Wednesday, March 19, 2014

What Android Wear needs to do in order to dominate smartwatches, and the two forms of wearables

First, a quick preface on wearables.
Right now there are two different forms of wearables. (Note, these terms are not official in any way)

The first type of wearable is the complementary wearable.

 This is what majority of all wearables are so far. Complementary wearables complement other devices, more likely than not, that other device is a phone. The complement it, and present information taken from the phone in a more streamlined fashion. It is merely another terminal for the host device.
This is your Google Glass, Pebble, Galaxy Gear, Fitbit, and so on.

The second type is the dedicated wearable.

The dedicated wearable is it's own device entirely. It has it's own storage, information, and data. There are not any I can think of off the top of my head. Some devices are starting to turn into these. For example, the Gear 2 is it's own dedicated music player, with the songs stored on the device. You have to start somewhere.

OK, now for what the blog is legitimately about. Right now it looks like Android Wear is a complementary interface. That is fine for now, because for now, majority of wearables will be complementary.

There are two reasons that majority of devices are complementary so far:

  1. People don't want a second device. The problem with dedicated wearables is that people won't want to have to switch over from phone to watch, glasses, or whatever. 
  2. People don't want to have to pay for a dedicated wearable over a phone. Right now, wearables are pricey, for limited functionality. Manufacturers have mastered making phones. Phones are simple, easy to use and understand. Wearables are the distant future. As manufacturers make more of them, and the technologies get better, I do believe wearables will replace phones. But not soon.
Android Wear has to make sure that it is a great complementary interface. So far it looks good. But, at the same time, it has to plants the seeds for the time of dedicated wearables.


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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Why Google's Nexus line isn't taking over the world

I have seen the question on many an Android forums:

Why isn't the Nexus line popular?
They have so much going for them:

  • They are cheaper than most devices
  • They are more powerful than most devices
  • They are totally root friendly
  • They get all the new updates

So why aren't they taking over the world?
Short Answer: Google is trying to hard in the wrong areas

Long Answer: Here are two reasons. There are more but I am sleepy:

  1. Google doesn't market well enough. Minor rant ahead. Have you SEEN the Nexus 5 commercial? It's ATROCIOUS! Here it is  This ad showcases all the wrong things about the phone. If I didn't know a thing about this phone, I'd assume it had a good camera. Even if it did, that's not what Google should be marketing it as. Some sort of camera for those special moments. No, instead Google should be advertising it as a sort of revolution. Half the cost of an iPhone, the same if not better specs in every category. Made by Google (people have an inherent love of Google, but that's for a different, more positive blog post). Instead of "Made to capture the moments that matter," it should be something like "Twice as much for half the cost" or something, with the Beatles "Revolution" in the background. 
  2. Vanilla Android doesn't have enough pizzazz. Do you know why Samsung and Apple are doing so well? Gimmicks. Honestly. What makes people more excited? Option A: It has a fingerprint scanner, it can be dunked underwater, and record in slo-motion. OR Option B: It has 2 GB of RAM, it has a 2500 mAh battery, and it has a 8 Megapixel camera. That's right, for MAINSTREAM audiences, the answer is Option A. I understand that some of you may like Option B more, but the mainstream is what Google needs more of a dose of Nexus-wise. Samsung and Apple do a good job of making everything seem magical. For Google, it's: "Now you have native screen-recording support, yay."  
Thank you for reading teenTech. Please leave suggestions, comments, advice, or haiku's. Give me suggestions for my next post.