Although the Apple Watch is still in the very early phases of its planned movement across the wearables market, Google is getting ready to fight. A new set of updates to the Android Wear OS has been prepared, apparently to give Google a little bit of room to woo customers with its operating system and wearable before Apple takes up too much marketplace space. With competition this fraught, it will be very difficult to call the winner of this round of the wearables war. For now, the major issue for both companies will center around their ability to cement their brand as dominant, and the stakes are very high. Cashing in on this new gadget trend will likely be a part of both companies’ long-term strategies for their mobile brands.
The question is: What is each company offering right now? Well, in the run-up to the release of the Apple Watch, things are beginning to slide in Google‘s favor. Strong app support and convenient use is key in wearables.
Google‘s new update
It is hard to overestimate the role that features play in getting people to actually put on a smartwatch. Otherwise, what would the reason be for people to go out and buy one. Nobody’s work requires a wearable, no one has an upcoming upgrade for a wearable on their phone plan and there’s no idea that people without smartwatches are behind the times. But this could change. One way that it could is through usability. Phones are great, but they are also old-fashioned in a certain sense. People traded the capability to instantly look at the time as they would have on a watch to having to dig into their pockets to pull out their phone. This is a larger trade-off than most realize. A wrist flick is instant, and digging around in pockets can take a second. Also, you can leave a phone somewhere. Most watches aren’t regularly taken off.
“Strong app support and convenient use is key in wearables.”
In order to take advantage of the ease of use that watches provide, companies need to have features that work without navigating through menus and that let it function as an occasional phone replacement. That’s why Google‘s new features, including the “draw emoji” feature, the “twist” feature, top-level app list and always-on apps are so key for its success. The always-on app lets a user to decide a specific app to continually be displayed on the watch. This allows a user to simply look down to see important information – a map of the city, the time or even a to-do list. This could have profound ramifications for the customizability of the device.
Similarly, the wrist-flip feature allows users to twist their wrist to progress through Google Now cards. This takes advantage of the inherent functionality of a watch. One-handed operation on wrist watches means that users could potentially be holding something in both of their hands and still make use of their gadget. This presents an undeniable improvement compared to phone use, which always requires at least one hand and sometimes two.
What does the future hold for these watches?
Finally, Google‘s new smartwatch also features the ability to connect over the Internet to a user’s phone at home. This means that someone could walk out of the house without their phone and accept calls through their watch. This is the most interesting development because it allows users to embrace their watch as their truly mobile device and use the phone only at home. It is difficult to see at present whether or not this will actually take off, however.
Apple’s watch launches with competitive apps
One major feature of the Apple Watch is the relatively large stable of iOS apps available for it, compared to the Android watch. Some of the new applications designed for it seem to cater to the pairing of an iPhone and its watch more readily. For example, one app for the device allows users to check on the battery life of their smartphone without having to take it out of their pockets. The idea is that a user may cease checking their phone often enough to not be sure of its battery life. If that were the case, it would be difficult for them to take proper precautions.
This week will mark the first major skirmish between Apple and Google for smartwatch supremacy. The two technological giants have spent a large amount of time putting effort into their wearables’ designs, and Apple’s launch will give everyone an idea of how much to expect the public to buy these devices. Depending on the national response, Google and Apple execs could be drinking champagne and eating caviar or dining on a pauper’s meal.
The next couple of months will likely see the increasing adoption of wearables like smartwatches, but it is difficult to say what products will come out on top. Google and Apple seem to be moving forward in step with each other, but there’s always the option that a third party could come in and upset things. Pebble’s recent Kickstarter campaign proves that there is a market for device-agonistic smartwatches, which could make things very interesting for both groups. If something like the Pebble were to further pick up steam, the competition might switch from pushing out products to highlighting compatibility. Consumers interested in using these new phone-compatible smart watches will have their work cut out for them in the upcoming months no matter what.
