago
Wow that thing looks nice. I wonder what MSRP will be.
- foobarian 12y ago
  Wow: sapphire cover! Now there's a differentiator.
- kmonsen 12y ago
  Price and battery life, without those two stats it is hard to comment.
ryan-allen 12y ago
I think this watch looks much, much better than the Apple Watch (though I think the Apple Watch is a bit garish).
- omonra 12y ago
  I agree. I had no interest in the iWatch - but this might be interesting (once the battery life is worked out).
moioci 12y ago
The watch on the left in the first picture appears to show a heart rate graph labelled with "bmp", which is a file format. The unit of heart rate is beats per minute, or "bpm".
- acqq 12y ago
  Which raises the question if the functionality that does what's on that picture actually exists. Or maybe they have just the Chinese version at the moment?
  - NeutronBoy 12y ago
    Or, more likely, if the picture was designed by a marketing team, rather than the people who built the watch.
    - acqq 12y ago
      When you show something you don't actually have somebody might say you're doing false advertising. Unless you add a disclaimer of sorts.
      - NeutronBoy 12y ago
        No, what I mean is that it's most likely the marketing team made a mistake mocking up the image. Not 'the marketing team is inventing features'.
      - haroldp 12y ago
        Those disclaimers are all over the videos.
pbh101 12y ago
"Full circle design" in contrast to the Moto 360.
- jordanthoms 12y ago
  With a big bezel and recessed screen, in contrast to the Moto 360.
dzine 12y ago
Scrolling with the mousewheel is funky in Chrome. Hate when websites hijack the scroll event and misuse it.
- swang 12y ago
  I thought they had done a good job with scrolling because I was using the arrow keys, then I tried mousewheeling on a magic mouse and I kept flying to the top/bottom.
  - suyash 12y ago
    only if you are used to scrolling with a keyboard, most people use mouse or trackpad though
    - mikeg8 12y ago
      scrolling on my trackpad is whacky too. terrible experience. Have to use arrows. worst page i've ever seen
- alextgordon 12y ago
  Looks like someone took "mousewheel" a little too literally. $(document).bind('mousewheel', function(event, delta) { if(delta > 0) { upPage(); } else { downPage(); } });
- suyash 12y ago
  I abandoned the website in less than 20 seconds as I couldn't navigate the page below on Chrome.
  - aaronm14 12y ago
    Same. Awesome looking watch, but after trying to scroll up and down a few times I was like welp guess I won't be finding out more about this watch! Impossible to find out what's in the middle of the site
  - 12y ago
jkubicek 12y ago
The main criticism of circular smartwatches is that they unnaturally truncate text. The screenshots don't even try to hide this. While I do think circular watches look better, circular smart watches are just silly. Edit: I mean to say, they look better when off or when displaying a circular watch face. They look silly when displaying text.
- engendered 12y ago
  Given that it's an intentional, purposeful design element of Android Wear, why in the world would they "hide" it?
  - jkubicek 12y ago
    Because it looks terrible? http://i.glui.me/1EetEHO http://i.glui.me/1EetEHO Why emphasize a major failing of your product?
    - fpgeek 12y ago
      That doesn't make sense. Huawei clearly believes the circular screen isn't a failing or they would have made a different watch. You may not like circular smartwatches (I certainly don't), but that just means this watch is not for you. Plenty of people want them (see the pre-release excitement over the Moto 360, for example). This watch is for them.
    - tadfisher 12y ago
      95% of the time is showing a watch face. You can also pull up the "half-card" notification to read it just fine; the horizontal insets ensure the entire text on the card is readable when the notification is "expanded".
      - userbinator 12y ago
        95% of the time is showing a watch face ...and the other 5% of the "time" is showing the hands? :-) I think the biggest gripe with showing straight lines of text on what is essentially a curved viewport is that mix of curved/straight just doesn't feel quite right. It has the same feeling to me of looking at an old CRT TV with the corners of the image rounded off. I don't know if displaying the text curved to match the screen would be any better...
acqq 12y ago
And this picture which is actually on huawei site as the part of the promo (!) illustrates the best why Jony Ive said (1) that "a circle doesn't make any sense" for a smartwatch: http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/worldwide/huawei-watch/assets/images/medium/bg_06.jpg http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/worldwide/huawei-watch/a... ---- 1) http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/shape-things-come http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/shape-things-co...
- tylerpachal 12y ago
  That's the first thing my eyes jumped to, I am a bit surprised that they didn't pick a nicer looking `view`, instead of one with awkwardly truncated text.
- agumonkey 12y ago
  Because they didn't bother rethink/adapt the UI (yet).
  - GuiA 12y ago
    Still doesn't make much sense. The vast majority of text humans read is displayed on rectangular surfaces.
    - yellowapple 12y ago
      So? The vast majority of automobiles humans drive are powered by the combustion of gasoline, but that in and of itself doesn't make a plug-in electric car impractical. I agree that some things need to be reworked in order to better suit a non-square display, but with the exception of the Facebook demonstration, I thought all the other pictured use-cases were rather brilliant and nice-looking.
