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Ask Slashdot: What Can I Really Do With a Smart Watch?
kwelch007 writes I commonly work in a clean-room (CR.) As such, I commonly need access to my smart-phone for various reasons while inside the CR...but, I commonly keep it in my front pocket INSIDE my clean-suit. Therefore, to get my phone out of my pocket, I have to leave the room, get my phone out of my pocket, and because I have a one track mind, commonly leave it sitting on a table or something in the CR, so I then have to either have someone bring it to me, or suit back up and go get it myself...a real pain. I have been looking in to getting a 'Smart Watch' (I'm preferential to Android, but I know Apple has similar smart-watches.) I would use a smart-watch as a convenient, easy to transport and access method to access basic communications (email alerts, text, weather maps, etc.) The problem I'm finding while researching these devices is, I'm not finding many apps. Sure, they can look like a nice digital watch, but I can spend $10 for that...not the several hundred or whatever to buy a smart-watch. What are some apps I can get? (don't care about platform, don't care if they're free) I just want to know what's the best out there, and what it can do? I couldn't care less about it being a watch...we have these things called clocks all over the place. I need various sorts of data access. I don't care if it has to pair with my smart-phone using Bluetooth or whatever, and it won't have to be a 100% solution...it would be more of a convenience that is worth the several hundred dollars to me. My phone will never be more than 5 feet away, it's just inconvenient to physically access it. Further, I am also a developer...what is the best platform to develop for these wearable devices on, and why? Maybe I could make my own apps? Is it worth waiting for the next generation of smart-watches?
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various sorts of data access
Part of writing a good ticket is being specific about your use case and not presupposing the solution. From what you've written, the problem is not technical and has nothing to do with a smart watch. The problem is you are forgetful.
If you can be specific about what you are actually doing with your phone, we can give you solutions that may or may not involve a smart watch.
Everything you buy today - especially things with software - will cause you grief - error codes, constant software updates, hacked, frozen and race conditions, and general frustration - so you have to ask yourself, is it worth it?
I'll second the Pebble. The latest update gives it most of the same abilities as Android Wear devices. It's nice being able to archive or spamify emails the second that I get them. You can setup tasker for automation. I also use Pushover and Pushbullet a ton. If one of my servers goes down, a backup fails, or I get a hack attempt noticed by fail2ban, I get notified at an instant. I live in a pretty cold climate and it's nice to be able to dismiss messages without digging my phone out through multiple layers and taking my gloves off to get to the notifications bar.
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
No, it's a place where tech people with realistic views of what tech can do and bring want to see the proof that it's worth their while.
I'm still waiting for the killer-app for a smartwatch. I want it to be a central hub of sorts for my personal electronics that anything and everything essentially tethers through, be it over bluetooth or some 802.11 variant, so that everything can have network connectivity. The watch itself shouldn't actually do much- make phone calls as a speakerphone or through a bluetooth headset, provide very rudimentary mapping and navigation, notify of text messages and maybe read text messages and e-mail via text-to-speech, and show task lists and calendar and stopwatch timer events.
Everything else, like having a nice handset for phone calls, or a really good dialer that can do advanced contact list editing, or web browsing, or any other enhanced feature should work on the tablet or other personal device on one's person.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Yeah, I've come to realize that slashdot really is just a place for old curmudgeony tech people who automatically hate all new tech...
"Hate" sure is overused this day and age. The word has lost all meaning.
It's more like bored, disinterested, and maybe a little annoyed.
My answer to "what can I really do with a smart watch?" is "Probably not get dates."
And of course, there's no downside to wearing multiple personal gadgets. It's really hip. Really. You'll be the talk of the Starbucks.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.