Android Wear智能手表操作系统评测

    但是Android Wear也并非没有瑕疵。它的通知管理在某些地方做得仍然不足，比如不支持谷歌的通讯工具Hangouts。另外还有不少小问题，比如当你回复了一条信息之后，通知就应该自动消失，但是Android Wear上的通知却不会自动消失，而是要等你去手动清除它。另外有些第三方应用的回复栏上面会显示出一个绿色的复选框，而不是通常的输入界面。

    除了触摸输入之外，Android Wear也支持谷歌的语音识别软件。我很高兴地发现，只需要很短的时间，它就可以识别出“OK谷歌，7分钟后提醒我给牛排翻一下面”这样复杂的指令。语音指令同样可以用在搜索、撰写邮件或短信、定闹钟甚至是在Lyft网站上打车——只要你像蝙蝠侠一样很酷地说一声：“OK谷歌，给我叫辆车。”

    在实测过程中，Android Wear的语音指令大多数时候可以毫无问题地运行。（只有一个例外：当我在一个有很多“熊孩子”大喊大叫的屋子里时，机器无法识别我发出的“OK谷歌”的启动指令。虽然我可能是当代的“糊涂侦探”，但我却没有一个隔音区。）我常常只要一抬手腕，就能设置一些项目或者发送一些文字。最妙的是这些在10秒钟之内就能完成（你可以试试看在智能手机上需要多长时间）。

    我要坦白，当我第一次发现有人盯着我对一块手表喃喃自语的时候，我感觉非常尴尬，但是后来我克服了这种尴尬感。相比之下，我上次试用谷歌眼镜就没有过去这个“心理关”。

    由于安卓开发者们给谷歌Play Store里的很多现有应用也添加了Android Wear功能，因此使这款智能手表平添了许多新的能力，也使Android Wear在目前市场上智能手表产品中一枝独秀。比如达美航空公司（Delta Airlines）出品的Fly Delta应用就包含了一个Android Wear版，一旦你把智能手表与手机进行配对，Wear版的应用就会自动安装，然后你就可以将腕表的屏幕当成登机牌来使用。（至于航空运输管理局的安检人员是否认可这张“登机牌”，那就是另外一回事了。）从我本人来说，我希望星巴克（Starbucks）也能早日推出相应的Android Wear应用，这样我就可以在智能手表上显示我的会员卡条形码来进行快速支付了。

    再回到前文提到的身份象征问题。智能手表是否成为一种身份的象征？虽然这也不是谷歌的错，但是搭载Android Wear的第一批智能手表缺乏具有吸引力的外观，恐怕暂时难以取代传统手表。LG的G Watch看起来就像一个黑色的塑料方块，三星的智能手表则饰以银色塑料边框。这样看来，这两款手表的硬件设计显然是让位于软件和服务了。就这一点，我要给个差评。（外观更好看的摩托罗拉Moto 360智能腕表将在今年夏天上市。而传言已久的苹果iWatch据悉要等到九月份才能与消费者见面。）

    但是，它们的确是在朝着正确的方向发展。智能手表需要提高的方面还有很多。虽然对于生产厂家来说，他们面临的风险与16世纪生产怀表的厂商可能无法同日而语，但有一点毫无疑问，他们将改变我们的生活方式。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    It’s not all hunky dory. Notification management falls short in some areas, particularly for Hangouts, Google’s communication tool. The quibbles are small but frequent: for example, it makes sense for a notification to disappear after you reply to a message, yet it persists until you manually clear it. And third-party apps that allow you to reply display a green check mark upon the selection of that option, rather than the usual input dialogue.

    In addition to touch input, Android Wear supports Google’s speech recognition software. I’m happy to report that it takes very little time to fire off instructions like “OK Google, remind me to flip the steaks in 7 minutes.” The same can be done to search, compose an email or text message, set a timer, or even call a Lyft car with a Batman-eqsue, “OK Google, call a car.”

    In testing, Android Wear’s voice commands mostly worked without issue. (An exception: when I was in a room full of screaming kids, I couldn’t get the initial “OK Google” command to work. I may be a modern-day Maxwell Smart, but I lack a cone of silence.) I regularly found myself setting or sending an item just by lifting my wrist and uttering some words. The best part: all of it was done in 10 seconds or less. (Try doing that on a smartphone.)

    True, I was overcome with embarrassment the first time I caught someone looking at me as I dictated a text message to my watch. I got over it in a way that I wasn’t able to with, say, Google Glass.

    There are a number of new capabilities opening up as Android developers bundle Android Wear functionality into existing Android apps in Google’s Play Store, setting the platform apart from other smart watch offerings on the market. For example, the Fly Delta app also includes an Android Wear app: Once you pair a watch to your smartphone, the Wear app is installed and you’re able to use the screen on your wrist as your boarding pass. (Finding a TSA agent that allows you to use it, on the other hand, is another story.) I hope for a Starbucks Android Wear app with which I can display my Starbucks Card barcode for quick payment.

    And what about that status symbol, you ask? Though it’s far from Google’s fault, the first models of Android Wear watches lack a compelling look to serve as a replacement for more analog alternatives. LG’s G Watch looks like nothing more than a block of black plastic, while Samsung’s Gear Live offers a plastic face with a silver bezel. The watches’ hardware design clearly took a backseat to software and services. For once, that’s not OK. (The better looking, if large, Moto 360 arrives later this summer. Apple’s rumored iWatch? September, supposedly.)

    But they’re headed in the right direction. There’s a lot of work yet to be done on the smart watch, and though the companies that make them aren’t quite facing the same stakes as their analog counterparts in the 16th century, there is no question that they will change the way we live our lives.