    - agumonkey 12y ago
      Majority isn't a good argument you know. Let them explore. Personally too thick and square watches repel me, and I don't intend to read Shakespeare from my wrist either. 2 'full length' rows at the center are probably enough text to read.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
o0-0o 12y ago
Isn't Huawei the company that the United States barred because they were spying/embedding firmworms/foreign? Of course the gov would know what to look for, but why would I wear a Communist produced watch on my wrist?!
- suyash 12y ago
  That is correct. This company is notorious and known to put spyware software on it's phones.
  - leaveyou 12y ago
    Notorious ? Known ? Do you have any references (if possible from other sources than US gov. agencies) to back those words ? Did anyone come forward with some concrete proof/source code? I'm really curious.
    - gnarbarian 12y ago
      http://www.phonearena.com/news/Former-CIA-chief-has-seen-hard-evidence-of-Huawei-spying-on-behalf-of-China_id45500 http://www.phonearena.com/news/Former-CIA-chief-has-seen-har...
- Morgawr 12y ago
  Where do you think most of the technology you use today come from?
- primitivesuave 12y ago
  I don't think the well-paid engineers and business executives who produce the device are communists, but I think the Chinese government could certainly have an invisible hand in their production just as our government may have a hand in the production of our devices.
- harpastum 12y ago
  That's a pretty inflammatory response. Huawei is banned from bidding on US Government Contracts [1]. As a consumer you can definitely keep that in mind, but that "communist produced" comment is a little bit too much Joseph McCarthy for me. [1] http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29620442 http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29620442 [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy
adysan 12y ago
Isn't the dial off-center? http://imgur.com/5nFbP5r http://imgur.com/5nFbP5r
- Jackim 12y ago
  Looks like all the images are just Photoshop mockups so any centreing issues should be taken with a grain of salt.
- aamar 12y ago
  "Ergonomic button placement": http://imgur.com/Ed57fhj http://imgur.com/Ed57fhj Makes sense. Since it's just a button, not a dial, the higher placement is more convenient for the index finger.
  - jenrzzz 12y ago
    More convenient for the right index finger.
    - tadfisher 12y ago
      You'd need the "crown" on the left of the watch body, in that case. Although it would be very nice of Google to add an option to flip the interface for users who want to wear the watch "upside-down".
  - artr 12y ago
    and the higher placement makes it less convenient for a left thumb.
    - aamar 12y ago
      Good point. I see, by the way, that the parent post was talking about the dial of the watch face, but I mistakenly interpreted that as a reference to the crown/button on the side.
- wlesieutre 12y ago
  My money's on "sloppy photoshop." Or maybe they're going for some funky thing where the hands stretch out when they're pointed up and right. But probably the photoshop.
Osmium 12y ago
From the recent New Yorker profile of Jonny Ive: > The shape of the body, meanwhile, barely changed: a rectangle with rounded corners. “When a huge part of the function is lists”—of names, or appointments—“a circle doesn’t make any sense,” Ive said. Its final form resembles one of Newson’s watches, and the Cartier Santos, from 1904. I think circular watches, in principle, look a lot nicer (certainly in ads), but that quote was the first thing I thought of when I saw the Facebook screenshot[1]. I think Apple might have this one right. [1] http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/worldwide/huawei-watch/assets/images/small/bg_06.jpg http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/worldwide/huawei-watch/a... Edit: Ah, didn't see acqq just said this exact thing. "You can scroll" isn't a solution to this though. There's a big difference between being able to read a message from a glance at a wrist to having to physically interact with the device. The more interaction you need, the less benefit you have with the watch over just taking your phone out.
- tadfisher 12y ago
  Android Wear is specifically designed to avoid this problem. You get a series of glance-able cards that you can swipe through for more information or actions. In maybe one or two places (the Settings app) do you actually get a list view, and they are all one-line entries that fit easily on a round screen. Apple's philosophy toward the smartwatch experience is just different. Android Wear is all about contextual notifications and glanceable information. What we've seen of Apple Watch is smartphone apps scaled down. I'm sure it will be very powerful and well-designed, just not my cup of tea.
  - themagician 12y ago
    Still, the actual "usable" area on a circular watch is the square within.
    - tadfisher 12y ago
      Somehow I can read emails and reply to texts just fine. And people don't ask me about the calculator on my wrist.
    - 12y ago
PhoenixWright 12y ago
I'm glad this is going to be a crowded space. With the iPhone Apple easily offered a 10x better product. Seeing the smart watch space I don't see anyone offering anything close to a revolutionary product.
omonra 12y ago
