Google Prepares Update To Android Wear With Bluetooth, GPS, And Custom Watchface Support

Ahead of the Berlin IFA show this week and a number of Android Wear device announcements, Google is preparing an update to their wearable OS (writes Richard Nieva on CNet). Three major additions are coming, including support for direct BlueTooth connections from the wearable to external devices such as headphones, the addition of code to support GPS hardware, and a common API allowing custom watch faces to be designed and made available through the Google Play store.



These updates should all be available by the end of the year. There will be an update to Android Wear just before IFA, and this should tweak ‘the navigation experience’ (presumably improved turn by turn directions relayed to the Android Wear device while walking) and improvements to the voice recognition software.

LG and Samsung both have Android devices currently on sale, and announced their second devices last week (the LG G Watch R and the Samsung Gear S). Motorola’s Moto 360 featuring the circular UI should get a commercial release date announced by the end of the week, and there is an expectation that September will see Android Wear devices announced by Acer, Asus, HTC, and Sony.

It’s unlikely that smartwatches are going to be an instant money spinner for any manufacturer. I don’t think that’s the goal in these early moments of the smartwatch ecosystem. Having proved their worth to the geekerati, it’s time to work on a vision that consumers can buy into. By providing a common platform Google is hoping to pull the same trick with on the wrist as they did with the mobile phone, and become the common operating system choice across a wide range of devices.

Manufacturers can pass over much of the heavy development work to Google, and in exchange get to experiment in the smartwatch space without their R&D teams reinventing the OS wheel, safe in the knowledge that their watch will be compatible over the Android smartphone platform. Yes, it hands a lot of indirect control to Google, but attempting to go it alone with a smartwatch involves a much larger investment in areas such as software development, certification, and developer outreach programs.

That might be fine for the tech-community focused Pebble team, but it’s perversely out the reach of many mainstream manufacturer’s smartwatch department.

And there is the elephant in the room of Apple’s iWatch. Android Wear provides some safety in numbers against the expected hardware from Cupertino.

Nevertheless, smartwatches are a new category that is still waiting for a major player to come up and establish a vision that consumers can buy into. Google has set out their thoughts, and we’re about to see what the manufacturers can add.

Asus adds Zen to the Android Wear smartwatch

Promises, promises. Asus went into this year's IFA show in Berlin with the immodest pledge of revealing the best looking Android Wear smartwatch to date. Featuring a curved 2.5D design on the front and a stainless cover on the back, its newly announced ZenWatch emphasizes style above all else. Its price also isn't bad, coming in at 199 euros, and it has a set of high-quality internal components, too — including a 1.6-inch AMOLED display, 4GB of storage and 512MB of RAM, and the same Qualcomm processor as inside the first Android Wear watches. But Asus wants to wow you with its looks, not specs.





A tan leather strap connects an Asus-branded buckle to its chunky and well polished body. Fine detailing like stitching on the strap and exposed screws in the back of the watch are borrowed from the classic watch industry. There's an elegance to the ZenWatch that would work much better if it a smaller device. As it is now, it has the dimensions of big and sporty watches but the smooth finish and style of a more refined device. That stylistic clash undermines Asus' premise of this being the most attractive Android Wear watch — the Moto 360 still seems to have more idiosyncratic character than any of its subsequent competitors.

The software on the ZenWatch is the standard Android Wear, complemented with a couple of added features. There's a "tap tap" function to find your phone, a remote control for your smartphone's camera, and more than a hundred watch faces to choose from. Asus hasn't yet revealed the release date for its first Android Wear smartwatch, but you can see it up close and personal in our photos below.

Sony Announces New SmartWatch 3 And Moves Over To Android Wear

Today Sony announced its new SmartWatch, and did something a lot of people, including some pundits, assumed it would not, namely moving the device to Google GOOGL +1.22%’s Android Wear. Previous versions of its SmartWatch had used a proprietary operating system that, while compatible with non-Sony Android devices, didn’t offer much in the way of app support.

But Sony’s SmartWatch 3 does indeed come pre-loaded with Android Wear, which is Google’s official wearables platform. There are going to be lots of advantages of this to Sony. The company won’t have to develop its own apps – although it will, of course – and it won’t have to tempt developers to learn how to build things for its own platform, with no hope of financial reward. Instead, Sony will be able to leverage the power of Google, and use standard Android Wear apps.



