“Google has announced ‘Android Wear,’ a new extension of Android to power smart watches (it also realised some teaser renders of Motorola smart watches that are due for this summer). The Wear concept is that smart watches are remote touch displays for an Android smartphone,” Benedict Evans blogs. “In effect, the watch is a device for using Google Now and cards that apps on the phone send to it.”
“Now contrast this with the rumours of a new Apple ‘Healthbook’ app. I hate speculating upon Apple rumours, because they could come true next week, next year or never, but they provoke an interesting idea,” Evan writes. “Suppose, for the sake of argument, that Apple does indeed plan a health app that’s card-based, somewhat like Passbook. What would happen when you buy and turn on a blood pressure monitor that is certified for ‘Healthbook’? Well, one would expect that Apple would use the Bluetooth LE auto discovery that’s already in iOS7 to detect it automatically and tell you. And then, suppose it offers to install the Healthbook card to manage it (either from iTunes or from the device itself) – an HTML/Javascript package that runs in the Healthbook sandbox in some way. Suppose it does the same for any sensor you might buy? Then Apple has created a zero-setup platform for personal health devices. No apps, no native code, no app store, no configuration at all.”
Evan writes, “It seems to me that the key question this year is that now that the platform war is over, and Apple and Google won, what happens on top of those platforms? How do Apple and Google but also a bunch of other companies drive interaction models forward? I’ve said quite often that on mobile the internet is in a pre-Pagerank phase, lacking the ‘one good’ discovery mechanism that the desktop web had, but it’s also in a pre-Netscape phase, lacking one interaction model in the way that the web dominated the desktop internet for the last 20 years. Of course that doesn’t mean there’ll be one, but right now everything is wide open. This thought, incidentally, is one of the things that prompted this tweet.”
https://twitter.com/BenedictEvans/statuses/446071876956082176
Read more in the full article – highly recommended – here.
I’m sorry, but Google and Apple are going to have to do better than something that lets me know what’s happening on my phone. I can do that now by taking it out of my pocket.
I’ve been trying to come up with value for phone notification processing. Context filtering? I played around with “Area-Wide” notifications for emergencies http://youtu.be/O-YWMl7IS-g but a really useful case eludes me.
I want to see something wearable blow my mind, but I agree, it’s still too nebulous though.
When I’m in the office, my phone is usually in my hand or pocket when I’m not working or talking to someone. The only time I could possibly see using a watch for notifications is when I’m talking to someone, and then that’s just rude.
I’m struggling still for the appeal here besides using it for jogging or a health monitor; the latter which I could see bringing privacy problems as far as having a constant record of my vital signs as I get older tied to my health insurance.
But plenty of people are in situations where taking a phone out of a pocket is either impractical, like when driving, or proscribed, for security reasons; in fact, the company I work for don’t allow the use of mobile phones in certain departments, for security, as those areas handle cash, credit card details and personal information.
I can think of many places where someone would like to get information updates from their phone, without infringing on security requirements.
That stills seems a little fringe though. If these devices are ever produced where people are actually wearing them, its only a matter of time before they’ll get banned in the same places you describe.
“The company most likely to kill native apps is Apple”
What does that mean? And how does it relate to this uninsightful article that I just read?
I think what he is saying is that features in the operating system (such as Notifications, ANCS, sensors, etc.) will replace a lot of app functionality. Maybe with external devices. But not really sure.
Apple did a really good job of making mobile phones useful. It was so hard to get even a simple desktop computer function to work on them. Now it is effortless in comparison.
I imagine I’m washing dishes, and a watch showing me my notifications would save me time by showing what is and isn’t worth me drying my hands and getting my phone out.
Many people need hands-free operation. They just don’t realise it yet. Looks like Apple see another gap in the market.
I hate commenting upon the speculation upon Apple rumors but…
I can’t help it.