I'm not sure I understand how it works - are the 40 designs they talk about all 'themes' than can be swapped? Ie the watch has a digital screen that displays the dial, etc?
- pcl 12y ago
  Yep. That's how the Moto 360 works, too, fyi.
  - omonra 12y ago
    Thank you
tabrischen 12y ago
Still waiting for a version of smartwatch built for females.
- anigbrowl 12y ago
  I wondered about that - I have small wrists, and this is a fairly thick watch. I like chronometer-style watches but they always seem too big. I really do like the look of this, so I hope it's a good fit - and if it's not for me, then I hope it is for enough people to drive development of a slimmer version.
Kenji 12y ago
How many times do I have to charge it per day? Hahaha!
hyperpallium 12y ago
400x400 for a circle? Looks like they're clipping the corners, so not actually 400x400 resolution.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > How can the resolution be 400x400 for a circle? Not using square pixels. I mean, it would be insane, but...
MichaelGG 12y ago
I'm really hoping they pull this off. Their hardware is alright, perhaps a bit cheap feeling. But the software, yikes. Huawei understands memory so poorly, that they have a button that appears every time you try to switch app. Said button force kills every app that's running. Then gleefully proclaims that it "freed" up memory. It's beyond idiotic. It feels like they modified Android purely for the sake of modifying it. Hopefully with the watch they'll be a bit more careful. Huawei's the only major company (?) making large-screen long-life devices. I don't have to charge my Huawei phone (Mate 2) every day. That's a relief, unlike every other major phone. (And, just $300.)
- chambo622 12y ago
  Android Wear is maintained updated by Google on all Android Wear devices - and OEMs can only install apps and watchfaces, they can't mess with the OS like they do on their phones.
foxylad 12y ago
I'm surprised that anyone (apart from Apple) is bothering to make smart watches. I stopped wearing a watch years ago, because the extra information I got from looking at my smartphone covered the overhead of pulling it out of my pocket. I've enjoyed not having something strapped to my wrist, so any of these horribly thick smart watches are going to have to provide a compelling benefit to get anywhere near my arm. Because of size and power issues, you can't actually read or deal with anything but the most trivial issues on a smart watch. So the main value proposition seems to be that they tell you you need to look at your phone, and that's not compelling enough for me. Apple will get some sales, from those who need their status affirming - just like the people who still wear a Rolex watch. But I'm betting that all the other smart watches disappear fairly soon. My pick for the next real user interface revolution? Smart hearing aids, using speech as the UI. Inconspicuous, and simple to use - particularly for our affluent ageing population, many of whom need the hearing aid part anyway.
- bequanna 12y ago
  >My pick for the next real user interface revolution? Smart hearing aids, using speech as the UI. Inconspicuous, and simple to use - particularly for our affluent ageing population, many of whom need the hearing aid part anyway. I like this idea. The best part? The elderly are already used to spending a few grand on these and the current functionality is limited to amplifying/filtering sound.
  - oliv__ 12y ago
    I don't think anyone wants to be talking to their device constantly to get anything done. Google glass comes to mind...
    - Eridrus 12y ago
      Google glass suffered heavily because it having a video camera that people felt invaded their privacy and it had a highly visible form factor. A solution similar to a hearing implant/headset doesn't have either of these issues.
- 12y ago
gnarbarian 12y ago
I'm in the market for a smartwatch like this and I'm seriously considering this one and I can't wait to hear more about it. BUT I have to say something about this video. I'm from Alaska and do lots of backcountry snowboarding so this kind of stuff probably doesn't matter to most people but this video is laughable for a few reasons: > guy reminiscing about a memorable camping trip with friends yet can't remember how to get there. > driving a classic mercedes with rear wheel drive on slick snowy roads. > using ancient snowshoes that should be hung on a wall as a decoration and not actually used while wearing other completely inappropriate clothing. > cool, your watch let you know it's -12c hopefully your ears won't be frostbitten off by the time you're done wandering around in the backcountry by yourself without a hat. (wouldn't want to mess up that stylish hair do) > a watch whose battery will only last a couple days is probably not the best thing to depend on for an overnight trip in the backcountry. > using google now as if he would have cell data coverage in the backcountry. I know I'm being a bit harsh and I'm probably not the target audience for this video. But my honest impression based on that ad is that people who use this watch are fashionable city slickers who have no idea what they are doing and use completely impractical even dangerously outdated equipment in order to look fashionable. What would actually appeal to me? >Guy hauling ass on his mountain bike/snowboard/skiis. >He checks his watch to view his heartrate/trail data on an app like http://www.strava.com/ http://www.strava.com/ . >App indicates relevant data like current heart rate, average speed, trail location. >scene cuts to end of his ride where the app indicates he has just set both a new personal record for that trail and that he is also the new recordholder. >Guy is back at his car. Watch indicates he has a fancy dinner appointment in one hour. > Scene cuts to him changed into fancy clothes and putting on his nice blazer/spiffy trenchcoat. His watch indicates that he should leave now in order to get to the appointment on time complete with a map and directions. >guy is seen at dinner with watch displaying a classy watchface showing off that it is suitable to be worn with formal attire. ad ends.
