Wear update - June 2015 (1.1.1.1956917)

There have been a few announces about the latest Wear update, including the Android Developers blog and on Google+, but here's my experience.

I was notified about the update late last night, but you need 80% battery before it will install (which is a nice feature, my phone once ran out of battery during a particularly grueling Android update!) so I charged it overnight and installed the update this morning.

Everything went smoothly with the update, and then my apps all updated as well, no problems there.  So, the new features...

Wifi

This was off by default.  You can access the settings on your watch by scrolling down on the screen, then swiping left till you get to them.  Scroll down until you find "Wi-Fi settings" and click on it.  You can add networks, but it will always open up Android Wear on your phone in order to enter the network security key.  This is a seamless process, and I quickly added my home network.  Obviously this will only work on devices that have the physical wifi hardware, but my Moto 360 does.  If you go into the phone app settings, there's also an extra option for "Cloud sync" now (assuming you've updated the app as well) which will now sync data between your watch and phone via the wifi - I found this was on by default.

Gestures

This was also off by default.  You can access the settings in the same way as above - this time you're looking for "Wrist gestures".  This is a simple ON/OFF toggle, so click to switch it on.  You'll then get a few tutorial notifications, guiding you through.  It's really simple though, you flick your wrist away quickly then turn your wrist slowly back towards you to scroll down through notifications, and you turn your wrist away slowly then flick your wrist quickly back towards you to scroll up.

There's more to the update as well, but these are my favourite new features.

Aria - change to Deus Ex Aria

A few weeks ago I posted about the upcoming Aria gesture control device for smart watches.  Well now, for trademark reasons, it's being re-branded as the Deus Ex Aria.

After a bit of a delay sorting this out, they're now planning to launch the Kickstarted campaign on Thursday 18th June!  In an attempt to make this the biggest launch possible, they're also organising a Thunderclap.

If you've not heard of Thunderclap before, it's a site that allows you to sign up to a campaign, link your Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr, and then at a pre-determined time, your account will be hijacked to tweet/post an update.  The idea is to get enough people all tweeting/posting at the same time that the hashtags become trending.

In this case, the campaign is scheduled for Thursday 18th June - 12pm BST, with the message...

Deus Ex Aria on Kickstarter. Add #gesturecontrol to your SmartWatch! #Kickstarter #Pebble #AndroidWear http://thndr.it/1G5v6rC

Will you be signing up?

Aria - genius or gimmick?

Sorry, I've been quite quiet recently, working on a new project I'm rather excited about.  More on that in a future post though!

For now, I've just stumbled across Aria.  It's a small add-on that clips underneath your smartwatch band, on the underside of your wrist, and lets you control the device with finger gestures.  

It looks something like this...

It comes in a number of different colours, good for matching up with your watch band, and with a flexible link in the middle to try and match your wrist size.  It clips on to keep it in place, and is made with a silicone material to ensure a good and comfortable grip.

It connects to your smart watch via bluetooth, allowing you to access any feature you'd usually access through the touch screen, but using finger gestures that are then configured by the companion app.  

Here's an idea of how it works...

It all sounds rather interesting.  There are certainly times when I want to activate my watch and my fingers are greasy, such as when I'm cooking or eating, and this would certainly be useful.  But is it useful enough to deal with the extra size/weight of the device clipped to the watch strap, and another device to charge at night as well!

Apparently both a Moto 360 and a Pebble version of the device will be appearing on Kickstarter in the next few weeks, if you're interested enough to take a punt on these becoming a reality.