But the company has also realised that it can’t sell smartwatches with similar spec to LG or Samsung’s, without investing some time in making the product unique. So what it has done is included two apps that are designed to add value, and persuade you to give your smartwatch money to it, instead of one of the other firms. The first app is Sony’s famous Walkman branded player. As a music playback app, it perhaps doesn’t add much that isn’t available elsewhere, aside from letting you store music on the watch’s 4GB of internal storage. That also means that you can use the watch as a music player, without needing to carry anything else, besides a Bluetooth headset that is.

The second app is by far the best idea though, it’s called Lifelog, and it’s also installed on the new Sony Xperia Z3, Z3 Compact and Tablet Z3 Compact. It’s able to watch your activity, and because Sony’s smartwatch has GPS built-in, you can head out for a run, track your distance, route and other metrics without having to drag your phone with you. The Walkman music player, when paired with Bluetooth headphones also comes into play here, if you can’t run without a soundtrack.

Add in to these added value apps the fact that the Sony SmartWatch 3 is waterproof, and can be left submerged in water for 30 minutes, then you’re left with a device that has real selling points over its rivals. It’s similarly priced too, at around 230 Euros (£190 or $300).

8 out of 10 internet consumers have privacy concerns over wearable devices

Nearly 80 % consumers have privacy concerns with wearable Internet of Things (IoT) connected technologies.



However, half of those same consumers were okay to share data if compensated with a coupon or discount.

The study conducted by Acquity Group, which is now part of Accenture Interactive, covered more than 2,000 consumers across the United States which reveals a gap in consumers' fears of data privacy and their actual purchasing behavior.

President of Acquity Group Jay Dettling said that companies should focus on specific benefits that sharing data will deliver to consumers.

Specifically, consumers are most willing to share wearable data for coupons and discounts based on their lifestyles (28 %), information on better workouts to reach their goals (22 %), information on the best foods to eat (22 %), coupons for fitness gear (19 %). 

LG is all set to launch the LG G Watch R at IFA 2014 in Berlin

With the Motorola Moto 360 expected to be officially launched on September 4, 2014, LG will be coming out with a round smartwatch of its own with the LG G Watch R. The LG G Watch R will be officially unveiled a week after the Moto 360 launch.

Unlike the Motorola Moto 360, the LG G Watch R comes in a full circle design and is considered better since it looks more like a piece of jewelry rather than a smartwatch. At first, the LG Watch R was believed to be something that would replace the existing G Watch. But as it turned out, the LG G Watch R is actually pegged as the latest member for LG’s Android Wear roster.

Design-wise, many feel that the LG G Watch R is a better version when you talk about the rounded design pitch. The Moto 360 is not actually entirely round with the screen being cuts off by a horizontal gap near the bottom portion.

For now, the best you can tell from the LG G Watch R is through the teaser video that they had released. No further details or specifics are available for now aside from the fact that it would run on Android Wear and that it will have buttons on the side.

Though the announcement of the LG G Watch R does somehow spoil the coming of the Moto 360, its popularity could now come with a time constraint, especially once LG officially announces its own bet next week.

The LG G Watch R is expected to be announced at the IFA 2014 electronics trade show in Berlin which could further shed off some more specific details that many would want to find out.

How to Factory Reset your Samsung Gear Live Android Wear SmartWatch

Do you want to Factory Reset your Samsung Gear Live Smartwatch? This can be either because you had a bad flash, you installed an app and now things just aren't right, or because it's just slowing down in general. There are many reasons to factory reset your device. The steps are quick and easy, but they are unique. The button combinations are different than most other devices because there really is only one button.

Quick review: Spice Smart Pulse M9010

Right of the bat, the Spice Smart Pulse M9010 smartwatch isn’t something that you can’t do without, but it does provide a glimpse of what local vendors in India are up to as far as wearable technology goes.

We check out the Spice Smart Pulse M9010 to provide you with a quick review based on the specifications.

Specification Overview

Component	Value
Display Size	1.6-inch screen; 320 x 240p resolution
Software	Java
Camera	VGA
Onboard Storage	256KB
Expandable Storage	8GB (microSD card)
Battery	420mAh
Dual SIM	1 Normal + 1 micro
Connectivity	2G, Bluetooth

Design, Build & Display

The first thing that you will notice about the Smart Pulse M9010 is that it is made out of plastic. What we observed was that Spice has tried to give it a metallic kind of finish by giving it a metallic texture and even tried to top it with industrial design screws, but it has more or less failed in that aspect. To add a little spice to the mix, Spice is even offering two extra straps.