- javert 12y ago
  I found the video offensive. I wanted to know about the watch. 1 minute in, it was almost entirely just shots of that guy. Fuck that shit. They're trying to get me to think the watch is cool because the guy is cool, rather than sell me on the features. I didn't finish watching. Treat me as a rational consumer or GTFO. And stop wasting my time. My time is valuable to me.
jdonaldson 12y ago
I'm kind of annoyed by Ive's glib dismissal of a circular form factor for watches. There's going to be a whole design language based on circles that make much more sense for watches. For instance, it's pretty easy to imagine a minimalist daily calendar overlay on top of standard hour/minute hands that give you just as much information as the vertical list orientation commonly used in calendar apps. Is it going to be able to show as much information that way? No. Will it still be very useful? Yes.
- gnarbarian 12y ago
  I think some really cool stuff can be done with a circular display combined with a watchface. What if weather forecast icons were used in place of the hour marks showing you at a glance the type of weather to expect throughout the next 12 hours. There are tons of other things like this which would make for really slick, intuitive and futuristic feeling interfaces. Say you have various appointments throughout the next 12 hours. the edges of the watchface could be color coded to different things on your schedule. touching a section and swiping toward the center of the watch could open up details about that particular item on your itinerary. I've got more ideas too :P
  - ejdyksen 12y ago
    You mean like this? http://images.apple.com/v/watch/c/overview/images/face_weather_large_2x.jpg http://images.apple.com/v/watch/c/overview/images/face_weath...
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
gcdgcd2 12y ago
Huawei is the main Supplier of the GFW of China. The Golden Shield Project (Chinese: 金盾工程; pinyin: jīndùn gōngchéng), colloquially referred to as the Great Firewall of China [1] (Chinese: 防火长城; pinyin: fánghuǒ chángchéng) is a censorship and surveillance project operated by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) division of the government of China.
- tw04 12y ago
  Main? I believe that title goes to Cisco. Not sure what it has to do with a smart watch though. http://blog.thomsonreuters.com/index.php/suit-over-ciscos-role-in-chinas-great-firewall-must-proceed-advocacy-group-says/ http://blog.thomsonreuters.com/index.php/suit-over-ciscos-ro...
  - imjustsaying 12y ago
    >Not sure what it has to do with a smart watch though. Having something on your wrist made by a company that has hundred-million dollar deals providing surveillance technology to the largest surveillance state in the world seems as if it would have significant security implications.
    - gurkendoktor 12y ago
      Not to mention the ethical implications of supporting them as a customer.
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    I thought they were replacing their Cisco routers with local equipment as they age out. Cisco is specifically on the nobuy list, I believe.
PhasmaFelis 12y ago
Remember when cellphones were getting smaller every year, and a smaller phone was a status symbol? And then suddenly touchscreens happened, and now phones are getting bigger and bigger again? I feel like smartwatches are the result of that "smaller" impulse pushing through the trend.
BigChiefSmokem 12y ago
Scroll with mousewheel is working fine on Chrome 40 for Windows 8.1
unicornporn 12y ago
Hard to tell, is it a mechanical watch with a digital overlay?
sdrothrock 12y ago
Doesn't it bother anyone else that what's on that page (and in the video) doesn't really resemble the real thing[1]? This happened with another company -- I want to say LG -- and their renders were very optimistic views of the real thing, hiding the bezel and depth of the screen as well as falsely depicting how sharp the screen would look. [1] http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/3/8140837/huawei-watch-design-interview-mwc-2015 http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/3/8140837/huawei-watch-design...
- sfjailbird 12y ago
  Indeed, there's no way the screen is going to look that bright in real life, even IF they put all the battery output behind it. And that's a big reason why smart watches will never look as good as a real watch - the screen is just a big dumb surface with some vague electronic light. Compare with intricate mechanics, colors and materials of a proper watch. I'll still switch to a smart watch, once they nail power consumption and features (it needs to substitute a phone, including phone calls), but good looking it ain't.
Aissen 12y ago
Wondering if the stainless steel case might not affect the Bluetooth radio performance…
liotier 12y ago
No mention of battery life in either features or specifications... I guess that most users won't find in any way troublesome that this thing barely runs for a day between charges...

