wearables

Android Wear 2.0 and Watches Made by Google

By Paul B. Kaiser on January 19, 2017

[UPDATE February 10,2017]

Android Wear 2.0 was officially released on February 9th and is rolling out to existing watches on February 15th. See the list below for watch update. Here is an overview from Android.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

It looks as though Android Wear 2.0 should release in February. In our last article it seemed Google would be launching in 2016 but several things had changed and it appeared they might even discontinue their support. But that is not the case. One of the more changes is that Google will release its own pair of watches. More on this at the bottom.

In a recent leak, it is said that – “Google is targeting Feb. 9 as the release date for Android Wear 2.0, bringing a bunch of features that were first announced at Google I/O in May, including Android Pay support, third-party complications (the fancy term for customizable faces), and integration with Google Assistant.”

The following watches are currently on the list of devices ready to take advantage of the update, including popular models from Huawei, Motorola, and LG:

Asus ZenWatch 2
Asus ZenWatch 3
Casio Smart Outdoor Watch
Fossil Q Founder
Fossil Q Marshal
Fossil Q Wander
Huawei Watch
Huawei Watch Ladies
LG G Watch R
LG Watch Urbane
LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE
Michael Kors Access Bradshaw
Michael Kors Access Dylan
Moto 360 Gen 2
Moto 360 Sport
Nixon Mission
Polar M600
Tag Heuer Connected

The biggest news is that Google has announced at the end of last year that it would be launching a pair of new watches. They would obviously take advantage of the new update, marking the company’s first step into wearable hardware. Were still waiting to hear what the names of the watches will be. This is yet one more piece of hardware in their “Made by Google” line up. If it’s as good as the Pixel, I’m excited.

The reported specs said they will sell in color choices of titanium or dark blue, while the Watch Style will sell in color choices of titanium, silver, and rose gold. The Watch Sport will feature a 14.2mm thick case, 1.38-inch round display (480×480), 768MB RAM, 4GB storage, and a 430mAh battery. The Watch Style, on the other hand, will feature a 10.8mm thick case, 1.2-inch round display (360×360), 512MB RAM, 4GB storage, and a 240mAh battery. Each smartwatch should have Bluetooth and WiFi, IP68 (Sport) and IP67 (Style) water and dust resistance, and Google Assistant integration, plus the Watch Sport will gain 3G and LTE connectivity, GPS, NFC, and a heart rate sensor. Additionally, both watches will feature a digital crown of sorts, to help with navigating the new Android Wear 2.0 UI. The newest feature may be they have radar and unique gesture control. See the video below.

Cool things made at Google

Android Wear – The Other Watch.

By Paul B. Kaiser on May 7, 2015

We all know that Apple is making watches now, but Android wear has been in the market for 2 years already. How have they been performing, and what is the Android wear strategy moving forward – AAW (After Apple Watch)?

Among the many different Android wear watches available, Samsung, Moto 360, ASUS, and LG, are the most popular. I have only researched them, not worn them, but looking at them online, in person, and on paper, the LG watches seem to be the ones I would purchase. That is not to say the other ones do not have their positives and do great things. I love competition.

And look at the bands they have – so many colors and textures.

The new LG Urbane is a pretty cool looking watch. I mean, it looks like a watch, but does so much more.

AN UPDATE WILL MAKE FOR BETTER APPS

A few weeks ago, Google announced Android Wear 5.1.1, and while the version number doesn’t suggest major improvements, the update will make third-party apps much more useful.

One notable change extends Android Wear’s always-on display capabilities to third-party apps, so they can leave information on the screen in a low-power, black-and-white mode. Prior to the update, Android Wear would always revert to the clock screen after a few seconds of inactivity, regardless of what you were doing.

“With the new always-on feature, we can bring this hands-free experience to the next level,” says Benedikt Lehnert, chief design officer for the task management app Wunderlist. “Simply select your grocery list and have it visible the entire time you’re shopping. No need to constantly touch the screen or move your wrist, so you can focus on juggling all the goodies you want to buy.”

Google will also make it easier to open smartwatch apps in the first place with a launcher that users can open by tapping on the main screen. When Android Wear first launched, Google seemed to deliberately hide the launcher, preferring that app makers focus on actionable notifications. But developers say Google may have gotten ahead of itself with that plan.

“My guess is they went a bit too fast going notification-only, and they found users are confused by the lack of structure,” says Q42 developer Taco Ekkel, who created an app for controlling Philips Hue lightbulbs. “The notification-instead-of-apps model is the future, but people (both users and many app developers) need time to get there.”

In the meantime, the launcher will give users easier access to functions that might not come up through notifications alone. Aaron Sarazan, who leads Android development for the personal finance app Level Money, says notifications are great for showing a record of recent transactions, but not so much for letting users look up how much they can spend. “Just by virtue of removing the number of taps to get to the app list, that helps a lot,” he says.

