There won’t be any big new Android Wear smartwatches this year
Wearables may not be the next big thing after all.
LG, Lenovo, and Huawei aren’t going to release new Android Wear smartwatches in 2016, according to CNET, which seems to imply they are in no hurry to put out new hardware, as consumer demand might not be so demanding.
When Apple introduced the Apple Watch last week, it became clear the company was no longer positioning the wearable as a fashion accessory but rather a fitness device, likely because consumers are more interested in buying fitness bands (cheap ones, specifically). Three out of four wearable devices worn in the US are fitness bands, over half of which are affordable products made by Fitbit.
- Apple Watch Series 2 review: Fitness first
That statistic comes from a Kantar Worldpanel ComTech’s May 2016 wearable report, while a more recent report from research firm CCS Insight also found that consumers would rather spend their money on inexpensive fitness bands. It’s therefore no surprise to hear three of the biggest Android Wear manufacturers have no plans to release new, pricey smartwatches this year.
Keep in mind these companies usually announce new products at the annual IFA show in Berlin, but none of them did in 2016. We didn’t see a third-generation Moto 360, nor did we see a new Huawei Watch. CNET suggested Android Wear partners are reluctant to release new hardware because of a lack of consumer interest and the inability to attract the average consumer.
For instance, Samsung told CNET most smartwatch consumers are male early adopters. Also, the inability to add LTE radios could be hindering manufacturers. While they could technically include LTE radios, they’d be giving up battery life gains, and their Android Wear products would be even more heftier than they already are, which is like going backwards in tech innovation.
Google is expected to unleash Android Wear 2.0 this autumn, so it’ll be interesting to see how it launches that update, especially with no new smartwatches coming out to run it. Although Google is rumoured to be developing a Nexus smartwatch, it still doesn’t look good that the only new product showcasing the software would be a Google-made product.
It looks like Android Wear partners need some encouragement to innovate.
New Microsoft Band device won’t debut this year and maybe never will
Amid reports that Android Wear partners aren’t releasing any new hardware this year, it now looks like Microsoft won’t update its line of Band fitness devices in 2016 either.
According to ZDNet, the Microsoft Band 2 might even be the last Band ever released, though the Microsoft Health service backing the fitness device will continue to be supported. Microsoft even released a statement saying it will continue to invest and innovate in the Microsoft Health, and it admitted plans to continue selling Microsoft Band 2 but stopped short of confirming whether a Band 3 is coming.
Microsoft apparently has no plans to release a new Band this calendar year, and it recently dissolved the team that was working on getting Band to run Windows 10. Plus, Microsoft has been grappling with Band 2 quality issues (some skins have been splitting) and ended up giving it a $75 price cut. Microsoft could always release a Band 3 running firmware in the future, though ZDNet has its doubts.
Keep ind mind CNET has reported that LG, Lenovo, and Huawei aren’t going to release new Android Wear smartwatches in 2017, and it suggested Android Wear partners are reluctant to release new hardware due to a lack of consumer interest and the inability to attract the average consumer. For instance, Samsung told CNET most smartwatch consumers are male early adopters.
Microsoft launched the Band 2 on 6 October. It includes a barometer sensor, onboard GPS, heart-rate monitoring, tracking for running, biking, golfing, cycling, etc, and the ability to work with Windows Phone, Android, and iPhone.
Google commits to zero-waste data centers
So much of the world runs on Google, be it Docs, Gmail, YouTube or just search. But few of us know that much of what keeps the whole thing chugging along is the company’s data centers, located all around the globe. And, as you might expect, it takes a lot of power and resources to do all that data churn, which is potentially quite wasteful. Thankfully, however, the search giant has committed to a new initiative called Zero Waste to Landfills so that all of the waste from those data centers will be reused or diverted to a more sustainable route.
Already, six of Google’s data centers have achieved a 100 percent diversion rate, and globally about 86 percent of the waste is being treated sustainably. According to the company, its data center in Mayes County, Oklahoma was the first to achieve the Zero Waste to Landfill goal. Google was able to do this by finding projects that do double duty, extend the life of existing infrastructure and adapting to the ever-changing world of waste operations. For example, around 52 percent of components in machine upgrades in 2015 were refurbished.
Google’s sustainability efforts doesn’t just stop at its servers either. According to Jim Miller, vice president of global operations at Google, the company is also trying a zero waste approach to food served in its kitchens too, such as serving baked goods made with the discarded parts of a coffee plant. “It is certainly a challenge to change in the way we make things and use them, but it’s not impossible,” says Miller in a blog post.