Huawei Watch

129 points by fridek 12y ago

cheeze 12y ago

Wow that thing looks nice. I wonder what MSRP will be.

foobarian 12y ago
Wow: sapphire cover! Now there's a differentiator.
kmonsen 12y ago
Price and battery life, without those two stats it is hard to comment.

ryan-allen 12y ago

I think this watch looks much, much better than the Apple Watch (though I think the Apple Watch is a bit garish).

omonra 12y ago
I agree. I had no interest in the iWatch - but this might be interesting (once the battery life is worked out).

moioci 12y ago

The watch on the left in the first picture appears to show a heart rate graph labelled with "bmp", which is a file format. The unit of heart rate is beats per minute, or "bpm".

acqq 12y ago
Which raises the question if the functionality that does what's on that picture actually exists. Or maybe they have just the Chinese version at the moment?
- NeutronBoy 12y ago
  Or, more likely, if the picture was designed by a marketing team, rather than the people who built the watch.
  - acqq 12y ago
    When you show something you don't actually have somebody might say you're doing false advertising. Unless you add a disclaimer of sorts.
    - NeutronBoy 12y ago
      No, what I mean is that it's most likely the marketing team made a mistake mocking up the image. Not 'the marketing team is inventing features'.
    - haroldp 12y ago
      Those disclaimers are all over the videos.

pbh101 12y ago

"Full circle design" in contrast to the Moto 360.

jordanthoms 12y ago
With a big bezel and recessed screen, in contrast to the Moto 360.

dzine 12y ago

Scrolling with the mousewheel is funky in Chrome. Hate when websites hijack the scroll event and misuse it.

swang 12y ago
I thought they had done a good job with scrolling because I was using the arrow keys, then I tried mousewheeling on a magic mouse and I kept flying to the top/bottom.
- suyash 12y ago
  only if you are used to scrolling with a keyboard, most people use mouse or trackpad though
  - mikeg8 12y ago
    scrolling on my trackpad is whacky too. terrible experience. Have to use arrows. worst page i've ever seen
alextgordon 12y ago
Looks like someone took "mousewheel" a little too literally. $(document).bind('mousewheel', function(event, delta) { if(delta > 0) { upPage(); } else { downPage(); } });
suyash 12y ago
I abandoned the website in less than 20 seconds as I couldn't navigate the page below on Chrome.
- aaronm14 12y ago
  Same. Awesome looking watch, but after trying to scroll up and down a few times I was like welp guess I won't be finding out more about this watch! Impossible to find out what's in the middle of the site
- 12y ago

jkubicek 12y ago

The main criticism of circular smartwatches is that they unnaturally truncate text. The screenshots don't even try to hide this. While I do think circular watches look better, circular smart watches are just silly. Edit: I mean to say, they look better when off or when displaying a circular watch face. They look silly when displaying text.

engendered 12y ago
Given that it's an intentional, purposeful design element of Android Wear, why in the world would they "hide" it?
- jkubicek 12y ago
  Because it looks terrible? http://i.glui.me/1EetEHO http://i.glui.me/1EetEHO Why emphasize a major failing of your product?
  - fpgeek 12y ago
    That doesn't make sense. Huawei clearly believes the circular screen isn't a failing or they would have made a different watch. You may not like circular smartwatches (I certainly don't), but that just means this watch is not for you. Plenty of people want them (see the pre-release excitement over the Moto 360, for example). This watch is for them.
  - tadfisher 12y ago
    95% of the time is showing a watch face. You can also pull up the "half-card" notification to read it just fine; the horizontal insets ensure the entire text on the card is readable when the notification is "expanded".
    - userbinator 12y ago
      95% of the time is showing a watch face ...and the other 5% of the "time" is showing the hands? :-) I think the biggest gripe with showing straight lines of text on what is essentially a curved viewport is that mix of curved/straight just doesn't feel quite right. It has the same feeling to me of looking at an old CRT TV with the corners of the image rounded off. I don't know if displaying the text curved to match the screen would be any better...

acqq 12y ago

And this picture which is actually on huawei site as the part of the promo (!) illustrates the best why Jony Ive said (1) that "a circle doesn't make any sense" for a smartwatch: http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/worldwide/huawei-watch/assets/images/medium/bg_06.jpg http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/worldwide/huawei-watch/a... ---- 1) http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/shape-things-come http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/shape-things-co...

