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Moto 360

moto360.motorola.com

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Re: Moto 360

#341

Post by MBCook »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #300
MBCook wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that eInk is relatively slow (I know the newer versions are much faster than the old 500ms ones) and can't do color (well).

Don't care. I would be ok with a watch without a second hand and the slight sub-second delay of eInk for displaying notifications. And a lack of color too. Especially if it meant that I got 10x the battery life (which it would).

Battery life is my immediate concern as well. Between the big 'gorgeous' display (it's only simulated, so hard to call) and the high frame rate interaction I wonder if this will end up being another Galaxy Gear that may only last 12 hours.

eInk has serious benefits, especially when it comes to battery life. I love my Kindle. I can see how something like the Pebble would be a nice watch and eInk's battery drain is probably a big part of what makes it work so well.

But if you want it to feel interactive with a nice touch screen for swipes, eInk isn't going to do it. Take that video but change all the animations to 5 fps... would it be an amazing watch or just feel like a product that was reaching too far?

Similarly, color is a nice add but it could go wrong. The only pictures of color eInk I've seen look much worse than cheap newsprint. At that point the color isn't adding much, it's just detracting.

Samsung supposedly has much better battery life on the Gear 2. Keeping the display off most of the time would definitely help too. I want to see a review of this. If it's half as cool as it looks in their promo I'll be quite impressed.

Re: Moto 360

#342

Post by MBCook »

radley wrote: post #69
martythemaniak wrote: post #23

I'm very impressed. When I saw the Google video, I thought the round watch was a photoshopped concept we may see in the future, but it's actually shipping in a few months. Also, is this the first mass-market device with a round screen? I'd be interested to see how the layouts work from a developer perspective. Whether relative or fixed, desktop, mobile or web, we're all so used to rectangular, grid based layouts.

It's still "simulated" which means Photoshopped / After Effects. I"m actually pretty nervous because there's no "simulated" disclaimer, yet these mock-ups are terribly rough: - fake / inconsistent lighting accents & bevel - screens in the photos are pixelated (looks like a screen-res quality source was rotated), yet the 3D model's screen is totally smooth suggesting 400 dpi or better - clip rotation angles are off -…

We'll see what the real one ends up like. iPhone screens (and the recent Galaxy S screens) look great in 'simulated' images, and look pretty amazing in real life.

On the other hand, I've seen a Galaxy Gear in person and the screen was not impressive. But I bet the 'simulated images' look pretty good.

Re: Moto 360

#343

Post by commandar »

tluyben2 wrote: post #266
mongol wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lenovo Carbon? Maybe it is bigger

I love how the X1 feels/looks, but 14 inch is too large. I find 13 inch actually on the big side. 10-12 inch for a laptop is what I consider perfect. But yes, good one; the X1 is a great machine. So we have one contender :)

The Lenovo Yoga line is pretty great in general. I've been eyeing them pretty hard recently.

Re: Moto 360

#344

Post by MBCook »

criswell wrote: post #320
awalton wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly what's wrong with the idea of smartwatches today. People want to do things like put websites on them. Why, why on earth do I need the web on my watch?

Why not if it can be done well? Also, I thought the same thing about my smart phone years ago.

How could you possibly put the web on a screen where my fingertip is big enough to cover up 25% of it at any moment?

This seems like one of those cases where less is definitely more.

Re: Moto 360

#345

Post by MBCook »

deong wrote: post #288
Yhippa wrote: post #2

Really cool stuff! From what it looks like this is a big departure from the previous Android smart watches that look like they jammed Android 1.0 on there. Two big concerns for me: 1) Battery life 2) Display visibility They go hand-in-hand for me. Get that nice high-res display but will it last me a day? For battery life it would be nice to have induction charging if it were to last about 8 hours (my personal guess).

> 2) Display visibility I can't decide whether this is genius or ludicrous, but on your phone, you can ask Google Now "What time is it" and get a spoken-word response. So presumably, you could wear a watch that you have to just ask for the time when you're outside. :)

That sounds dangerously close to the first digital watches. They used so much battery to drive the display you had to press a button to see the time.

Re: Moto 360

#346

Post by yohui »

zacharycohn wrote: post #242

Someone should teach Motorola that "I would like to receive product information from Motorola and confirm that I'm 16 years of age or older." is NOT what "opt in" means...

The whole point of entering your email address on that page is to "receive product information from Motorola". That's what signing up for updates on the Moto 360 is: asking to receive info on a Moto product.

Re: Moto 360

#347

Post by lemieux »

tluyben2 wrote: post #216
w1ntermute wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is more a fashion company than a tech company. Those who buy and use its products are primarily concerned with advertising the fact that they use Apple products - conspicuous consumption. It's no different from how Gucci or Prada owners make sure to prominently display the brand of their handbag when they are in public. It's a simple form of signaling your identity, that you belong to a particular group. This i…

I'll say it again; please advice me what non-Apple laptop to buy which can compete with my 11 inch Air. I tried many and all are more expensive than my 'status fashion Air' and they all feel/work like crap compared. Wobbly/shaky and expensive. But tell me what is better for the same price, I'll get one tomorrow and let's see if what kind of fashion we are talking about.

I must say that my Dell XPS 13 is a pretty good machine for development. I can take it anywhere without any problems. Sure it is 13", but I can go below 13".

On the plus side, it has a Ubuntu logo on it instead of that crappy Windows logo.

Re: Moto 360

#349

Post by awalton »

criswell wrote: post #320
awalton wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly what's wrong with the idea of smartwatches today. People want to do things like put websites on them. Why, why on earth do I need the web on my watch?

Why not if it can be done well? Also, I thought the same thing about my smart phone years ago.

If flying cars existed, I'd drive one. If pigs flied I'd never leave home without an umbrella.

If it could be done, maybe. But I do not think it can be done well. A watch's screen is maybe 2". It's designed to be glanced at and not stared at for extended periods of time.

I don't want a watch that has the Web. It fundamentally doesn't do what I want a watch to do.

Re: Moto 360

#350

Post by awalton »

rtpg wrote: post #322
awalton wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just really curious: Why does a watch need a touchscreen? What are you touching on your watch? Digital watches already have a wonderful UI: they're called "buttons", and they're located on the sides of the screen, so you can still see what you're doing while using the thing.

couldn't this argument be transposed to all touchscreen applications?

I think touchscreens are just fine when the screen is 4-5+". I think the argument for the utility of a touchscreen completely disappears at <2".
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