Of course, Google is not the only Silicon Valley company making a commitment to a greener planet. Apple has reported that all of its data centers around the world already run on 100 percent clean energy, and it also has a goal of 100 percent renewable energy across its offices. 93 percent of its energy in 2015 came from renewable energy, from initiatives such as a 32-megawatt solar project spread across its Singapore facilities.
Source: Google (1), (2)
Google will resize email to fit your phone’s screen
Sure, you can open elaborately-crafted email using Gmail on your phone, but that doesn’t mean you want to. Most web-based messages are formatted for the desktop, and Gmail doesn’t tweak them to fit the confines of a mobile screen. Mercifully, you won’t have to squint quite so much in the days ahead: Google is introducing support for responsive design in Gmail before the end of September. If a message supports the adaptive technology, Google’s email app will automatically resize it to help you read the contents and tap links. You won’t notice the upgrade with every message, but it should give you more incentive to deal with a message right away instead of waiting until you’re at your computer.
Source: Official Gmail Blog
CBS delays streaming ‘Star Trek’ debut until May 2017
CBS said its new Star Trek series would debut in January, but since it’s September and we still haven’t even heard about the cast, that date seemed to be in doubt. Today CBS confirmed a delay, essentially swapping debut windows between Star Trek: Discovery and its upcoming spinoff of The Good Wife, which will both be available exclusively in the US on the streaming CBS All Access service (outside the US and Canada, it will be on Netflix).
Star Trek: Discovery will launch in May 2017, while the new The Good Wife show will launch with a CBS TV broadcast in January, before jumping to All Access streaming. There’s also a new streaming edition of Big Brother called Over the Top that will launch on September 28th.
Executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Bryan Fuller said in a statement that “We aim to dream big and deliver, and that means making sure the demands of physical and post-production for a show that takes place entirely in space, and the need to meet an air date, don’t result in compromised quality. Before heading into production, we evaluated these realities with our partners at CBS and they agreed: Star Trek deserves the very best, and these extra few months will help us achieve a vision we can all be proud of.”
If it aims to convince more skeptical viewers to sign up — and maybe grab that $4 commercial-free option — a delay to make sure everything is working could be a good idea.
Source: CBS
Apple Hires Former Time Warner Cable Exec for Cloud Services Team
Former Time Warner Cable executive Peter Stern has joined Apple to work on the cloud services team, reports The Wall Street Journal. Stern will serve as a vice president, reporting to iTunes chief Eddy Cue.
During his tenure at Time Warner Cable, Stern was involved in talks with Apple about a potential deal for a joint television service that would be offered on the Apple TV. No such deal was able to be established, however, as Apple has had ongoing negotiation difficulties with content providers. Stern left Time Warner Cable following its acquisition by Charter Communications earlier this year.
He served in senior strategy and corporate development roles at the cable company as it maneuvered through multiple takeover attempts over the past few years.
Most recently, as chief product, people and strategy officer, Mr. Stern helped implement a strategy focused on customer service that helped Time Warner Cable grow its cable TV subscribers last year after nearly a decade of losses.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Stern is a vocal proponent for eliminating proprietary cable boxes provided by cable companies. He believes content providers should “be more open” to offering TV channels as apps across a wide range of devices.
Given his expertise in the cable industry, Stern may help Eddy Cue negotiate deals with media companies for a future television service. Cloud services also encompasses Apple Music, iTunes, and other iCloud-based products, so his hiring does not necessarily suggest a renewed interest in television streaming.
Tags: Eddy Cue, iCloud
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Messages in iOS 10: How to Use Digital Touch
In iOS 10, the Messages app is gaining Digital Touch, a communication feature that was previously limited to watchOS. With Digital Touch, you can send friends and family drawings, heartbeats, fireballs, kisses, and more, all with just a few taps.
Sketches, taps, and other Digital Touch messages created on your iPhone are also viewable on the Apple Watch and vice versa, giving you plenty of ways to express yourself. Here’s how to use the new feature.
Accessing Digital Touch
Open the Messages app.
Open an existing conversation or start a new one.
Tap the icon that looks like two fingers over a heart.
Tap on the arrow on the right hand side to expand the Digital Touch window.
