You should try the newly revised (also yesterday!) iOS app and see if this is still the case. Looking at the online help pages it doesn't seem to be. Plus the new Android Hangouts eliminated a few more G+ requirements... basic chat hasn't required it for ages.The problem I have with Google Hangout on iOS is the Google+ requirement. Mandatory Google+ sign up in order to use Hangout app is a deal killer for me. I know that's not a problem for most people but I'm weird that way.
I got rid of my Note II and 3, just too big for my tastes.
To not have to carry around, sure it's nice...
The 4.7" size is nice but it should have been 1920x1080. That's the standard. 2560x1440 is the flagship resolution for the bigger devices. Is it a sham? Sure it is but 1080P in a flagship phone is so 2013...
And no IR blaster? What about mSD slot? On the 5.5 they should have both.
I don't know it seems AAPL is really falling behind the competition. Even sub 1k ultrabooks have 3200x1800 displays besting the retina displays.
The watch is neat but if it's locked down (no jailbreak) that would be disappointing. I can think of a lot of things that it could be used for. Battery life isn't going to be great though. For a gen1 product it looks well executed.
The 5.5 looks frail given its thickness. Lots of people gonna be surprised (and mad) after getting up with it in their back pockets!
My primary office is a cellular black hole. I get zero reception so SMS and calls to my phone are almost always delayed. Going back to iOS gives me at least integrated iMessage so I can still text my wife and a couple friends easily over wifi. And with built in wifi calling I might actually be able to make phone calls too
That's actually pretty disappointing on Verizon's part. I have signal throughout my apartment, but it goes from 3 dots to 1 dot. The prior is fine, but I am not keen on making calls with 1 dot. Although, according to this article, Verizon has VoLTE (Voice over LTE) coming very soon.Verizon Wireless said it had no plans for Wi-Fi calling, insisting that its cellular coverage was sufficient. AT&T said it plans to offer the feature, but gave no time line. Sprint couldn't be reached for comment on its plans.
The 4.7" size is nice but it should have been 1920x1080. That's the standard. 2560x1440 is the flagship resolution for the bigger devices. Is it a sham? Sure it is but 1080P in a flagship phone is so 2013...
Keep in mind that Wi-Fi calling requires carrier support. During the keynote, Apple mentioned that only a few UK carriers. From a Google search, I found that T-Mobile has stated that they will support Wi-Fi calling, but as for the other carriers, I found this in a CNET article:
T-Mobile has *always* supported wifi calling. This just brings it to a second platform from Android. (Actually, maybe WP has it too.)From a Google search, I found that T-Mobile has stated that they will support Wi-Fi calling
Ah damn. So it's not a skype like VOIP? Here I was thinking it would be basically a voice only function of Facetime.
You should try the newly revised (also yesterday!) iOS app and see if this is still the case. Looking at the online help pages it doesn't seem to be. Plus the new Android Hangouts eliminated a few more G+ requirements... basic chat hasn't required it for ages.
Not too surprised. I don't think Android Wear is inherently inefficient in battery, although there can be SOME tweaks to make it better, so right now its really 1 day and maybe if we put in some heavy tweaks, you can get close to 2. For those expecting a week, you were dreaming. Didn't people think the Moto 360 was gonna last a week too?Looks like we got confirmation that the Apple Watch will have to be charged on a daily basis. I don't know why anyone thought differently, with current technology, it's not possible to go that long without charging.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/11/6134813/apple-watch-battery-life
Don't you still need iTunes on PC to watch movies and TV shows you've purchased on iPhones/iPads?Yeah I never use iTunes anymore either. Well except for the iTunes app on the phone..
Looks like we got confirmation that the Apple Watch will have to be charged on a daily basis. I don't know why anyone thought differently, with current technology, it's not possible to go that long without charging.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/11/6134813/apple-watch-battery-life
I highly doubt a product that doesn't make it til the end of the day would be launched. They wouldn't allow something that goes half day only.That was probably a given, but the important question is whether or not it will be able to make it to the end of the day. If it's almost dead by the middle of the afternoon that's an even bigger problem.
