Google says that we glance at our smartphones 125 times per day, but wants Android Wear devices to take on much of that burden. During an I/O 2014 demo, it used LG's G Watch to show how Android Wear screens will display the most important info to you at any given time, like whether your flight is on time. Since all Wear devices will have touchscreens, you can swipe up on the watch face, Google Now-style, to see more cards with info like the weather, notifications, etc. Swiping sideways will then bring up additional info on a given card. Disposing of a card on the watch makes it disappear on your handset too.
You've also got voice commands, activated by -- you guessed it -- "Okay, Google." You can use it to set a reminder, or take voice notes that are automatically saved to Google Keep. You can also pose questions to the watch and get the answer in card form on both your wearable and phone screen. Swiping down from the top of the screen mutes or unmutes the sound on your watch, or lets you peek at settings like the battery life.
You can also control music with touch or voice controls, which will also turn the album art into a background screen. It'll also function as a sportsband, measuring the steps you've taken and your heart rate on supported devices.
All that comes with Android Wear out of the box, but Developers can also take a crack at it. For instance, any phone notification from say, Twitter or Facebook, can also be available on your wrist, along with voice replies and notification pages as we saw in an earlier preview. Another example flaunted by Mountain View was with Pinterest, which will notify you when you're near a pal's location, letting you swipe to see a map and step-by-step directions. All that's powered by Google Maps, which is baked into Android Wear.
Google showed off a few other third-part demos, ordering a pizza from the Moto 360 in about 20 seconds and displaying a step-by-step recipe from the Allthecooks app. Finally, it showed how you could use voice-recognition to call for a car with the upcoming Lyft wearable app. Google also noted that all Android Wear devices will be water-resistant.
The search giant saved the best news for last: the Android Wear SDK is now available for developers with most of the API features included. There's a payoff if you're champing at the bit to buy one, too. LG's G Watch is now available to order on the Play Store today and Samsung's newly announced watch, the Gear Live, is also up for pre-order. The much anticipated round-faced Moto 360, however, won't be coming until later this summer.
For more, check our Google I/O 2014 event hub right here.
Filed under: Wearables, Google
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