You can send taps and drawings by using the smaller Digital Touch interface that replaces the keyboard, but there’s more screen real estate to work with when it’s expanded to the size of the full iPhone display.
The Digital Touch interface supports several tap-based gestures to send various taps and icons, plus it allows for drawing with a finger and annotating short videos with the included video tool.
Drawing
To draw with Digital Touch, just start sketching in the black Digital Touch box, visible both in standard view mode and full screen mode. When using the standard view, tap the small circle on the left side of the screen to see the different color options. In full screen mode, the colors are all available at the top.
TIP: To access custom colors, long press on any of the color swatches. It’ll bring up a color wheel with custom color options for more personalized drawings.
On the Apple Watch, Digital Touch drawings are sent as soon as your finger is removed from the screen for a few seconds, but on the iPhone and the iPad, you can take your time because drawings aren’t sent until you tap the send arrow.
The person who receives your Digital Touch drawing will see it drawn out in real time, just as you sketched it. If you make a flower, for example, it’ll play like a video, showing each petal drawn in succession.
When you receive a Digital Touch drawing in Messages, tap it and you can see it full screen.
Annotating Photos and Videos
A Digital Touch feature unique to the iPhone and the iPad is the ability to snap photos or record short 10 second videos that can be annotated using Digital Touch sketching tools. Here’s how:
In the Digital Touch interface, tap on the Camera icon.
Choose the front-facing or rear-facing camera by pressing the smaller camera icon on the bottom right of the screen. The front-facing camera is the default.
Tap the red button to start recording. While the video is recording, you can use the Digital Touch tools to draw on top of it.
Alternatively, if you want to draw on the screen before you start recording, simple start sketching with a finger. When finished, tap record and your video will record with your drawing on top.
To take a photo, press the white button instead of the red button, and then draw on top of it as you would for a video.
In addition to drawing on photos and videos, use tap gestures to add taps, heartbeats, kisses, and more.
Press the blue arrow to send your finished photo or video.
Taps, Kisses, and Heartbeats
There are several different Digital Touch gestures, each with a different effect. You can send kisses, heartbeats, taps, fireballs, and more. Below is a list of the gestures and their effects.
- Single finger on the screen – Starts a drawing.
- Single finger tap – Sends circular “taps” in the selected color. One tap sends one circle, and you can send multiples.
- Single finger press – Sends a fireball. Hold down longer for a longer lasting fireball animation.
- Two finger tap – Sends a kiss. Tap multiple times to send multiple kisses.
- Two finger tap and hold – Sends a beating heart.
- Two finger tap and hold, then a downward drag – Sends a heart that beats and then breaks in two.
Sending Digital Touch content can only be done on an iPhone running iOS 10 or an Apple Watch running watchOS 2 or 3, but it can be viewed on iOS devices running older versions of the operating system and on Macs in the Mac Messages app.
You can combine all of the photo, sketching, and gesture tools in Digital Touch to create unique multimedia messages to share with friends and family and make communicating more fun.
As a side note, Digital Touch messages are temporary. They will be deleted after a few minutes unless you tap on “Keep” in the messages window to permanently save them.
Related Roundup: iOS 10
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Best Buy Delays Apple Watch Series 2 Shipments, Offers $50 Promo Code as Compensation
Many customers who pre-ordered the Apple Watch Series 2 from Best Buy will not be receiving their new devices on launch day, according to emails the company sent out this evening.
During pre-orders that took place on Friday, September 9, Best Buy listed a Friday, September 16 delivery date, leading customers to believe they would receive their devices on launch day. Instead, Best Buy won’t be shipping out orders until 9/28, nearly two weeks later.
To compensate pre-order customers who are facing delays, Best Buy has included a promo code for a $50 discount on a future Best Buy purchase in each email, which must be used by October 14, 2016. That will get pre-order customers an extra Sport Band or another Apple Watch accessory.
Customers affected have ordered a wide range of Apple Watch Series 2 models, including the stainless steel Apple Watch with White Sport Band and various Sport configurations.
Apple Watch Series 2 supplies were constrained from the moment Apple’s pre-orders started, with shipping estimates on many models slipping within a matter of minutes, so it is no surprise Best Buy has been forced to delay its own shipments. Most Apple Watch Series 2 models placed today won’t ship from Apple for 3 to 5 weeks, and Best Buy now lists all Series 2 watches as “Coming Soon.”
Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 2, watchOS 3
Tag: Best Buy
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
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