Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Sneak Peek of what's in dev for Moto 360 based on Android Wear

The biggest bombshell this month by far was the sudden unveiling of Google’s wearable platform, Android Wear. The excitement that followed into the next day was nothing short of explosive, and it seems the Moto 360 smartwatch that was announced alongside the platform has gained quite a lot of attention from developers and enthusiasts alike. So much attention, in fact, that there are now dozens of mock ups for apps and notifications of every description depicting what users and developers are hoping to see from the platform.
Google’s Android Wear announcement included a sneak peek at the SDK that would be included when the platform actually launches this Summer. While incomplete, it offered a glimpse into what Google has planned for this platform.

What we’ve learned from it so far is that Google has built this to act as an extension of your Android phone. All of your notifications, and the way you normally interact with them, are available on the watch in a totally new UI. Outside of this, Google has hinted at things like Chromecast control, voice control for third party devices, and a more complete version of Google Now to interact with. This has spawned more than a few concepts for apps and service, and while only a handful of them seem based in reality, they all seem to point to a ravenous desire to see the platform take shape.

Curiously, nearly all of the UI mockups that have been shown off so far are for the round Moto 360. Google’s platform at launch will support two form factors, round for Motorola and square for the LG G Watch. Google has explained that the core of the Android Wear UI makes it so there are very few differences between the two shapes when designing content for the watch, but the community has clearly leaned heavily towards the sleek round look of the Moto 360.
While it’s unlikely that we’ll be playing Flappy Bird or practicing our speed reading through an app on our smartwatch without needing to recharge the battery in 10 minutes, most of these concepts have the potential to be real things Android Wear is capable of at some point in the future.

No comments:

Post a Comment