8 ms·

LG G Watch

58 points by mycodebreaks 12y ago

mkngrm 12y ago
Great looking design, just not interested in ANOTHER gadget that needs to be recharged daily.
- wasd 12y ago
  I was curious too about the battery life and then pleasantly surprised. "When asked about battery life, reps told me that it should last 36 hours in always-on state, and even longer if you opt to turn the screen off -- there's a companion app that you can download onto your Android device, and it gives you a few settings." From http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/25/lg-g-watch-hands-on/ http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/25/lg-g-watch-hands-on/
  - pkaye 12y ago
    My Citizen Eco-Drive gets charged through solar power in daily use. It is one less think I need to charge on a daily basis.
- wvenable 12y ago
  I have a Pebble and it lasts several days (whenever I go on holiday, I don't bring the charger) and yet because it is another device I find myself charging it daily anyway. I plug my phone in, my tablet in, and then my watch in every night.
  - cynix 12y ago
    The difference with a watch is that I don't really want to take it off my wrist all the time just for charging. If there was some kind of wireless charging mechanism then I'd happily wear one. And I'm not talking about the wireless charging pads where you still have to take the watch off to charge -- we need something that can charge the watch just by being inside the room or house.
- Pxtl 12y ago
  Perhaps inductive charging can make this process less annoying - an inductive charge-plate on the nightstand, dump all your gadgets there without plugging anything in.
  - commandar 12y ago
    Earlier rumors were that the Moto 360 will use Qi charging. Qi still usually requires per-device charging positions and semi-precise placement to work, though. It's just a "just dump it in this general direction" technology, unfortunately.
IBM 12y ago
Seeing them swipe through the interface in the demos makes me think this is another pre-iPad time (where everyone knew it was coming and competitors rushed their products to market). If the only value-add is having a wearable notification viewer (plus some other features that are a subset of smartphones), it's not going to be successful. It just feels like anything Google had an existing service/product for, like Google Now, got juryrigged on to the wrist. Rather than actually figuring out the jobs-to-be-done that a wearable can uniquely solve.
- psbp 12y ago
  I always thought that Google Now was built (in part) for devices like wearables. Do you think Apple's device interface won't involve swiping?
- chuckcode 12y ago
  Agreed. It would be cool to an application that takes advantage of the fact that your watch is relatively publicly accessible. Ideas would include the silly "mood watch" that you can set to indicate to others if you're feeling social or busy or stressed. Or a matching app to help you find someone that you haven't met before. Your watch is a small bit of shared communal knowledge traditionally and it would be fun to see applications that take advantage of that socially.
- ossreality 12y ago
  What a stupid, ignorant comment.
- emehrkay 12y ago
  It just seems like a second screen for your phone. I can't imagine anyone, Apple included, making something that isn't just that, a second phone screen/interface. Maybe my imagination isn't big enough, maybe the actual tech isn't there yet. This segment, touch-screen wearables, doesn't excite me yet.
  - benologist 12y ago
    I hope it goes the other direction - your phone, tablet, tv etc evolve into dumb screens for your watch, which will quickly if not already be powerful enough to output movies, books, apps, work etc onto your preferred display.
msoad 12y ago
Do you have to turn it on to see time or does it wake up on certain hand movement?
- glitch003 12y ago
  From the article: "The G Watch never sleeps. Its Always-on display allows you to check the time and see new information at a glance without touching it."
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- bsimpson 12y ago
  I believe Android Wear does gesture detection, so if you make your wrist horizontal it will wake the screen.
jaredandrews 12y ago
Fellow I/O attendees, do you plan on choosing the LG G or the Samsung Galaxy Gear as your take home device? I already use an S4 for my phone so I'm inclined to go with the Galaxy Gear. But I think the LG G is a little more aesthetically pleasing. Thoughts/opinions?
- philip1209 12y ago
  Note that the Gear has a heart rate monitor, while the G does not. I think I will choose the LG for the aesthetics, though.