The Smart Pulse is squarish in design with rounded corners and within that is the 1.6-inch display. We will give it to Spice on using a display that provides great brightness and colours in low lighting conditions, but as soon as you wander off in the Sun or a well-lit area, the display gives up and the colours seem to be giving our a smudged or washed off effect.

We are sure you will get a real metallic watch for that price sans the smartwatch capabilities. We will leave it to you to decide – real metal or plastic with metallic finish!

Software & Interface

We would have expected Spice to atleast honour the demand of current youth by powering its smartwatch with Android, but it has definitely failed here again. Java based interface is that last thing that one would and inability to add new apps is definitely a huge deterrent.

The interface will remind you of a feature phone that you would have been using 2-3 years back – if you aren’t still holding onto one right now. Navigation on the Smart Pulse M9010 has to be done through three capacitive keys below the display.

As far as keyboard is concerned – predictable enough – it is tiny. Sending out an SMS may seem to be a daunting task. You can pair the smartwatch with your smartphone for notifications – but they will remain just that – notifications – and you can’t act on them.

If you fancy using Smart Pulse’s VGA camera to shoot pictures, you can do so using a remote capture option beyond the manual controls right through the smartwatch.

You find some prebuilt apps like a file manager, one game, among other things – all in all limited functionality accompanied by tiny controls that really do not appeal a great deal.

Storage

256KB onboard storage is so like 1990s; however, having said that you can have an 8GB microSD card for additional storage on the smartwatch. We are not sure why one would accept 256KB storage and to top if why would one go for 8GB storage on a smartwatch that offers no ability to add new apps.

Battery

The 420mAh battery may not sound too impressive, but given the components of the smartphone, we wouldn’t expect Spice to go overboard and fit the Smart Pulse M9010 with a huge battery. Considering that the display and the OS aren’t too tasking on the battery and with only 2G connectivity option the 420mAh should give you a day on single recharge.

Sound & Video

Onboard speakers are definitely great and the accompanying headphones aren’t impressive either. We wouldn’t recommend listening to songs on this one as you wouldn’t get the feeling you might be looking for from your smartwatch.

You can play videos, but it seems that only onboard camera recorded videos are supported.

Conclusion

An outlay just below ₹4,000 may seem impressive at first and specifically until the Smart Pulse M9010 is still inside the box, but as soon as it is out there is just one feeling we are left with – What!!!

We do not see using the device on a day to day basis and definitely not while going to office or a social gathering as we don’t want people to look at us with strange expressions. Further, attending to phone calls on a gadget slapped onto your wrist isn’t practical enough.

ASUS to Possibly Launch Android Wear Device at IFA

According to ASUS CEO Jerry Shen, who held an investors conference on Tuesday, a new Android Wear device may be debuted at this year’s IFA in Berlin, Germany.

Shen mentioned to investors that once announced, ASUS will followup the smartwatch with aggressive marketing efforts, but should not expect to see great revenue returns on the device or sequel device for roughly nine months.

The following is a quote obtained by Focus Taiwan of ASUS’ CEO, stating, “We’re dreaming big about the future of wearable devices, but the dream will not come true this year or in the first half of next year because the market demand has not picked up.”

Google announced Android Wear with ASUS as one of their partners, as were plenty of other companies. Much like Samsung and LG’s offerings, the ASUS-made Android Wear device is reported to be priced very affordably, making it an easy choice for consumers. However, at this time, no specifications or hardware details are known.

If ASUS does indeed launch an Android Wear device at IFA in September, will you be interested if it is a cheaper, more plasticy type of watch?

WhatsApp for Android Wear will have you talking to your wrist

With over 500 million active users, WhatsApp probably has more than a few customers sporting Android Wear. Starting today, those folks will be able to read and reply to messages directly from their wrist. The new features are launching somewhat quietly though -- the App's Google Play listing hasn't been updated yet, and the direct link on WhatsApp's website makes no mention of the smartwatch features -- but users who update manually will find a new app installed on their Google Wear device. It's more than a simple notification push, too: users can read stacked conversation messages and even reply to them using voice. The update will probably hit Google's servers soon.