The feature was born out of a company hackathon, and is also included in the Android Handwriting Input app Google introduced last week. The Android Wear team decided to turn the one-off idea into a feature, but needed help in making it work for potentially millions of people. It ended up turning to other Googlers who were used as guinea pigs to figure out a kind of common handwriting language for things like thumbs up signs, hamburgers, and yes — even poop.

Probably the most fun part of the update is the new support for drawing emoji characters. Instead of replying with a canned response or awkwardly speaking into your wrist, you can draw an emoji character and Android Wear will do its best to recognize it and convert it to an actual emoji. In practice, it ends up being entertaining, both when it gets it right, and when it fails horribly.

VOICE COMMANDS ARE ABOUT TO GET SMARTER

Even as Google backtracks on some of its original ideas for Android Wear, it’s also taking a step forward by opening up more voice commands to third-party apps.

Top things you can do with your watch.

Whats Next?

THE STAGE IS SET FOR IOS SUPPORT

Despite these improvements, Android Wear is still held back by the fact that it only works with Android phones. With the average Android phone costing less than $300, and smartwatch prices starting at $200, chances are that many Android users aren’t going to bother with a smartwatch anytime soon. Meanwhile, studies have shown that iPhone users tend to be younger and more affluent, suggesting that they have more money to spend on smartwatches. Google likely realizes that it can’t ignore this group, which is why we’ve seen so many rumors of Android Wear support coming to iOS.

At the end of the day, you are either an Apple person or you are a Android dude. Both watches have pros and cons, but Android wear has many options among several manufacturers. Im sure this is only the beginning of wearables.

Here’s a biased Android Wear vs Apple Watch comparison – Enjoy!

Time Is Changing Health Apps

By Paul B. Kaiser on April 15, 2015

How will the launch of the Apple Watch change and/or improve healthcare for the patient? Will it in fact improve anybody’s health or does it just seem like a cool idea? This question runs deeper than just healthcare technology. That question can be asked of any technology. Have mobile phones made your life easier? Has the internet uncomplicated your daily life? I’m sure most would say it has done the opposite on some level, however, most continue to incorporate technology into every aspect of our lives, this author included. So will all the hoopla around the Watch, let’s take a look at some of the health apps that will be available. And see how time is changing Health Apps.

There are already a decent list of apps ready to download for patients and physicians. An app from Doximity, was just announced that is for physicians to connect to other physicians. The hope is that they ask other doctors advice to better treat the patient. It’s like crowdsourcing for healthcare.

For the consumer and patient, WebMD has just announced an app that will provide medication reminders, dosing information and safety information. It will then hand off t your iPhone for more detailed information.

Apple has its own health app already installed that will work with other apps. Apple hopes to increase the value of the new watch is by equipping it with software that can capture and track health data. So, Apple is promoting its new Health app as an easy-to-read dashboard of personal health and fitness information tied to the iPhone.

apple_watch_sensors — Sensors on back of Apple Watch

The app collects information from the user by asking questions (height, weight, etc.) and monitoring data (number of steps, heart rate, etc.) from other wireless medical devices.

And, in addition, sensors on the Apple Watch continuously collect and supply apps with real-time data on physiological functions like pulse and blood pressure. Some hospitals are hoping to use the Health app to monitor blood glucose levels in children with diabetes.

The FDA is not quick to react to new technologies – especially those that fail to achieve measurable improvements in clinical outcomes. So Apple has been limited in how it can use that data, as well as new app developers. Just collecting all that data needs a thoughtful app to interpret the data for patients. When desired results arent being reached, patients need to make rash decisions and change their course of action – with doctors guidance.

Consumers can be very fickle when the results they get on smart devices aren’t in their favor. A new report shows that a third of all consumers ditch the smart wearables within 6 months. So will a Apple Watch be able to extend this length of time and keep interest with the consumer? They will be investing more money into the watch so I imagine they will not ditch the Watch, but they might ditch the app or switch apps.

“A new report shows a third of all consumers abandon their “smart wearables” within six months.”

A long list of healthcare companies are showing off apps for the Apple Watch at the HIMSS 2015 conference this past week in Chicago.

