Google

A few points of interest from the Moto360 event going on now on YouTube.

• Wireless charging - I’m inferring this, they didn’t explicitly say it, but implied it strongly.
• 1.8" (46mm) diameter.
• Won’t comment on battery life, “but was designed with power efficiency in mind.”
• Targeting mass appeal, so not intended as a men’s watch.
• Works with all Android devices running Android 4.3 or later.
• Water resistant, details forthcoming.
• No camera embedded in the watch (thankfully).
• Genuine leather.
• “With this watch, you’ll always be able to tell what time it is.” (Subtle jab at Pebble?)

More updates posted as they’re revealed.

UPDATE #

After giving on on Google Hangouts it seems, they are now live on YouTube.

Everyone I’ve talked to trying to sign into the Moto360 event on Google Hangouts has been met with timeouts and errors, though the participants list suggests some people are able to log in. I’ve tried on 3 devices - iPhone, iPad, and a Windows PC with no luck. I’ve also tried 2 wifi networks and a strong LTE connection on both the iPad and iPhone - no luck.

It is a somewhat cynical view. One could argue Google is attempting to make it as easy as possible for people to connect. To be clear: I disagree with this being opt-out instead of opt-in, I think Google is doing everything they possible can to make Google+ relevant, and I think they will cave to pressure on this and make it opt-in.

Marco has a strong closing statement:

You, the users, are just along for the ride. You’re just eyeballs. Body parts and ad-targeting data. Google doesn’t care about you at all. You’ve tolerated enough already that it’s pretty clear you’re not really going anywhere.

An excellent follow up piece (to his original post) on where Chromebooks fit into the tech world. Also read his link to Vance McAlister’s response, both are very insightful.

From Vance:

The true value in ChromeOS is what it DOESN’T have. Critics say “a Macbook or Windows laptop will give you the same Chrome browser, plus a lot more as well!”, but that misses the point entirely. Those laptops don’t come with the killer feature of ChromeOS: the LACK of a traditional OS.

John Gruber posted an interesting tweet yesterday regarding how important the aesthetic design of a product is:

We’ve always judged cell phones by how they look, and we keep them in our pockets. Wearables — glasses, watches, anything — can’t be ugly.

— John Gruber (@gruber) January 6, 2014

Of course, some folks aren’t interested in the design of a product, but in general it holds true. Some of the appeal of the iPhone is how stunning it is to look at. Part of the appeal of the Moto X is how clean and simple the design is while still being highly customizable.

This graphic to show which smartphones are capable of having which OS on them is eye-opening. I don’t think “average people” (in the tech savviness sense) care about this, which is unfortunate to me.

Link to the article by Richard Gaywood .

2013 Nexus 7 Wiki for reference.

Richard draws some great conclusions and keeps a very open mind while explaining his biased starting point as an iOS user. A few key items for me:

Pros: #

• Emulators, app data sharing, inter-app-erability (you heard it here first… err second) open the door to complex and interesting apps and use cases.
• Changing defaults (mail, browser, keyboard) really allows the device to be tailored to fit the user.
• Voice recognition:

“It’s like night and day compared to Apple’s offering. If you’ve never seen it, find someone with an Android phone and try it out – then think about how much more often you’d reach for Siri if it was this good."