tylerpachal 12y ago
That's the first thing my eyes jumped to, I am a bit surprised that they didn't pick a nicer looking `view`, instead of one with awkwardly truncated text.
agumonkey 12y ago
Because they didn't bother rethink/adapt the UI (yet).
- GuiA 12y ago
  Still doesn't make much sense. The vast majority of text humans read is displayed on rectangular surfaces.
  - yellowapple 12y ago
    So? The vast majority of automobiles humans drive are powered by the combustion of gasoline, but that in and of itself doesn't make a plug-in electric car impractical. I agree that some things need to be reworked in order to better suit a non-square display, but with the exception of the Facebook demonstration, I thought all the other pictured use-cases were rather brilliant and nice-looking.
  - agumonkey 12y ago
    Majority isn't a good argument you know. Let them explore. Personally too thick and square watches repel me, and I don't intend to read Shakespeare from my wrist either. 2 'full length' rows at the center are probably enough text to read.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

o0-0o 12y ago

Isn't Huawei the company that the United States barred because they were spying/embedding firmworms/foreign? Of course the gov would know what to look for, but why would I wear a Communist produced watch on my wrist?!

suyash 12y ago
That is correct. This company is notorious and known to put spyware software on it's phones.
- leaveyou 12y ago
  Notorious ? Known ? Do you have any references (if possible from other sources than US gov. agencies) to back those words ? Did anyone come forward with some concrete proof/source code? I'm really curious.
  - gnarbarian 12y ago
    http://www.phonearena.com/news/Former-CIA-chief-has-seen-hard-evidence-of-Huawei-spying-on-behalf-of-China_id45500 http://www.phonearena.com/news/Former-CIA-chief-has-seen-har...
Morgawr 12y ago
Where do you think most of the technology you use today come from?
primitivesuave 12y ago
I don't think the well-paid engineers and business executives who produce the device are communists, but I think the Chinese government could certainly have an invisible hand in their production just as our government may have a hand in the production of our devices.
harpastum 12y ago
That's a pretty inflammatory response. Huawei is banned from bidding on US Government Contracts [1]. As a consumer you can definitely keep that in mind, but that "communist produced" comment is a little bit too much Joseph McCarthy for me. [1] http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29620442 http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29620442 [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy

adysan 12y ago

Isn't the dial off-center? http://imgur.com/5nFbP5r http://imgur.com/5nFbP5r

Jackim 12y ago
Looks like all the images are just Photoshop mockups so any centreing issues should be taken with a grain of salt.
aamar 12y ago
"Ergonomic button placement": http://imgur.com/Ed57fhj http://imgur.com/Ed57fhj Makes sense. Since it's just a button, not a dial, the higher placement is more convenient for the index finger.
- jenrzzz 12y ago
  More convenient for the right index finger.
  - tadfisher 12y ago
    You'd need the "crown" on the left of the watch body, in that case. Although it would be very nice of Google to add an option to flip the interface for users who want to wear the watch "upside-down".
- artr 12y ago
  and the higher placement makes it less convenient for a left thumb.
  - aamar 12y ago
    Good point. I see, by the way, that the parent post was talking about the dial of the watch face, but I mistakenly interpreted that as a reference to the crown/button on the side.
wlesieutre 12y ago
My money's on "sloppy photoshop." Or maybe they're going for some funky thing where the hands stretch out when they're pointed up and right. But probably the photoshop.

Osmium 12y ago

From the recent New Yorker profile of Jonny Ive: > The shape of the body, meanwhile, barely changed: a rectangle with rounded corners. “When a huge part of the function is lists”—of names, or appointments—“a circle doesn’t make any sense,” Ive said. Its final form resembles one of Newson’s watches, and the Cartier Santos, from 1904. I think circular watches, in principle, look a lot nicer (certainly in ads), but that quote was the first thing I thought of when I saw the Facebook screenshot[1]. I think Apple might have this one right. [1] http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/worldwide/huawei-watch/assets/images/small/bg_06.jpg http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/worldwide/huawei-watch/a... Edit: Ah, didn't see acqq just said this exact thing. "You can scroll" isn't a solution to this though. There's a big difference between being able to read a message from a glance at a wrist to having to physically interact with the device. The more interaction you need, the less benefit you have with the watch over just taking your phone out.

tadfisher 12y ago
Android Wear is specifically designed to avoid this problem. You get a series of glance-able cards that you can swipe through for more information or actions. In maybe one or two places (the Settings app) do you actually get a list view, and they are all one-line entries that fit easily on a round screen. Apple's philosophy toward the smartwatch experience is just different. Android Wear is all about contextual notifications and glanceable information. What we've seen of Apple Watch is smartphone apps scaled down. I'm sure it will be very powerful and well-designed, just not my cup of tea.
- themagician 12y ago
  Still, the actual "usable" area on a circular watch is the square within.
  - tadfisher 12y ago
    Somehow I can read emails and reply to texts just fine. And people don't ask me about the calculator on my wrist.
  - 12y ago

PhoenixWright 12y ago

I'm glad this is going to be a crowded space. With the iPhone Apple easily offered a 10x better product. Seeing the smart watch space I don't see anyone offering anything close to a revolutionary product.