  - serge2k 12y ago
    LG, looks better.
- bsimpson 12y ago
  The Samsung has a nicer screen and heart rate monitor. The battery is smaller, but I imagine I'll have the 360 before I care. I get the vibe that Googlers prefer the LG. Samsung isn't exactly the most inspiring company, but I think I'll go that way for the more retina screen and HRM.
mbell 12y ago
Unfortunately this is exactly what I feared smart watches would look like. It looks like a house arrest ankle monitor more than a watch. If they can get cut the thickness by a factor of 3 and the width/height by about half, I would be interested, but as it stands there is no way I'm walking around with a chunky box strapped to my wrist.
- glitch003 12y ago
  You've seen this, right? https://moto360.motorola.com/ https://moto360.motorola.com/ Although not that that thin, it does look like an actual watch and not a house arrest ankle monitor, IMO.
  - mbell 12y ago
    I'm male and not particularly small, 6'2" 195lb. The moto360 is specced at 1.8" diameter (unclear if that is the screen or the entire device). Either way, the top of wrist is 2" across, so yea, it's better, but your still talking about a device that is huge in comparison to my wrist. I can't imagine how any of the current generation of devices are even thinking about the smaller end of the male population let alone the average wrist of the female population.
    - fatjokes 12y ago
      Big chunky watches happen to be in style right now, particularly for women: http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/womens-watches/ceramic http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/womens-watches/ceramic
    - 51Cards 12y ago
      My thought is this. It's an early adopter device. Early cell phones were bricks, portable computers were suitcases, both seem to have caught on pretty well despite early release form factor issues. New devices push the limits of tech to hit the market then get refined. It'll happen here too.
      - 12y ago
xsmasher 12y ago
No pictures? A page entirely filled with renders doesn't instill confidence. This is something I'd expect from a kickstarter campaign, not a big manu.
yansuck 12y ago
Just my 2 cents. The carousel presentation for both smart watches are really disappointing.
gberger 12y ago
> Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet. Bummer. Can't see anything.
- nickonline 12y ago
  Sorry this is not expertly done, I took screenshots and stuck it together in mspaint but it should give you a pretty good idea :) http://imgur.com/947pJlM http://imgur.com/947pJlM
EFruit 12y ago
I know this is completely unfounded, but the tagline "Always with you, always-on." is a little unnerving in this context. But this is coming from a guy with a bit of Post-it on all the front-facing cameras he owns.
bane 12y ago
I'd probably add it to my basket if it were under $120-150 and looked really nice. For $230 I can deal with the minor inconvenience of taking my phone out of my pocket.
Mikeb85 12y ago
This looks interesting, but for me personally, I prefer mechanical watches. Watches are jewellery (since clocks and screens are all around us, at every minute of the day), we already carry smartphones, a smartwatch seems superfluous... Not to mention, even if I did want a smartwatch, this one is too ugly to wear. And not ugly in a cool way either...
Zigurd 12y ago
Ordered one. Supposedly ships next week though I'll probably not get it before the 4th. I decided to embrace the rectangle. Round UI is going to be tough to do right, except for UI built for roundness. Text is too rectilinear for roundness. Charging two things on the nightstand isn't going to be more onerous than charging one thing.
- bsimpson 12y ago
  Cables and outlet splitters everywhere.
Pxtl 12y ago
I'm mostly just disappointed that this tiny peripheral costs more than the last few phones I've purchased. Nexus 4 and Moto G have destroyed my expectations. For that price I'd expect it to be a fully-functional phone.
mammamia 12y ago
Meh. http://www.iconbit.com/products/108011/ http://www.iconbit.com/products/108011/
uniclaude 12y ago
The price tag seems a bit steep but this is the sort of device I would like to have when riding my bicycle or running in the city. Something light, that has Google now so I can send a text to my friends without taking my phone out of my bag. This said, I share a criticism with some in this thread: The watch is not exactly appealing to my eye.
- bsimpson 12y ago
  It'd be nice if they added a way to spawn Android Auto on your device's display. Then, you could mount it to your handlebars and have a glanceable voice-activated UI while riding as well.

