Smartwatch with Android Wear will make Google Glass a story?

Most recently, the announcement of a new OS for smart gadgets, Android Wear. Not long after the announcement, two companies, LG and Motorola, announced two models of smart watches with Android Wear.

The device from LG has already gone on sale , and Motorola has just officially unveiled its watch , which, however, journalists have already managed to test.
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At the same time, one of the journalists, the author of the column of one of the leading tekhnoblogov, Arstechnica, tested both Google Glass (he wore these glasses for many months) and smart watches with Android Wear (both devices were bought for his own money). So, this journalist, Ron Amadeo, raises a rather interesting question: wouldn’t Android Wear Wear devices make wearable mini-PCs like Google Glass?

Indeed, a wrist device is more convenient, no less (and perhaps more) functional than Google Glass, and does not attract attention (in most cases, absolutely unnecessary).

Do you need quick access to a particular type of information ? Android Wear easily recognizes and executes voice commands, like Google Glass, with the same hot-spot detection system as smart glasses. But a device on the Android Wear platform is more convenient than Google Glass, because “glasses” require touching or tilting the head in order to begin to hear the owner. But Android Wear constantly listens to the owner, and gives the requested information / performs the necessary actions on a voice request, without requiring additional actions.

As for the data itself on request, it can be the exchange rate, weather forecast, distance from city to city and all that jazz.

Need to respond quickly to notifications ? Wear very wide functionality. This system allows you to work with almost any application, including software, the creators of which have never heard of Android Wear. SMS, organizer, fitness tracker, email, phone calls, what else?

Google Glass has a very limited compatibility with each of the applications, and all this has to be configured manually. Android Wear allows you to receive any of the notifications that come to your smartphone, and everything works out of the box.

Smart watches are more social . In other words, a person in Google Glass immediately causes suspicion to attract attention. Someone doesn’t like being photographed without the knowledge that Google Glass is generally prohibited. In general, the owner of Google Glass unnecessary attention is provided almost anywhere.


Communicating with a person in Google Glass, many people will feel uncomfortable. The eye of the carrier is constantly closed by the display, it is not known whether he “writes” you, whether he reads jokes during what you say. In general, something like that.

Well, hardly anyone will pay attention to the smart watches, perhaps, the same gadget lover as the device owner.

The camera is in Google Glass . Yes, this device has a camera that allows you to take pictures and record video. There is no camera clock, and it would not be very useful there. But Google Glass images are not very high-quality, the video is also mediocre (somewhere they wrote, among other things, that during recording glasses are very hot, and the battery sits very quickly).

The previously announced real-time shooting function (when making calls on Google Hangouts, for example) was blocked by Google, since all of this did not work very well.

With all this, the camera itself in Google Glass is set very ancient, so getting a good picture is still unlikely to work. The device with Android Wear does not have cameras (on current devices), but most of us have smartphones, cameras (and corresponding applications) of which are much better than Google Glass.

Smart watches are more practical . In the sense that they are much more comfortable to wear: put on the arm, and forgot. But with the glasses of the problem - then put them on, then take off, then think where it is better to put them in order not to break or forget.

The clock is unlikely anyone will take off their hands in a public place, such as a cafe. And Google Glass during dinner / date / business meeting / regular party, most likely, want to take off, and put next to the table. Well, where do the devices go after the party, some people don’t remember ... you know how it happens.

Price The cost of Google Glass is currently $ 1500, the price of smart watches is $ 250-270. The difference is quite palpable.
Smart watches are more ergonomic . It is more convenient to use them other than the example - he glanced at his hand and that was all. As for Google Glass, everything is more complicated: you need to look at one point, which is not very convenient.

Some users of Google Glass have a headache that is strong enough to stop wearing this device.

In addition, Google Glass uses white text on a transparent background. Sometimes it is very difficult to disassemble the image on the "display" of glasses.

At the watch with Android Wear LCD \ AMOLED display, where everything can be seen at any time of the day, anywhere.



Application ecosystem . Applications for Google Glass are handled by Google X. There are probably not many other divisions of the corporation eager to make their applications compatible with Google Glass. In any case, it took the company eight months to make Google Talk / Google Hangouts available on Google Glass.

The Android Wear ecosystem is handled by Android developers, which makes it possible to talk about the imminent appearance of a huge number of applications “sharpened” under smart watches with this OS.

By the way, after the recent update of Google Glass on KitKat, there were complaints about the slow work and the glitchiness of the glasses.

Blocking functions . By the way, after the KitKat update mentioned above, the video call function from Google Glass was blocked. In addition, they blocked automatic face recognition (some applications were already ready and were working), explaining such blocking by the need to protect personal data of people.

That is, two of the most interesting unique functions that made Google Glass a popular device went away.

Availability Now Google Glass, in fact, is just a desktop with the ability to quickly access. Glass is uncomfortable to wear, uncomfortable to use in public, they are expensive. All this may lead to the fact that PCs like Google Glass will not become popular, but Android Wear, devices with this OS, can become very popular in all countries. By the way, Google Glass is more or less available so far only in the United States (here we recall the price of $ 1,500 again), and it is unknown when they will begin to be sold freely in other regions.

Of course, all this is subjective, but Google Glass really has problems, and there are quite a lot of them. But the smartwatch is a device that is devoid of so many drawbacks of Google Glass, while having additional advantages. Of course, Google Glass allows the owner to feel himself a cyborg almost as a time traveler, a man following the trend of technological fashion. But this is perhaps one of the few advantages of Google Glass, to which smart watches have nothing to answer.