Attopedia for Android Wear brings Wikipedia to your wrist

Having a calculator on your watch used to be an impressive feat, but how about an encyclopedia? A new app called Attopedia makes this possible by bringing Wikipedia to Android Wear. Making the most of a watch’s limited screen real estate, this informative software uses a grid-based interface for fast access to historical and trivial content.

Weighing in at a lean 2.9MB, this free app is now available to download from Google Play. If you’ve recently picked up a new Android Wear-powered smartwatch and frequently visit Wikipedia on your smartphone or tablet, this content-heavy software is definitely worth a go.

OnePlus OneWatch Reportedly Leaked in Photo of Screenshot, Features Premium Design

A photographed screenshot taken from the OnePlus website, leaked by BGR India, shows off what could be the startup company’s next project – a smartwatch. Given the name OneWatch, it is still unclear whether this device is even real, let alone powered by Android Wear or a CyanogenMod build of something else.

What is apparently known are the materials the device is made of, as BGR India was also able to scoop up design sketches of the hardware, which show off an OLED display, “Saphire” glass, Qi wireless charging, configurable crown button on the side, leather bands, curved battery, and a titanium exterior.

If it is real, it looks kinda hot.

There are two things that lead us to believe this could just be a troll, though. First, “Saphire” is spelled wrong. Sure, everyone makes mistakes, but usually designers and engineers know how to spell out components they are using for a device. At least, I would hope so. Secondly, the last time a leak came from a “screenshot of the OnePlus website,” it was found to be a hoax.

We know OnePlus has been the source of controversy in the Android community lately, seeing as how you can’t exactly purchase their phone, but if the startup OEM was to announce a smartwatch, possibly based on Android Wear, would you be interested?

Share your thoughts below.

LG's Smartwatch Shows Android Wear Operating System Has a Long Way to Go

GOOGLE has a new operating system for wearable devices like smartwatches. It’s called Android Wear and it works like a miniature version of an Android phone on your wrist.




One day, it will do a lot of things, from telling your Nest Thermostat (also made by Google) to turn up the heat because you are on your way home to reminding your television to record a baseball game. It offers a glimpse of a smartwatch future — useful and integrated with your entire digital life.

But that’s the rosy future and this, sadly, is the half-baked now. Although Android Wear is simple and familiar for Android users to operate, its overall incompleteness make it a must-have only for the truly enthusiastic tech fan.

I tried Android Wear on the $230 LG G Watch, one of two smartwatches that run the operating system. The other is the Samsung Gear Live, which costs $200.

The LG G Watch does little to elevate the style and wearability of smartwatches.

It’s a beefy, indelicate package even though LG is trying to make the watch seem more high-fashion and possibly even appealing to women.

The watch is available with either a black band or a white band with gold accents, and you can change out its strap. The white band looks nicer in photos, but no band can diminish the sheer size of the big square watch face or its inorganic rectangular shape.

I got the black-on-black version, which looks a bit like one of the house-arrest monitoring devices you’d wear on an ankle.

The LG G Watch has no buttons, other than a reset button on the back. You operate it with taps and gestures on its 1.6-inch screen. To power it on, you place it on a bulky external charger. To start using it, you download the free Android Wear app to your smartphone (Android only) and match it to the watch using Bluetooth.

It is easy to pair the watch with the phone.

The Android Wear app feels unfinished, however.

It has a simple interface, but feels as if it were meant for app developers rather than consumers.

For example, the settings screen includes an option for “Debugging over Bluetooth.”

When you’re pairing with a new device, one option is, “Pair with emulator.” And one of the two separate settings menus includes an option called Demo Cards that just sends examples of Android Wear features to the watch — fake package tracking notifications, restaurant reservations, boarding passes and so on.

Android Wear seems still in the experimental stage, but this app is not labeled a beta.

In fact, when I mentioned these odd features, an Android Wear product manager seemed surprised they were in the app at all. By the time you read this, they could be gone.

He said Demo Cards, though, was intentionally included to show what’s possible with Android Wear. It is a long list that includes traffic, weather and sports scores, as well as boarding passes, flight status and coming reservations and calendar appointments.