LG G Watch

58 points by mycodebreaks 12y ago

mkngrm 12y ago

Great looking design, just not interested in ANOTHER gadget that needs to be recharged daily.

wasd 12y ago
I was curious too about the battery life and then pleasantly surprised. "When asked about battery life, reps told me that it should last 36 hours in always-on state, and even longer if you opt to turn the screen off -- there's a companion app that you can download onto your Android device, and it gives you a few settings." From http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/25/lg-g-watch-hands-on/ http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/25/lg-g-watch-hands-on/
- pkaye 12y ago
  My Citizen Eco-Drive gets charged through solar power in daily use. It is one less think I need to charge on a daily basis.
wvenable 12y ago
I have a Pebble and it lasts several days (whenever I go on holiday, I don't bring the charger) and yet because it is another device I find myself charging it daily anyway. I plug my phone in, my tablet in, and then my watch in every night.
- cynix 12y ago
  The difference with a watch is that I don't really want to take it off my wrist all the time just for charging. If there was some kind of wireless charging mechanism then I'd happily wear one. And I'm not talking about the wireless charging pads where you still have to take the watch off to charge -- we need something that can charge the watch just by being inside the room or house.
Pxtl 12y ago
Perhaps inductive charging can make this process less annoying - an inductive charge-plate on the nightstand, dump all your gadgets there without plugging anything in.
- commandar 12y ago
  Earlier rumors were that the Moto 360 will use Qi charging. Qi still usually requires per-device charging positions and semi-precise placement to work, though. It's just a "just dump it in this general direction" technology, unfortunately.

IBM 12y ago

Seeing them swipe through the interface in the demos makes me think this is another pre-iPad time (where everyone knew it was coming and competitors rushed their products to market). If the only value-add is having a wearable notification viewer (plus some other features that are a subset of smartphones), it's not going to be successful. It just feels like anything Google had an existing service/product for, like Google Now, got juryrigged on to the wrist. Rather than actually figuring out the jobs-to-be-done that a wearable can uniquely solve.

psbp 12y ago
I always thought that Google Now was built (in part) for devices like wearables. Do you think Apple's device interface won't involve swiping?
chuckcode 12y ago
Agreed. It would be cool to an application that takes advantage of the fact that your watch is relatively publicly accessible. Ideas would include the silly "mood watch" that you can set to indicate to others if you're feeling social or busy or stressed. Or a matching app to help you find someone that you haven't met before. Your watch is a small bit of shared communal knowledge traditionally and it would be fun to see applications that take advantage of that socially.
ossreality 12y ago
What a stupid, ignorant comment.
emehrkay 12y ago
It just seems like a second screen for your phone. I can't imagine anyone, Apple included, making something that isn't just that, a second phone screen/interface. Maybe my imagination isn't big enough, maybe the actual tech isn't there yet. This segment, touch-screen wearables, doesn't excite me yet.
- benologist 12y ago
  I hope it goes the other direction - your phone, tablet, tv etc evolve into dumb screens for your watch, which will quickly if not already be powerful enough to output movies, books, apps, work etc onto your preferred display.

msoad 12y ago

Do you have to turn it on to see time or does it wake up on certain hand movement?

glitch003 12y ago
From the article: "The G Watch never sleeps. Its Always-on display allows you to check the time and see new information at a glance without touching it."
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
bsimpson 12y ago
I believe Android Wear does gesture detection, so if you make your wrist horizontal it will wake the screen.

jaredandrews 12y ago

Fellow I/O attendees, do you plan on choosing the LG G or the Samsung Galaxy Gear as your take home device? I already use an S4 for my phone so I'm inclined to go with the Galaxy Gear. But I think the LG G is a little more aesthetically pleasing. Thoughts/opinions?

