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Spotify releases official, and much-needed, app for Google's Wear OS
You'll now be able to bring your music volume down to one percent (when ads start) without having to take out your phone, as Spotify has announced a new app for Google Wear OS. That's not to say there was never a Spotify app for Android wearables. A Spotify app did launch for Android wear, but wasn't regularly updated. It got to the point that third-party apps were being released to give Android wear fans a more usable Spotify experience.
Android Wear 2.0 is hitting more watches today
Yesterday, Google said that an unspecified bug was delaying the Android Wear 2.0 rollout yet again. It looks like the delay hasn't been too severe, though. The company says that Wear 2.0 is now available for five more watches: the Polar M600, Nixon Mission, Fossil Q Wander, Fossil Q Marshal and Michael Kors Access. That's in addition to the Fossil Q Founder, Casio Smart Outdoor Watch WSD-F10 and TAG Heuer Connected, which Google said were already receiving the update. All told, that's almost half of the 19 older watches that'll get the Wear 2.0 update.
Huawei reveals the Watch 2 at MWC 2017
It was almost two years ago to the day that Huawei unveiled the "Watch," the company's first Android Wear device. Today, at MWC in Barcelona, Huawei has just announced its successor, the imaginatively named Watch 2. Perhaps the first notable difference (beyond the design tweaks), is the inclusion of 4G connectivity (on select models, via SIM or eSIM), meaning you won't need a phone for all the smart features to work. According to Huawei, the Watch 2 will debut this month in Spain, France, Portugal, Germany, Italy and, of course Huawei's native China. It will arrive in the US and UK in April. There are a few different strap and color combinations, but prices start at €320 (around $350).
Tag Heuer will make the first 'luxury' Android Wear watch
There's been plenty of speculation as to how Switzerland's watch making industry will deal with smartwatches. In Tag Heuer's case, the company has decided that if it can't beat Google, it might as well join it, which is why the firm has announced it'll be the first to produce "luxury" Android Wear devices. In addition to working with the search engine, Tag is also enlisting the services of Intel to help build the hardware that'll power this new wearable.
Android Wear's latest update adds GPS support and offline music playback
Android Wear, Google's four-month-old wearables platform, is off to a good start. But like all nascent systems, there are still plenty of areas that need some TLC. It's got a lot of features and developer support, but it's practically useless if you want to use your smartwatch as a fitness tracker and leave your phone at home. Over the next few days, Google will push a new update to the LG G Watch, Moto 360 and Samsung Gear Live that will make your smart timepiece more useful when it's not tethered to your handset.
Google Play encryption bug is blocking paid apps from using Android Wear
If you ordered one of the Android Wear devices Google showed off last month, you'll want to keep an eye out for updates: the wearables aren't playing well with paid apps. Normally, Wear apps are downloaded from Google Play alongside an app's handset component, installing automatically over Bluetooth to a paired Wear device -- but the wearable component of paid apps just aren't transferring. According to Android Police the problem lies in Google's app encryption measures, a sort of copy-protection system enacted to keep pirates at bay. For whatever reason, Android Wear devices simply aren't able to find Wear apps in encrypted packages. It's a small bug but it's also a major issue, effectively blocking all paid apps from taking advantages of Google's new platform. Hopefully Mountain View will issue a fix before too long.
Android Wear review: Taking smartwatches in the right direction
When I was a tiny tot, I watched Knight Rider and pretended I was Michael Knight, talking to KITT on my watch. Yet now that there are real-life watches that can do even more things, I don't find myself quite as excited as my 5-year-old self was. Smartwatches have been around for over a decade already (remember Microsoft SPOT?), but the category hasn't evolved at the same pace as smartphones. It's not because there's a shortage of digital wrist-worn timepieces. The problem is that there's no common platform for third-party apps, which means there's little potential for growth. There also doesn't seem to be any vision. Some watches act as Android phones with SIM cards and tiny touchscreens, while others try to establish their own platform to entice developers. Still others have even tried to put fitness bands and smartwatches into one device, to limited success. Even worse, most of the watches on the market today are what you might call "fashionably challenged" -- they simply aren't attractive enough to entice the masses. Google's solution is to extend its Android platform -- which has very strong market share and developer support -- to the wearables genre with Android Wear.