Included are apps from HCSC, WebMD, Kaiser Permanente, Dexcom, HealthTap, Vocera and many others, enabling everything from health records for patients to medication reminders and continuous glucose monitoring on the Apple Watch. See below for a full list of healthcare apps for Apple Watch on show:

WebMD Medication Reminders
“When users open the WebMD Apple Watch app, they’ll see their daily medication schedule and information about whether or not they’ve taken a required dose. They will also be able to read medication instructions, such as whether to take a pill with food, and access additional in-depth information on their iPhone via Handoff.”
Every Body Walk! app from Kaiser Permanente
“The Every Body Walk! app was originally created for smartphones in 2011 to support anyone interested in tracking their activity and taking steps to make healthy behavior change. The app is simple and easy to use, making it a good fit for the Apple Watch format. Consumers can use the app to set fitness goals, track activity and view statistics at a glance through colorful and easy-to-read graphics.”
HealthTap
“HealthTap provides instant access to doctors on call 24/7 from anywhere right from any Apple Watch. The revolutionary HealthTap DocNow App for Apple Watch connects you immediately to a primary care doctor for a video consult, all at the tap of a button. With consults at just $2.99 per minute, affordable healthcare is now available to people who need instantaneous access to doctors.”
Centered app from Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC)
“A holistic approach to stress management by allowing users to track their daily physical activity while providing guidance for mindful meditation exercises to help reduce stress levels and improve overall health.”
cFHR app from Anthem and CareEvolution
“The app is designed to make it convenient and simple for consumers to receive alerts, review new medical information and manage their health care from their wrist. Consumers would be notified of suggested preventive screenings, gaps in disease management and prescription refills, and potential drug interactions – consider it a tap on the wrist reminder”
Vocera app
“The Vocera app for Apple Watch will allow users to rapidly manage life-critical communications by viewing and responding to prioritized calls, alerts, and messages from other care team members, Electronic Health Records (EHR) and clinical systems, including critical lab values and STAT orders.”
Dexcom Follow and Dexcom Share2
Updates to Dexcom’s two mobile apps will allow users of its Continuous Glucose Monitor System to track everything straight from Apple Watch. The apps will not only let users view their own glucose information, but also invite others– parents or caregivers for example– to monitor the data from their own Apple Watch.
Mediasafe
“The Medisafe Apple Watch app offers customers an entirely new channel of medication management right from their wrist.”
Drchrono
- Apple Watch Support
- Appointment List
- New Messages
- New Chats
- Notifications for New Patient Arrivals
- Notifications for New Messages
- Notifications for New Chats
- Notifications for New Labs
- Notifications for New eRx Refills
Doximity
On the Doximity Apple Watch app, doctors can send and receive messages, get notifications for faxes and manage their colleague invites.”
Cerner HealtheLife
“Cerner’s newly-released iOS 8 HealtheLife app is designed to make it easier for patients to manage their health from Apple Watch, with push notification reminders to track health data and a display dashboard for tracked metrics.”
Spire
“Spire, a small stone-like device that measures breathing to gain insight into state of mind, delivers value to its users through real-time notifications that identify moments of tension, focus and calm. With only a glance, the Apple Watch’s notification capabilities seamlessly provides Spire users with rich feedback and guides them to greater calm and focus throughout the day.”

At the end of the day, there is a decent list of apps available for the Watch at launch. This is a list that will obviously grow and mature. Whether consumers and physicians adapt to the new screen size, only time will tell.

Apple’s Health App Video

Who Just Created a Smartphone That’s Not A Smartphone? And it’s not Apple.

By Paul B. Kaiser on March 6, 2015

Design, Form Factor and technology are all the leading contributions Apple added to the technology world. Technology, that doesn’t look like technology but “feels right” in your hands.

Enter, “The Runcible”, announced at Mobile World Congress this year. It is strange, unique and interesting gadget. It offers many of the same capabilities as a smartphone, but it definitely does not look like a smartphone. It looks like something from an antique store while on the travels in Star Trek. However, it really made me think about what the evolution of phones could be. Why stay with these “squareish” devices? Take a look at this thing.

The creator of this gadget, Monohm, based in Berkeley, Calif., officially introduced the device dubbed Runcible at MWC. Runcible was created by Apple and Sony alumni Aubrey Anderson, George Arriola and Jason Proctor.

runcible ceo — Aubrey Anderson, Monohm’s CEO

The Good: The design is no doubt out of the box and its unique circular features make it stand out. But what does it do? The Runcible is circular, with a wooden back designed to fit in your palm. It has a screen on the front, a camera on the back. Runcible still does most things a standard smartphone can, including making calls, surfing the Web, sending texts and taking photos.

The Bad: It doesn’t, however, run apps or have a home screen. It’s inability to run apps like Instagram or Snapchat is another way it separates itself, although, many consumers will most likely be turned off by this. It relies totally on websites designed for mobile devices. While most will not like this notion, it may be that its stylish to have this as an accessory.

Runcible runs the open-source Firefox mobile OS, and it’s meant to be a minimalistic device. The cost is expected to come in around $700 – not cheap. But at the end of the day it’s kind of a cool device and while it won’t replace my smartphone, it is creative tech. I wouldn’t mind having one.

Runcible Moving Pictures