All those notifications are courtesy of Google Now, the digital assistant that scans your email, search history and location history to offer information it thinks you need throughout the day.
Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story

I’m a fan of Google Now, but it has shortcomings. For one thing, all your scheduling emails have to go to the same email address — the one you’re using for Google Now. So if you book a flight for business and send the confirmation to your work address, it might not get tracked.

Also, notifications appear inconsistently, even for things like incoming email.

That said, having Google Now notifications on your Android Wear device puts it well ahead of other smartwatches.

It is rich and usually has useful information. And the notifications are subtle: Information cards simply appear, without beeping or buzzing. The same is true for notifications about tweets or Facebook updates.

The watch buzzes gently when you get new email or texts, and sounds like a ringing phone when someone is calling.

But you can disable alerts for emails, and the notifications for texts and calls are useful.

The watch interface is simple: Just swipe left, right, up or down for more information, to get rid of cards or to access more features. And voice controls are a major benefit.

You can use your voice to initiate text or email messages, open apps and ask for Google Now information. For example, you can tap the watch and say “My reservations” to see coming appointments.

Voice controls depend on individual apps. LG, the maker of the LG G Watch, hasn’t updated its text message app on the LG G3 smartphone to support voice controls on Android Wear, so you can’t use your voice to respond to text messages that show up on the watch. But it works reliably with Google products: You can speak responses to Google Hangouts (Google’s app for messaging and videoconferencing) or incoming mail on a Google account.

And the voice recognition on the LG G Watch is shaky. Composing texts and emails is frustrating, and when a sentence was too long or complicated, the watch simply gave me a “disconnected” error.

Google wouldn’t provide an exact count of available apps, but said most Android apps could do basic notifications through the watch. The Android Wear app links to a curated list of about 40 apps with more advanced features for Android Wear.

But these also have a way to go before they’re truly useful. I use an app called Eat24 to order restaurant delivery.

In Android Wear, the app only lets you reorder the last thing you got. And it’s hard to tell what you’re doing: I accidentally ordered $45 worth of Indian food and had to call customer support to cancel.

Not all your daily apps may be available, either. There’s no Uber app, so I installed Lyft. On the watch, you can say, “O.K., Google, call a car.” But be warned: The next thing you know, a car is on the way.

The Lyft app works with one tap on the phone, and there is no confirmation screen.

Using your voice and a wristwatch to call a car to your precise location is both futuristic and really superconvenient. Android Wear presents a vision of a legitimately useful wearable future.

One thing to watch for is the intriguing Moto 360, by Motorola Mobility (which Google is in the process of selling to Lenovo), which is supposed to arrive “later this summer,” according to Google.

It will also run Android Wear and has an attractive, round watch face.

But right now, there are a few too many kinks for me to recommend Android Wear to anyone but hard-core tech enthusiasts. And that’s fine: It seems Google isn’t quite ready, either.

The new Android Wear smartwatches already have their first game

You can finally play a game while making the world think you’re merely checking the time … for 15 minutes straight.

Developer Unit9 Games just released Swip3 on the Google Play app market, and it’s the first game designed for Android Wear smartwatches. These web-connected, touchscreen timepieces from companies like Motorola and Samsung enable you to interact with your email while getting updates and notifications from your calendar or social networks. Swip3 isn’t about checking the temperature or getting quick access to your text messages. Instead, it has you flicking and gesturing with your finger to move around a 5-by-5 playfield filled with different colored blocks. As you might expect, once you connect three or more like-colored blocks, they disappear and you get points. It’s out now for $1.69, and it is also playable on smartphones and tablets. Unit9 also has a version on the Web that you can try. Players spent $16 billion on mobile games last year, which made that the top app category for revenue. It’s possible games could make a lot on touchscreen watches as well — wearables are already pegged to be a $3 billion to $5 billion market.

But we’re all here because we want to experience the future, and that means playing games on our wrists. You’re probably wondering how something like that works, so check out the trailer below to get a glimpse of Swip3 in action on a number of different Android Wear smartwatches:

“We started this project after being impressed by the technology in the Android Wear,” Unit9 business development manager Steve Brown told GamesBeat. “We develop mobile games in Unity and wondered if the technology could also be used on the Wear.”

The team found out that getting a Unity game up and running on a Wear device wouldn’t require a ton of extra work, and so it started to focus on designing something that would make sense on your wrist.

Swip3 is a simple game that looks clean and uncluttered. That is not by accident.

