Google announces major Android Wear update that can make your Smartwatch a lot more useful
April 20, 2015 Kishore Ganesh Leave a comment Edit
Over the past few months, we have been seeing wearables becoming more and more independent, with built-in WiFi, GPS and sometimes even LTE Radios.
But while WebOS and other Smartwatch Operating Systems supported these radios, Android Wear only had rudimentary support for GPS, forget about other wireless radios, even when several Android Wear Smartwatches came with WiFi built-in.
Now, Google has announced a major update for Android Wear with lots of useful features, with the first being support for inbuilt WiFi. This means several Android Wear Smartwatches can finally utilize their wireless radios, and you can even get notifications when connected to a wireless network.
The second addition is that of Emojis, which enable you to convey your messages through convenient image-based emoticons. You can even draw these emojis, and Google’s recognition is pretty good, so even a basic drawing will be recognized correctly.
Low Power Mode comes to all applications, meaning that you can use the app in an extremely low-power mode, unlike previously when you could only see the time in such a mode.
Finally, we have gesture control. For example, you can scroll up and down by flicking your wrist. This can enable you to navigate without touching the display, making it that much more convenient.
The update has started rolling out, and since Android Wear is not customizable, we expect the update to proliferate the ecosystem within the next few weeks.
What do you think? Is Google upping its game in the Smartwatch Wars?
http://techgeekforever.com/2015/04/...t-can-make-your-smartwatch-a-lot-more-useful/
April 20, 2015 Kishore Ganesh Leave a comment Edit
Over the past few months, we have been seeing wearables becoming more and more independent, with built-in WiFi, GPS and sometimes even LTE Radios.
But while WebOS and other Smartwatch Operating Systems supported these radios, Android Wear only had rudimentary support for GPS, forget about other wireless radios, even when several Android Wear Smartwatches came with WiFi built-in.
Now, Google has announced a major update for Android Wear with lots of useful features, with the first being support for inbuilt WiFi. This means several Android Wear Smartwatches can finally utilize their wireless radios, and you can even get notifications when connected to a wireless network.
The second addition is that of Emojis, which enable you to convey your messages through convenient image-based emoticons. You can even draw these emojis, and Google’s recognition is pretty good, so even a basic drawing will be recognized correctly.
Low Power Mode comes to all applications, meaning that you can use the app in an extremely low-power mode, unlike previously when you could only see the time in such a mode.
Finally, we have gesture control. For example, you can scroll up and down by flicking your wrist. This can enable you to navigate without touching the display, making it that much more convenient.
The update has started rolling out, and since Android Wear is not customizable, we expect the update to proliferate the ecosystem within the next few weeks.
What do you think? Is Google upping its game in the Smartwatch Wars?
http://techgeekforever.com/2015/04/...t-can-make-your-smartwatch-a-lot-more-useful/
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