Be Excellent To Each Other

Maybe you can ask Grim...'s Google insider.

Conspiracy theory of the day #76

Google held back the releases of the moto360 so as to get some sales of the other smartwatches available on the play store, as they know that when the 360 is released it will destroy the others in terms of sales.

http://www.droid-life.com/2014/06/25/io ... gear-live/

70% of 11000 android geeks polled, are waiting for the Moto 360. 12% are buying either of the LG or Samsung.

Me too.

I hope the $400 rumour turns out to be wrong

They'd be crazy if they aren't true after that poll.

I've seen my boss try to hold a conversation with his watch. He looks like a bellend.

\
KITT! Remind me to fire Craster in the morning.

Are the two sentences related?

Obviously not, or he'd have used a semicolon.

September 4th is the next rumoured Moto 360 release date announcement. How soon after that date that they will actually be for sale though...

That's not summer. Lying cunts.

We were talking about Google Glass in the office the other day (I had a copy of PC Pro with me that had a front page story about it), and we all agreed that if we had anyone stood in front of us wearing GG we'd just flat out refuse to say a fucking word to them until they took it off, turned it off, and put it in their pocket.

Creepy shit. No wonder out in the States they're getting banned from many places.

What do you think it does?

It can record things!

So can your Nexus 5.

Why would someone spend £1000 on a highly visible device that can do a crappy job of recording you secretly when they could spend £8 on a hidden camera you'd never notice instead?

Nexus 5 (or similar) - To record video it has to be pointing at what you want to record, (i.e. a 'traditional' camera scenario which everyone has understood ever since photography was invented), I agree it could record audio surreptitiously but then you're using it as a secret device which is a different scenario and betrays the trust of those around you.

Hidden Camera - Like using the Nexus to secretly record audio, hidden device that is already secretive and snidey. There's nothing you can do about that and the person who deployed it is also betraying trust.

Google Glass - By definition it's pointing at everything the owner is, all the time. It's creepy.

It's the 'always on' nature of GG that we all found a bit discomfiting and weird, and we all agreed we really wouldn't like to see them start popping up in the office, or indeed anywhere else. (Which might seem odd, as we're a tech department.)

It's like that episode of Black Mirror where they've all got that 'grain' thing implanted which records everything all the time. (I know GG doesn't do that, yet.)

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/blac ... /49114-003

Google Glass isn't always on. It only has about 1.5-2 hours of battery life for continuous use, so it wouldn't be much use if it was.

And there are (sadly) plenty of examples of people using cell phones to surreptitiously record people in public. Google for "creepshots" if you must.

I appreciate that but we were talking about the concept of the thing as much as the actual device as it stands at this moment in time, because the technology will obviously improve. (PC Pro were very clear on its myriad limitations.)

It was the concept of even a substantial minority of people walking around with such a device strapped to their heads that was capable of recording everything that the wearer was seeing and hearing that we didn't like.

We're a pretty tight-knit team, (there are six of us including a line manager when we're all in), and we were all agreed that if one of us were sat there wearing a GG, it would make us uncomfortable to the extent that we'd be like, 'Please take that thing off your head'.

Surely GG would be banned in the office for fear of recording and dissertation of corporate secrets. No photos are allowed in my office.

The Moto 360 has been released!

... and the battery life appears to be terrible Won't even last a day apparently...

http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/5/610894 ... 360-review

That's a shame, the opening paragraphs of that review actually managed to rekindle my interest in smart watches...before killing it stone dead again with the comments about a 12 hour battery life. That's no use at all, I'll be waiting for at least the second wave of hardware then it seems.

I am crushingly disappointed. I thought this was going to be ace.

Semi-interested to see what the Apple one is like. If it works with the iPhone 5 I may hold off on getting a new phone and get that instead.

Let AnandTech put it through its paces before coming to any conclusions.

It is disappointing though - and it's irritating that it's out in the States today but not here until next month.

they need to figure out how to make the battery last the trip.

http://www.motorola.com/us/accessories- ... c=&cm_mmd=

The moto hint is quite interesting. I especially like the carry case which has its own battery pack built in, to let you charge the device multiple times from one charge.

http://www.reddit.com/r/moto360/comment ... real_time/

Dude tracks battery usage properly. Quite interesting.

I expect I'll do my usual at some point and buy one from ebay, try it, then flog it on after a week...

There appears to be something weird going on with the battery life of the 360. Multiple people saying it's dead after 10 hours with moderate use, but also multiple people saying they still have around 50% battery left at that point with a similar usage pattern.

Could be a setting that is different, or the phone they are connecting to, or its being used in an area with a lot of other Bluetooth connections, or even a dodgy batch of watches.

Yeah I saw that, and that's part of what has sparked the "mine isn't anywhere close to as bad as that" debate on reddit.

They clearly explain that's not a actual use case (it just a comparison thing), so it's not surprising.

True, but it was just the spark. This is the thread.

http://www.reddit.com/r/moto360/comment ... ly_inside/

With a few comments like this in it:
"This is my first day with mine and so far I've gotten about 100 alerts today, messed around with music controls and navigated for about 15 mins, used the voice controls a few times and right now I'm sitting at 35% at 11 hours use."
Which doesn't tally with comments like this:
"I have no idea how you are getting that kind of battery life. Just doing normal shit I get maybe 10 hours. No ambient screen. And I'm not even messing with it a lot. As someone who came from a pebble I don't feel the need to mess with it a ton. What exactly are your settings?"

It's all a bit weird. I'm sure it will all clear up before it's released in the UK anyway, as to whether it is actually a useable amount of battery.

HP are about to launch one. You can register for interest.

What choices of strap are there? Brown, red and barbecue?

Nom nom

Do we register with you, or..?

Store.hp.com. I think.

I googled hp smart watch

Would rather gargle Craster's spunk.

You say that about everything, though.

http://gizmodo.com/moto-360-battery-lif ... 1631839974

More reports of the battery actually being "ok"

So, Apple Watch. Am I alone in thinking it's pretty ugly?

No.

It looks like an iPad nano with a strap attached to it!
And whats the point in the dial thing?

Heh, i posted the same on twitter. It'll live and die by the app integration, it's just shame to get the apps you need to have the ugly, expensive, useless scrollwheeled for right handed wearing, watch to go with them.

Have they announced a price for it yet?

[Edit] from someone commenting on the show while they are there: "It will cost $349 (ouch) and will be available from early 2015"
So... probably about £300-350 here then?

Works with the 5, so I don't have to get a new phone. I'm making money here.

I actually think it looks quite nice. Well, some of them. There's a lot of different bands and finishes.

http://www.apple.com/uk/watch/design/

Not to be bought by anyone with trypophobia

After seeing the Moto, I disagree with any watch device that displays its watch credentials with a round clockface on a square screen.

Anyway, I'm waiting for the Surface Watch. Announced in 3 years, released in 4. If they get moving quickly.