I highly doubt a product that doesn't make it til the end of the day would be launched. They wouldn't allow something that goes half day only.
But that's then a user issue. If you want to spend all day on your phone like you do your computer, it'll die by lunchtime.The problem I foresee is that by including a lot of unnecessary things in their watch, people are going to be spending so much time fiddling with it that they'll drain the battery quickly.
Smartwatches aren't meant to be excessively fiddled with, otherwise you should just use your phone. Their main purpose should be to decrease our time spent staring at screens. Android Wear does a good job of that.
But that's then a user issue. If you want to spend all day on your phone like you do your computer, it'll die by lunchtime.
The Apple Watch will work fine doing the same things as Android Wear minus Google Now. It should be able to mirror notifications just fine and allow you to quickly reply. I don't see why we should limit ourselves to only replying to a text and not being able to look back at a conversation. In the end its up to the user to figure out if its reaosnable to spend half a day fiddling with your wrist, just like it is up to the user to figure out if its worth making your Powerpoint presentation on your phone and writing your PhD dissertation on your phone. It can be done, but most people choose not to. But that doesn't mean we cut off that functionality.
Plus, it's not like they're making a scaled down Facebook or whatever. The interface will be made to suit the watch so you can get a quick glimpse at stuff. Maybe you're just taking a 30 second elevator ride. Its nice to get a quick glimpse.
It'll be hard to make a watch last all day if people fiddle, but for now I think for the sake of apples to apples, it probably makes sense to compare against Android wear in just a typical light use notification mirroring and some quick reply scenarios.
I would be more concerned if Apple was just throwing the kitchen sink in like Samsung did with its early watches and not offering a what Android Wear has. The way I see it right now is they've covered everything Android Wear has covered and will have more.
Throwing the kitchen sink is the exact impression I got from Apple though. They showed us a shrunken phone on your wrist. The only thing they didn't take from the first Gear was picture taking.
Yeah but you can throw in the kitchen sink if you do it well right? And honestly its not like the kitchen sink. I don't get the feeling of a bunch of unpolished features getting thrown in there like during the Galaxy S4 launch event or any gimmicky features. TBH the demo made sense.Throwing the kitchen sink is the exact impression I got from Apple though. They showed us a shrunken phone on your wrist. The only thing they didn't take from the first Gear was picture taking.
Smart watches need to look like this.
How the Apple Watch would look with a round face
http://www.cnet.com/news/how-the-apple-watch-would-look-with-a-round-face/
I understand, so many people want a traditional looking smart watch but with all the things they are cramming into them, it's easier to develop apps and such for a rectangular screen. I also agree they have not matured well and time will tell how it will or won't change.A round screen is nice for displaying an analog-style clock, but it sucks for almost everything else. If you aren't displaying virtual watch hands, then the round screen offers no real advantage.
If you're displaying text, either you make it square and waste a bunch of your round display, or you allow the text to flow to fit the curvature of the screen and make it less readable. The same goes for images where either you shrink the image down so it fits squarely, or you let it take up the entire screen and lop the corners off of what you can see.
Much like how modern smart phones have really placed the phone functionality of the phone as a non-central aspect of the device (it's just another feature) these new watches are going to have capabilities that make telling the time one of the least important parts of the device. The only reason to have a round screen is because watches are traditionally round. Beyond that, square is better in practically every regard.
I think as time goes on these products will evolve away from being watches and start to resemble something like a Pip-Boy from Fallout. In much the same way that phones become larger and larger, I think that these devices will trend in that direction as well, possibly until some of them come to resemble a phone strapped to a person's wrist.
Smart watches need to look like this.
How the Apple Watch would look with a round face
http://www.cnet.com/news/how-the-apple-watch-would-look-with-a-round-face/
I have no idea how people are going to send text messages through that little watch screen.
Lastly, is it possible someone might come up with platform agnostic NFC payment method? Apple really should have made their NFC payment compatible with Android, but being Apple they didn't.