“We knew we had to make the gameplay simple but addictive due to the constraints of the device,” said Brown. “The game itself is designed so it fits in the tiny screen of a watch and all you have to do is simply swipe your Android Wear with your finger to play. At any point all the user has to do is make a choice: left, down, up or right. And it’s not always obvious which is the best choice.”

Smartwatches are still a fairly new category. Google revealed its big Android Wear initiative at its I/O developer conference in June. The company is hoping to do for smartwatches what Android proper did for smartphones. Rumors suggest Apple is also working on a smartwatch of its own, but the company hasn’t announced anything yet.

With games dominating the app market on both iOS and Android, it isn’t a surprise that a developer is already coming to the scene with a game for smartwatches. Now we can find out if anyone cares about gaming on a watch or whether most will just stick to playing Candy Crush Saga on their smartphone.

Custom watch faces coming to Android Wear? It might be true

Google says it'll allow developers to customize the faces of Android-based smart watches, officially - developers have already worked around the Android Wear platform's build to craft custom watch faces, but Google has asked for a stay in the flood of third-party designs until official support has been rolled out.



While developers had been anxious to get their hands on the Wear software development kit (SDK) and consumer have been just as enthused to get it on their wrists, the newly released software has already experience significant bugs. An apparent problem with the SDK's digital rights management (DRM) render many premium apps unusable, which was likely a contributing factor to Google's request that watch face modification wait until it's officially supported.

Wayne Piekarski, Senior Developer Advocate of Android and Wearables at Google, warned that the custom watch faces were tied to a number of elements of context streams, which are used to serve data to wearables.

"[Custom watch faces] have some special considerations due to interactions with the stream and always-on ambient mode -- including using a shorter peek card, moving the status indicators for battery and mute, and rendering the faces differently in ambient mode. Right now, without an official API, making a really great watch face currently takes a fair bit of tweaking," stated Piekarski.

Piekarski praised Android's openness and said developers using the Wear platform will be to achieve the same degree of customization on the Wear platform, though he said he expected the freedom and flexibility in development for wearables to come in the fall of 2014.

While Google has discouraged the use of workarounds used to create custom watch faces, it had to encourage the use of an alternative route to help developers get around a DRM issue that has plagued the Wear platforms small collection of paid apps.

"We're working to make this easier for you in the future, and we apologize for the inconvenience," said Google of the DRM issue.

Google didn't set a timetable for the release of a fix for the DRM issue. But with Piekarski stating that custom watch faces will be officially support when the Wear platform is updated in conjunction with Android L, an official DRM fix may arrive at the same time.- See more at: http://www.digit.in/mobile-phones/your-smartphone-could-soon-monitor-your-blood-glucose-analyse-your-dna-23347.html#sthash.z7u9c515.dpuf

LG launches G Watch smartwatch running on Android Wear

Along with the LG G3 India launch, LG also also unveiled its G Watch smartwatch, priced at Rs 15,000. 

The watch has a 1.65-inch display and features Qualcomm's Snapdragon 400 processor and has an internal memory of 4 GB with a 512MB RAM. The dust and water resistant watch sports the Android Wear OS and has a 400 mAh battery.

There is a discount of Rs 5,000 on the LG G Watch when bought along with the G3. 



The LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live are the first Android wear smartwatches to go on sale.

LG G Watch is compatible with a wide range of Android smartphones and will present relevant information to users just when they need it or whenever they say "OK Google" to ask questions or to get their work done.

This is LG's fourth device in close collaboration with Google following the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and the LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition.

LG G Watch has an always-on display. It shows an on-time notification, and raising the watch turns it from black and white to full colour. Users can swipe up and down to navigate between notifications, and swipe horizontally to get to details and actions. Users can select the watch face too. They can simply press and hold to choose which watch time face they want. Also, when a user dismisses a notification on the watch, is also disappears from the phone.

Setting a "do-not-disturb" mode is a swipe away. Just swipe down on the watch to set the DND mode. The watch has a daily step counter and a step-count history for the week. 

Google to support custom watch faces for Android Wear

 

Google has announced that it will allow developers to design their own watch faces for Android Wear devices.

Last month, Google launched a version of its Android operating system for smartwatches called Android Wear, which allows users to receive and respond to notifications, make calls and send text messages directly from their wrist.