philip1209 12y ago
Note that the Gear has a heart rate monitor, while the G does not. I think I will choose the LG for the aesthetics, though.
- serge2k 12y ago
  LG, looks better.
bsimpson 12y ago
The Samsung has a nicer screen and heart rate monitor. The battery is smaller, but I imagine I'll have the 360 before I care. I get the vibe that Googlers prefer the LG. Samsung isn't exactly the most inspiring company, but I think I'll go that way for the more retina screen and HRM.

mbell 12y ago

Unfortunately this is exactly what I feared smart watches would look like. It looks like a house arrest ankle monitor more than a watch. If they can get cut the thickness by a factor of 3 and the width/height by about half, I would be interested, but as it stands there is no way I'm walking around with a chunky box strapped to my wrist.

glitch003 12y ago
You've seen this, right? https://moto360.motorola.com/ https://moto360.motorola.com/ Although not that that thin, it does look like an actual watch and not a house arrest ankle monitor, IMO.
- mbell 12y ago
  I'm male and not particularly small, 6'2" 195lb. The moto360 is specced at 1.8" diameter (unclear if that is the screen or the entire device). Either way, the top of wrist is 2" across, so yea, it's better, but your still talking about a device that is huge in comparison to my wrist. I can't imagine how any of the current generation of devices are even thinking about the smaller end of the male population let alone the average wrist of the female population.
  - fatjokes 12y ago
    Big chunky watches happen to be in style right now, particularly for women: http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/womens-watches/ceramic http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/womens-watches/ceramic
  - 51Cards 12y ago
    My thought is this. It's an early adopter device. Early cell phones were bricks, portable computers were suitcases, both seem to have caught on pretty well despite early release form factor issues. New devices push the limits of tech to hit the market then get refined. It'll happen here too.
    - 12y ago

xsmasher 12y ago

No pictures? A page entirely filled with renders doesn't instill confidence. This is something I'd expect from a kickstarter campaign, not a big manu.

yansuck 12y ago

Just my 2 cents. The carousel presentation for both smart watches are really disappointing.

gberger 12y ago

> Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet. Bummer. Can't see anything.

nickonline 12y ago
Sorry this is not expertly done, I took screenshots and stuck it together in mspaint but it should give you a pretty good idea :) http://imgur.com/947pJlM http://imgur.com/947pJlM

EFruit 12y ago

I know this is completely unfounded, but the tagline "Always with you, always-on." is a little unnerving in this context. But this is coming from a guy with a bit of Post-it on all the front-facing cameras he owns.

bane 12y ago

I'd probably add it to my basket if it were under $120-150 and looked really nice. For $230 I can deal with the minor inconvenience of taking my phone out of my pocket.

Mikeb85 12y ago

This looks interesting, but for me personally, I prefer mechanical watches. Watches are jewellery (since clocks and screens are all around us, at every minute of the day), we already carry smartphones, a smartwatch seems superfluous... Not to mention, even if I did want a smartwatch, this one is too ugly to wear. And not ugly in a cool way either...

Zigurd 12y ago

Ordered one. Supposedly ships next week though I'll probably not get it before the 4th. I decided to embrace the rectangle. Round UI is going to be tough to do right, except for UI built for roundness. Text is too rectilinear for roundness. Charging two things on the nightstand isn't going to be more onerous than charging one thing.

bsimpson 12y ago
Cables and outlet splitters everywhere.

Pxtl 12y ago

I'm mostly just disappointed that this tiny peripheral costs more than the last few phones I've purchased. Nexus 4 and Moto G have destroyed my expectations. For that price I'd expect it to be a fully-functional phone.

mammamia 12y ago

Meh. http://www.iconbit.com/products/108011/ http://www.iconbit.com/products/108011/

uniclaude 12y ago

The price tag seems a bit steep but this is the sort of device I would like to have when riding my bicycle or running in the city. Something light, that has Google now so I can send a text to my friends without taking my phone out of my bag. This said, I share a criticism with some in this thread: The watch is not exactly appealing to my eye.

bsimpson 12y ago
It'd be nice if they added a way to spawn Android Auto on your device's display. Then, you could mount it to your handlebars and have a glanceable voice-activated UI while riding as well.