omonra 12y ago

I'm not sure I understand how it works - are the 40 designs they talk about all 'themes' than can be swapped? Ie the watch has a digital screen that displays the dial, etc?

pcl 12y ago
Yep. That's how the Moto 360 works, too, fyi.
- omonra 12y ago
  Thank you

tabrischen 12y ago

Still waiting for a version of smartwatch built for females.

anigbrowl 12y ago
I wondered about that - I have small wrists, and this is a fairly thick watch. I like chronometer-style watches but they always seem too big. I really do like the look of this, so I hope it's a good fit - and if it's not for me, then I hope it is for enough people to drive development of a slimmer version.

Kenji 12y ago

How many times do I have to charge it per day? Hahaha!

hyperpallium 12y ago

400x400 for a circle? Looks like they're clipping the corners, so not actually 400x400 resolution.

dragonwriter 12y ago
> How can the resolution be 400x400 for a circle? Not using square pixels. I mean, it would be insane, but...

MichaelGG 12y ago

I'm really hoping they pull this off. Their hardware is alright, perhaps a bit cheap feeling. But the software, yikes. Huawei understands memory so poorly, that they have a button that appears every time you try to switch app. Said button force kills every app that's running. Then gleefully proclaims that it "freed" up memory. It's beyond idiotic. It feels like they modified Android purely for the sake of modifying it. Hopefully with the watch they'll be a bit more careful. Huawei's the only major company (?) making large-screen long-life devices. I don't have to charge my Huawei phone (Mate 2) every day. That's a relief, unlike every other major phone. (And, just $300.)

chambo622 12y ago
Android Wear is maintained updated by Google on all Android Wear devices - and OEMs can only install apps and watchfaces, they can't mess with the OS like they do on their phones.

foxylad 12y ago

I'm surprised that anyone (apart from Apple) is bothering to make smart watches. I stopped wearing a watch years ago, because the extra information I got from looking at my smartphone covered the overhead of pulling it out of my pocket. I've enjoyed not having something strapped to my wrist, so any of these horribly thick smart watches are going to have to provide a compelling benefit to get anywhere near my arm. Because of size and power issues, you can't actually read or deal with anything but the most trivial issues on a smart watch. So the main value proposition seems to be that they tell you you need to look at your phone, and that's not compelling enough for me. Apple will get some sales, from those who need their status affirming - just like the people who still wear a Rolex watch. But I'm betting that all the other smart watches disappear fairly soon. My pick for the next real user interface revolution? Smart hearing aids, using speech as the UI. Inconspicuous, and simple to use - particularly for our affluent ageing population, many of whom need the hearing aid part anyway.

bequanna 12y ago
>My pick for the next real user interface revolution? Smart hearing aids, using speech as the UI. Inconspicuous, and simple to use - particularly for our affluent ageing population, many of whom need the hearing aid part anyway. I like this idea. The best part? The elderly are already used to spending a few grand on these and the current functionality is limited to amplifying/filtering sound.
- oliv__ 12y ago
  I don't think anyone wants to be talking to their device constantly to get anything done. Google glass comes to mind...
  - Eridrus 12y ago
    Google glass suffered heavily because it having a video camera that people felt invaded their privacy and it had a highly visible form factor. A solution similar to a hearing implant/headset doesn't have either of these issues.
12y ago

gnarbarian 12y ago

I'm in the market for a smartwatch like this and I'm seriously considering this one and I can't wait to hear more about it. BUT I have to say something about this video. I'm from Alaska and do lots of backcountry snowboarding so this kind of stuff probably doesn't matter to most people but this video is laughable for a few reasons: > guy reminiscing about a memorable camping trip with friends yet can't remember how to get there. > driving a classic mercedes with rear wheel drive on slick snowy roads. > using ancient snowshoes that should be hung on a wall as a decoration and not actually used while wearing other completely inappropriate clothing. > cool, your watch let you know it's -12c hopefully your ears won't be frostbitten off by the time you're done wandering around in the backcountry by yourself without a hat. (wouldn't want to mess up that stylish hair do) > a watch whose battery will only last a couple days is probably not the best thing to depend on for an overnight trip in the backcountry. > using google now as if he would have cell data coverage in the backcountry. I know I'm being a bit harsh and I'm probably not the target audience for this video. But my honest impression based on that ad is that people who use this watch are fashionable city slickers who have no idea what they are doing and use completely impractical even dangerously outdated equipment in order to look fashionable. What would actually appeal to me? >Guy hauling ass on his mountain bike/snowboard/skiis. >He checks his watch to view his heartrate/trail data on an app like http://www.strava.com/ http://www.strava.com/ . >App indicates relevant data like current heart rate, average speed, trail location. >scene cuts to end of his ride where the app indicates he has just set both a new personal record for that trail and that he is also the new recordholder. >Guy is back at his car. Watch indicates he has a fancy dinner appointment in one hour. > Scene cuts to him changed into fancy clothes and putting on his nice blazer/spiffy trenchcoat. His watch indicates that he should leave now in order to get to the appointment on time complete with a map and directions. >guy is seen at dinner with watch displaying a classy watchface showing off that it is suitable to be worn with formal attire. ad ends.