Meet the G Watch, LG's first Android Wear smartwatch
LG believes it's hip to be square, and it created a smartwatch to prove it. The G Watch was announced alongside Android Wear, Google's new wearables platform, and the circular Moto 360 this March. After three months, LG and Google are finally ready to let me slip one on my wrist. The watch is going to be available for pre-order for $229 (update: preorders are live here) on the Play Store alongside the Samsung Gear Live (and Moto 360, once it comes out later this summer), and will ship out in both black and white to eager users on July 7th.
Admiring the beauty of an iPhone 'Aged to Perfection'
I like this a lot -- a blogger over at the design mind blog is admiring the look of gadgets, like the iPhone, that have been "Aged to Perfection." In other words, gadgets that are well-used and that carry the mark of being carried around. Maybe it's just because I'm an iPhone user that frets over every little mark and scratch my iPhone gets, but I'm surprised by just how good the beaten-up iPhone in the picture above looks. No, it's not as sleek or fresh as the beautiful pictures of new products Apple posts on its website, but it's beautiful in another way. As blogger Remy Labesque says about these gadgets, "their battle scars reveal the stuff they're actually made of." An iPhone isn't exactly designed to age well -- it's not cheap or flimsy by any means, of course, but Apple's steady release and technology improvement schedule means that most iPhones sold back on day one probably aren't still in use today. Apple doesn't have a lot of reasons to change that, either -- those record profits don't keep rolling unless people keep buying new iPhones. But I like Labesque's idea of a gadget designed not just to be new and shiny, but to be worn and well-used. Like a pair of old jeans or a solid leather wallet, there's value in having a powerful computer both when you wait in line on release day, and a few years later when it's been put through the paces.
The Mog Log: Durability is counterintuitive
I hadn't really understood the people complaining about repair costs in Final Fantasy XIV until I started running into the same problem they had. Oh, certainly, I knew what they were saying, but I wasn't able to replicate the problem and couldn't really speak to it as a result. In a way, that meant I was actually kind of glad when I started noticing that repairing my Iron Falchion was costing far more money than leves were bringing in. (Mostly I was suddenly wondering how I would continue playing a class I adored, but that's a different discussion.) Repairs and item durability aren't flashy parts of the game, but they are pretty vital, since trying to work in all red gear is going to severely hamper your efforts. Now that I've experimented a bit more with durability and figured out more of how the cost is calculated, it seemed prudent to share what I know so that other players can help keep their gear in top condition. After all, you don't want to be walking around with the little Gear Damage icon unless you absolutely can't avoid it.
WEAR-TV brings HD news to Florida panhandle
Starting this month, viewers in the Florida panhandle (Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach and Mobile, Alabama to be more precise) can start catching their local news in high-definition. The region's ABC affiliate (WEAR-TV) has finally seen fit to bring a clearer view of its newscasts to locals. Hailed as the "first and only" local station in the Mobile-Pensacola Metro area to air its local news in HD, the station is showing five different sessions per day in high-def. [Warning: PDF read link][Thanks, Scott]
InsideOutside garb alerts you of uncomfortable areas
Sensor-laden clothing isn't exactly atypical this day in age, but the InsideOutside project takes wearable alerting to a new (albeit uncomfortable) platform. The garments are supposed to be rocked underneath of your corporately-approved suit and tie, and can purportedly assist you when coming in range of areas or situations that you don't spot right off, but you know would make you antsy if you did. Essentially, the garb "heats up or cools down uncomfortably" when the wearer gets near user-selected situations that they don't appreciate, meaning that you can program the clothing to tip you off when nearing CCTV farms, pop concerts, and rival fans of your alma mater. Sadly, we've no clue whether or not these sophisticated threads will ever make it to the retail scene, but if this thing (eventually) allows you to add spots to your discomfort list on-the-fly via your mobile, we're sensing a real winner. [Via MAKE]