The system responds to voice commands, so users just need to say 'Ok Google' to ask questions like what time their flight leaves or the score of the game, or to call a taxi, send a text, make a restaurant reservation or set an alarm.

The operating system comes with a range of watch faces, which display when the smartwatch is in standby mode, but Google is planning to release an API (application programming interface) that developers can use to create watch faces.

"Customization has helped Android thrive, and the same will be true for Android Wear," said Wayne Piekarski, senior developer advocate at Google, in a post on Google+.

"We are working to make this as simple as possible for you so that it’s easy to make good-looking faces that work well across multiple form factors, conserve battery, and display the user’s card stream nicely."

Piekarski did not give a timescale for the rollout of the Android Wear watch face API, but said it would be "coming soon". He urged developers to wait until a stable version is published, before posting their apps publicly to Google Play.

"The existing unpublished API may not be compatible with the next Android Wear release, and no one wants to disrupt the experience for users in the future," he said.

Android Wear is already running on a handful of smartwatches, including Samsung's Gear Live, LG's G Watch and Motorola's Moto 360. HTC's forthcoming One Wear will also run the operating system.

Analysts predict that around 19 million smartwatches will be sold worldwide by the end of the year.

The Best Android Wear Smartwatch Apps So Far

 

Android Wear smartwatches do a good job of delivering notifications and other alerts to your wrist, but the fun really starts when you start downloading apps that add additional functionality. Although the selection of Android Wear apps is small for now, there are already some pretty compelling options in the Google Play store. You can order food right from your watch, get car service, keep tabs on your fitness and more.

Before you get going, you'll need to download the full apps to your Android phone. The best part is that all of these options are free (so far). You'll need to make sure you've set up an account in each service before you open the apps on the smartwatch. All of these should be seen as companion apps, rather than stand-alone programs. Here are the best Android Wear apps so far.

AlltheCooks

 

AlltheCooks is a social network of sorts, dedicated to those with a love of cooking. Through the phone app you can share and browse recipes. Favorite those dishes that sound promising or create a shopping list for tonight's dinner. The meal planner section can make a busy parent's life much easier. There are forums, messages and news feeds that make for an incredibly robust app.

When it comes to the Android Wear component, it's simple and wonderfully helpful. Once you favorite a recipe you can send it to your watch. From there you can head to the store and leave your phone in your bag. Swipe from right to left to go from the ingredient list to step-by-step directions (each on its own screen).

IFTTT

 

IFTTT, short for If This Then That, connects events into a simple statement that triggers an action. For instance, if the EPA says that the UV Index today will be 6 or 7 today, an Android Wear watch will alert its wearer, reminding him to apply sunscreen. These recipes, as they are called, can range in subject matter from stock prices to Craigslist posts or your calendar. Just imagine never forgetting to call Mom on her birthday again because your watch reminded you. Priceless.

Duolingo

 

The friendly little green bird logo immediately puts you at ease with the daunting idea of learning a new language. And the rest of the app is just as simple. Duolingo works with a combination of images, spoken words and text to teach you Spanish, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Russian and Dutch. The Android Wear extension of this app creates handy flashcards to keep you fresh between lessons.

Lyft

 

 It's raining and you're never going to find a cab. No worries. You don't even have to take your phone from your pocket to order a car. Just tap your Android Wear watch face, swipe up and tap Start. Tap on the Lyft app and your ridesharing car with a fuzzy pink mustache should be arriving at any moment. The Android Wear version of the app will send you notifications about timing and approaching drivers. The service, which offers drivers in personal vehicles, is currently available in 64 U.S. cities (but not New York).

Player FM

 

For podcast junkies, the Player FM app is a definite must-have. Through the app you can discover, download and import audio files from all the big names, including This American Life and RadioLab. New episodes can be saved for later listening as well. When you open the app on your Android Wear smartwatch, you can control the playback; start, stop, next and previous.

Eat24

 

Eat24, the online food delivery service, is giving Seamless and GrubHub a run for your money. The slick mobile app remembers your credit card info, locations and past orders for quick re-ordering. We had trouble finding a delivery restaurant that wasn't an option. With a tap of a finger on an Android Wear smartwatch we instantly re-ordered our previous Chinese food eats. It doesn't get easier than this.

