Android Wear智能手表操作系统评测

    16世纪怀表的出现，使钟表朝着如今为我们所熟知的腕表的发展方向迈出了重要一步。怀表的诞生有其实用需求的原因，因为它更加便携。但怀表很快成了一种身份的象征，只有社会名流或王公贵族才能佩戴得起。世界上第一款真正的腕表于1812年诞生，乃是瑞士宝玑公司（Breguet）的作品，它是为那不勒斯王后卡罗琳•穆拉特定做的（她是拿破仑的妹妹，也是一个钟表收藏家，六年里她一共从瑞士宝玑公司购买了34块钟表）。

    如今智能设备已经变得无处不在，不光是手机，就连咖啡机上都可以显示时间，因此手表再次变成了一种身份的象征。一块昂贵的手表可能象征着主人的典雅、高傲或传统，一块廉价的手表可能象征着主人的勤俭或谦卑。（大家不妨回忆一下2005年一桩轶事给美俄两国总统带来的口碑：当时俄罗斯总统普京戴了一块价值6000美元的百达翡丽（Patek Philippe）腕表，而美国总统小布什则戴了一块价格仅有50美元的天美时（Timex）手表。）这些都让我们不禁想到这样一个问题：随着计时设备的商业化，智能手表将扮演什么样的身份象征？抑或它将成为与身份无关的其它东西？

    所谓“智能手表”已经不再是一个全新的产品类别。如今，高通（Qualcomm）、Pebble和三星(Samsung)等公司都在生产具有创新意义的智能腕表。不过对于谷歌来说，智能手表对于安卓平台仍是一个全新的发展方向。谷歌（Google）于今年早些时候发布的Android Wear平台意味着它已经开始严肃看待可穿戴设备——就连新颖的谷歌眼镜项目都不曾享受过这种待遇。在今年六月的谷歌开发者大会上，谷歌宣布其头两款安装了Android Wear的手表正好将于美国时间7月7日开始发货。

    这两款智能手表分别是三星的Gear Live（售价199美元）和LG的G Watch（售价229美元）。实测一番之后，我们对谷歌寄希望于Android Wear实现什么样的目标也就大概有了初步的认识。（值得注意的是，谷歌严格限制厂商对Android Wear私自进行定制，因此这三星和LG的这两款设备的软件体验大同小异。为了行文方便，笔者仅用试用G Watch的体验来代表Android Wear的总体感觉。）

    要安装Android Wear，你必须首先将手表与一台至少安装了安卓4.3以上的设备（比如手机或平板电脑）进行配对。配对成功后，你的手机或平板电脑上的新的通知就能够通过手表显示出来。每当有新邮件、Twitter提醒或短信到来的时候，你的手表就会震动并显示消息，给人吓一跳的感觉。但是你只需要一两分钟的设置就可以调整它的报警声。（手机每次有新的通知，手表就会默认自动震动，但是Android Wear的原生应用允许你屏蔽若干应用的通知。）

    第一批智能手表可以说只是通讯的“单行道”。一只手表可以接收和显示手机上的通知，但要想回复的话就只能通过手机。之前Pebble公司为了给智能手表的互动功能铺平道路已经做了大量工作，而谷歌则明智地选择“接过Pebble的枪”。Android Wear的使用者可以通过手势翻动处理通知消息和互动。发现通过手表就可以直接对我的Email收件箱的内容进行归档以后，我获得了极大的满足感。

    In the 16th century, the clock took its first step into becoming what we now know as a wristwatch. The pocket watch was born from a practical desire for a more portable way of telling time, but it quickly became a status symbol, only to be worn by the influential or royal. Indeed, the first true wristwatch, an oblong 1812 invention by the Swiss watchmaker Breguet, was created for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples. (Napoleon’s youngest sister was somewhat of a collector: she purchased 34 timekeeping devices from Breguet in a six-year span.)

    In today’s world, where digital devices are ubiquitous and clocks are on everything from phones to coffeemakers, the watch is almost entirely a status symbol. An expensive watch can equally project elegance, arrogance, or convention, depending on one’s company; an inexpensive one can project humility or frugality. (Consider the narrative created when it was revealed in 2005 that Russian president Vladimir Putin wore $60,000 Patek Philippe and U.S. president George W. Bush wore a $50 Timex.) All of which prompts the questions: With the act of time-keeping commoditized, what kind of status symbol could a smart watch become? Or does it create another use case altogether?

    The “smart watch” is no longer a new product category. Today, Qualcomm QCOM -0.21% , Pebble, and Samsung all manufacture pioneering smart devices for the wrist. For Google, however, smart watches are an altogether new direction for its Android mobile operating system. The announcement of Android Wear earlier this year signaled that Google GOOG -0.42% was getting serious about wearable devices—serious in a way that the novel Glass project did not. At its developer conference in June, Google revealed that first two Android Wear watches would begin shipping—well, today.

    Those watches are the Samsung Gear Live, listed at $199, and LG’s G Watch, listed at $229. After testing, it is possible to get a sense of what Google is trying to accomplish with Android Wear. (It should be noted that Google severely limits what manufacturers can do to customize the operating system; as a result, both devices offer essentially the same software experience. For the purposes of this review, I consider my experience with the G Watch reflective of Android Wear in general.)

    To set up Android Wear, you must first pair the watch in question to an Android device (such as a phone or tablet) running version 4.3 or above of the operating system. (Check if your Android phone is compatible by visiting this page.) Once paired, the watch will begin displaying notifications from your phone or tablet—every single one. Jarring is the only word to describe the sudden sensation of an object on your wrist vibrating for every email, Twitter mention, or text message you receive, but once you remember that you’re in control, you can limit the onslaught of alerts within a minute or two. (As a rule, the watch will vibrate with every alert displayed on your phone, but the Android Wear companion app allows you to blacklist a specific app’s notifications from also showing up on your watch.)

    The first wave of smart watches were one-way streets of communication: a connected watch would receive and display an alert to which you could only respond using your phone. Pebble did a tremendous job laying the ground work for further interaction; Google has wisely decided to pick up where it left off. With a series of touch gestures, the Android Wear wearer can scroll through alerts and interact. I’m not ashamed to say that I found immense satisfaction in my newfound ability to discretely manage my inbox by archiving emails directly from my watch.