Tag: Android Wear

One of the most common questions that I get asked, both here on the site, as well as by friends and family has to do with the hardware and software I use every day.  It is a fair question and one that people ask out of both curiosity as well as doing a “stare and compare” with their own tech.

I’ve always said that you need to use the right technology that works for you.  That may be an Android Phone or an iPhone.  That may be a Windows PC or a MacBook Pro.  Whatever the technology, it has to get the job done for you and for me, this list of hardware and software, works for me.  I encourage readers to look into what I use to see if it fits their needs but at the end of the day, it is a personal use case as to whether it will or will not.

I’ve broken this article into two parts.  The first is the primary hardware that I use each day with the second focused on the apps that I use on them.  The apps could be on my phone, my tablet or my Chromebook and I’ll note that as I go along.  As for hardware, I’ll cover what I use every day as well as other devices I use from time-to-time.  You’ll note that very little of what I have is new and that’s on purpose.  I tend not to buy the latest and greatest because I, like most of you reading this, are looking for value in my purchases or I use things for a long time before replacing them.

A few weeks ago, I started wearing an Android Wear watch once again, the Ticwatch E.  I started wearing for the review of that watch but I quickly found that with the 2.x version of Wear, combined with solid hardware, that it was a great overall experience.  I’m a fan of this watch and I’m a fan of all that Android Wear, version 2.7 on my particular watch, has to offer me.

But as far as Wear as a platform has come, the app for Android is a horrible experience.  It may well be one of the most forgotten app that Google makes that is aimed at mainstream use by consumers.  It is a frustrating, half baked experience that Google needs to address if they have any hope of making the platform great.

Today’s Deal is on the well appointed MobvoiUS Ticwatch E Android Wear watch.  The 44mm round watch comes with Android Wear 2.0 and Nougat 7.1.1 and is available on Amazon for $127.99.  You can get that price on either the Shadow (black) or Ice (white) color options.  It is an excellent price point for a watch that is running the most current version of Android Wear.

Even better, the Ticwatch E is slated to receive the Android Oreo update shortly, making this an even more impressive value.

The 44mm watch face OLED display renders at 400×400 resolution which gives you ~287PPI.  The watch is 13.5mm thin, has a built-in heart rate monitor, GPS, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi connectivity, and is Bluetooth 4.1 compatible.  The watch is powered by the MTK MT2601 1.2 Ghz Dual Core processor, has 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage.

Last week I published a list of Android Wear watches that would be seeing the Android Oreo update.  At the time of that post, only a handful of watches had started to see the update being pushed down to them via an OTA.

What a difference a week makes.

Google has updated the list on their site and now 15 of the 30 watches slated to get the update how have it rolling out.  It is a very fast roll out for a big update like this.  Here are the Android Wear watches that now have Oreo coming to them via an OTA update:

• Fossil Q Venture
• LG Watch Sport
• Louis Vuitton Tambour
• Michael Kors Sofie
• Montblanc Summit
• Hugo BOSS BOSS Touch
• Movado Connect
• Tommy Hilfiger 24/7 You
• Guess Connect
• Gc Connect
• Fossil Q Founder 2.0
• Fossil Q Marshal
• Fossil Q Wander
• Michael Kors Access Bradshaw
• Michael Kors Access Dylan

As for those watches that are slated to get it but haven’t seen it yet, they are after the break.

For those of you who have an Android Wear 2.0 device, Android Oreo is coming to you.  Google has officially released the Oreo update for Wear, bringing with it several improvements and tweaks to the platform.  News of the release came from Googler Hoi Lam via Google+.

As for new features, here is the brief rundown:

• Notification vibration strength setting
• Touch lock option for wet conditions
• Support for 7 new countries / languages
• Notification channels
• Battery saving background limits

In other words, lots of the great features of Oreo now on your wrist.

One of the more popular and well designed Android Wear watches of the past couple of years has been the Huawei Watch.  The watch, which is still readily available, has outstanding specs, comes in a variety of styles and most of them were priced reasonably well (there are a few higher end luxury models too).  It seems fitting then that the Huawei Watch is one of the first watches already out there to get the Android Wear 2.0 update.  The update has started rolling out to owners and while it will take a few days (or even weeks) for everyone to get it, know that the update is coming and bringing all the new features of 2.0 with it.  It should be noted that the roll out is very limited right now and only a few people have reported seeing it.  The official statement from Huawei is that it will be out at the end of the month – but clearly it is either leaked or being rolled out slowly.

If you haven’t kept up, Wear 2.0 brings a lot of changes to the user experience, stand alone apps, Material Design, improvements in the use of Wi-Fi and sensors and Messaging.  It is a significant

update.