javert 12y ago
I found the video offensive. I wanted to know about the watch. 1 minute in, it was almost entirely just shots of that guy. Fuck that shit. They're trying to get me to think the watch is cool because the guy is cool, rather than sell me on the features. I didn't finish watching. Treat me as a rational consumer or GTFO. And stop wasting my time. My time is valuable to me.

jdonaldson 12y ago

I'm kind of annoyed by Ive's glib dismissal of a circular form factor for watches. There's going to be a whole design language based on circles that make much more sense for watches. For instance, it's pretty easy to imagine a minimalist daily calendar overlay on top of standard hour/minute hands that give you just as much information as the vertical list orientation commonly used in calendar apps. Is it going to be able to show as much information that way? No. Will it still be very useful? Yes.

gnarbarian 12y ago
I think some really cool stuff can be done with a circular display combined with a watchface. What if weather forecast icons were used in place of the hour marks showing you at a glance the type of weather to expect throughout the next 12 hours. There are tons of other things like this which would make for really slick, intuitive and futuristic feeling interfaces. Say you have various appointments throughout the next 12 hours. the edges of the watchface could be color coded to different things on your schedule. touching a section and swiping toward the center of the watch could open up details about that particular item on your itinerary. I've got more ideas too :P
- ejdyksen 12y ago
  You mean like this? http://images.apple.com/v/watch/c/overview/images/face_weather_large_2x.jpg http://images.apple.com/v/watch/c/overview/images/face_weath...
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]

gcdgcd2 12y ago

Huawei is the main Supplier of the GFW of China. The Golden Shield Project (Chinese: 金盾工程; pinyin: jīndùn gōngchéng), colloquially referred to as the Great Firewall of China [1] (Chinese: 防火长城; pinyin: fánghuǒ chángchéng) is a censorship and surveillance project operated by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) division of the government of China.

tw04 12y ago
Main? I believe that title goes to Cisco. Not sure what it has to do with a smart watch though. http://blog.thomsonreuters.com/index.php/suit-over-ciscos-role-in-chinas-great-firewall-must-proceed-advocacy-group-says/ http://blog.thomsonreuters.com/index.php/suit-over-ciscos-ro...
- imjustsaying 12y ago
  >Not sure what it has to do with a smart watch though. Having something on your wrist made by a company that has hundred-million dollar deals providing surveillance technology to the largest surveillance state in the world seems as if it would have significant security implications.
  - gurkendoktor 12y ago
    Not to mention the ethical implications of supporting them as a customer.
- seanmcdirmid 12y ago
  I thought they were replacing their Cisco routers with local equipment as they age out. Cisco is specifically on the nobuy list, I believe.

PhasmaFelis 12y ago

Remember when cellphones were getting smaller every year, and a smaller phone was a status symbol? And then suddenly touchscreens happened, and now phones are getting bigger and bigger again? I feel like smartwatches are the result of that "smaller" impulse pushing through the trend.

BigChiefSmokem 12y ago

Scroll with mousewheel is working fine on Chrome 40 for Windows 8.1

unicornporn 12y ago

Hard to tell, is it a mechanical watch with a digital overlay?

sdrothrock 12y ago

Doesn't it bother anyone else that what's on that page (and in the video) doesn't really resemble the real thing[1]? This happened with another company -- I want to say LG -- and their renders were very optimistic views of the real thing, hiding the bezel and depth of the screen as well as falsely depicting how sharp the screen would look. [1] http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/3/8140837/huawei-watch-design-interview-mwc-2015 http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/3/8140837/huawei-watch-design...

sfjailbird 12y ago
Indeed, there's no way the screen is going to look that bright in real life, even IF they put all the battery output behind it. And that's a big reason why smart watches will never look as good as a real watch - the screen is just a big dumb surface with some vague electronic light. Compare with intricate mechanics, colors and materials of a proper watch. I'll still switch to a smart watch, once they nail power consumption and features (it needs to substitute a phone, including phone calls), but good looking it ain't.

Aissen 12y ago

Wondering if the stainless steel case might not affect the Bluetooth radio performance…

liotier 12y ago

No mention of battery life in either features or specifications... I guess that most users won't find in any way troublesome that this thing barely runs for a day between charges...