Tinder

 

The hyper-popular dating app Tinder has come to smartwatches -- everything's just smaller. Opening the app instantly recognizes members in your area, allowing you to swipe right or left to like or dislike a prospective single. On each profile you'll see if you know anyone in common, the person's age and first name. Tapping a profile allows you to see whatever description the person may have added. Now the only time you'll need the full smartphone app will be to update your app settings or change your profile.

Runtastic

 

Turning your Android Wear watch into a running partner, the Runtastic app can help you stay fit and trim. Opening the app from the watch activates the program on your phone. You can begin and end workout sessions from your wrist and get a report on how you performed. The app will track distance covered, calories burned and your average pace. You'll also be able to check today's performance against your workout history. Just keep in mind that you'll need to run with your phone, too.

 

Why Apple's iWatch Already Beats Android Wear

The reviews are in for the first Android Wear-powered smartwatches, and they look about as glowing as the ones for "Transformers: Age of Extinction." In fact, the way the smartwatch evolution is looking right now, the whole category could be extinct before you say "fad." But don't roll the credits just yet.

By delivering a platform that feels half-baked, Google has left the door wide open for Apple's iWatch, expected this fall. This war may not even be close.

To understand why Apple now has the upper hand, you first need to look at where Android Wear falls short on launch devices such as the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live. The platform gets some things right, including delivering alerts based on the time of day and your location. (For example, when you leave for the airport, the device will display your flight info on your wrist.) I also like how Google has integrated voice recognition — without turning the watch into a literal phone. Just say, "OK, Google," and ask your question, schedule an appointment and so on.

The problem with Android Wear is that it doesn't do enough to justify its existence. One major flaw is that you can't yet decide which contacts get to buzz your wrist. It's all or nothing, although Google says customization is on the way. The interface is also way too swipe-happy. My favorite example: The Music card/app on the watch uses separate screens for pause, skip and back buttons. Is this a joke?

Then there's the hardware itself. Both the LG G Watch and Gear Live have displays that are extremely difficult to read outdoors. They're also bulky, though the G Watch is slimmer, and they both last about a day on a charge. No one wants to juice up their watch every night along with their smartphone. The sexier circular Moto 360 looks like it has more promise, but the underlying Android Wear platform needs more love, both from developers and Google, before it resonates with shoppers.

Meanwhile, Apple is reportedly working on an iWatch that looks like it will beat Android Wear on design, app ecosystem and — most importantly — focus. Instead of attempting to be an all-purpose shrunken smartphone, the iWatch will reportedly focus on fitness and health. Yes, Android Wear has a step counter built in, and the Gear Live features a heart-rate monitor, but the iWatch looks like it will be much more robust in this department.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the iWatch will have 10 different sensors to track health and fitness. Like today's popular fitness trackers, the device will supposedly measure steps taken, calories burned, sleep quality, heart rate, and even glucose and sweat. The device will presumably sync with the iPhone 6's Health app, but I get the feeling the iWatch will be able to do a lot of stuff even when your smartphone isn't with you. Android Wear watches become veritable doorstops without their companion handsets.

As for design, the iWatch will reportedly sport a curved glass body that looks less like a clunky calculator watch that's been ripped into the present and more like a futuristic fashion statement. It's no coincidence that Apple hired the former CEO of Yves Saint Laurent to work on "special projects." The only inspired smartwatch design I've seen up until now is the Samsung Gear Fit, with its curved OLED display. I expect an even more polished device from Apple.

iWatch rumors also suggest the device win run iOS, although it will likely be a scaled-down version with apps optimized for its smaller display. There are 22 apps for Android Wear in the Google Play store as of this writing, including IFTTT, Pinterest and Fly Delta. However, these "apps" aren't native; they're merely phone apps that provide an enhanced notification and control experience on the watch. I can almost guarantee that dozens of compelling apps will be available for Apple's wearable on day one.

Can Android Wear recover from what looks like a dud of a launch? Perhaps, but I find it disappointingly ironic how little differentiation is allowed with Google's platform. Other than the physical design, it doesn't seem as though watch makers have much — if any — freedom to innovate on top of the OS. This is the sort of walled-garden approach I'd expect from Apple, not Google.

To be fair, more Android Wear watches are on the way from the likes of Fossil and HTC, and the platform is just getting off the ground. But at this stage, it looks like Apple's iWatch will be the wearable to beat.