Wear OS

via <a href="http://www.technobuffalo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Screen-Shot-2014-07-27-at-11.36.46.jpg">TecnoBuffalo</a>

Pioneering the Android Wear platform, the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live have been met with mixed reviews as of yet. Most thoughts on the smartwatches have been about Android Wear as an operating system, but little has been said about either device’s actual hardware. It appears, though, that some thoughts are now coming out about the LG G Watch, and it doesn’t look so good.
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Android Wear devices are being used to do quite a few awesome things, and now we can add being a remote control for the Tesla Model S to the list. It was about a year ago that we first saw this capability come to Google Glass via the GlassTesla app, and now it looks like the lucky few owners of the Tesla Model S can do the same kinds of remote control actions via their wrist.

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Android Wear is still in its infancy, with the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live the only devices on the market, but that hasn’t stopped developers from taking advantage of the new opportunities that the platform presents. SWIP3 is a new match-three puzzler that now holds the accomplishment of being the first game designed specifically for Android Wear. 
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According to a new report out of The Information, the already tense relationship between Samsung and Google has begun to worsen thanks to both of their own lines of wearables. The report claims that Google CEO Larry Page and Samsung Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee took part in an a “tense” private meeting at the Allen & Co. conference last week in Sun Valley. The meeting reportedly centered around Page being frustrated that Samsung was investing more in its smartwatches running Tizen than the ones running Android Wear.

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When Android Wear first launched, it was unclear whether Google was going to be offering official support for third-party watch faces. This uncertainty definitely didn’t stop developers from just going ahead and making some, but Google has today come out to say that they’re “hard at work” on an official watch face API.

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Wouldn’t it be cool if you could tell your watch to change the temperature, turn on/off lights, or perform various tasks on your computer? Well, thanks to Android Wear and some third party services, you can transform existing smart devices around your house into fully automated tasks using a device like the Samsung Gear Live, Moto 360, or LG G Watch.

The process will slightly vary between different Android devices and “smart” devices in your house, but we’ve put together the groundwork necessary so that you can build on these ideas in your own home. The setup procedure is a bit more than some people would like to go through, but in the end saying simple commands from a smartwatch to control things in your house is absolutely worth it.

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The Minuum keyboard has already been announced to be in development for the Moto 360, but today the company demoed its keyboard actually running on another Android Wear device — the LG G Watch. Last time we only got a concept, but now we have a real-time video demo of a slick — albeit (intentionally?) cramped — keyboard running on Android Wear. And Minuum says they’re ready to send out its earliest release.

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If you have your hands on an Android Wear device, you might know that getting access to the third-party apps you have installed can be quite cumbersome — it definitely requires digging through a few menus to reach them. And most likely, this wasn’t an oversight by the Android Wear team. It wouldn’t make sense to simply have a mini Android smartphone on your wrist, and the Mountain View company instead decided to put Google Now front and center for controlling the device’s functions.

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Google has just updated its Camera app to version 2.3 and with it comes the ability for users to snap pictures remotely using only their Android Wear smartwatch.

As first noted by AndroidPolice, once users open the updated app on their Android device, a connected Android Wear smartwatch will automatically present them with a shutter button that includes a countdown. Android Wear users will also be able to preview the shot they take on their wrist after snapping the photo. 
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If you’ve been frustrated by the fact that you can’t install paid apps on your Android Wear devices, your frustration should soon be at an end. Google has just notified developers of a workaround to the problem, which was caused by a bug in the anti-piracy measures employed with paid apps … 
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Android Wear devices are finally here and the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live are the first two available, arriving just before the Moto 360’s release later this summer. These two Android Wear smartwatches pave the way for similar devices in the future and set somewhat of a standard that can be improved upon.

Today we’re taking a closer look at both smartwatches, but if you’d like to see a comparison between the two, be sure to check out our previous article here or our initial Android Wear review. Meanwhile, let’s pop open these boxes and go hands-on with the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live. Check out our video overview below.

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Custom ROMs are a common commodity for Android users, with CyanogenMod being so ubiquitous as to be the default operating system for at least one flagship smartphone. But Android Wear devices are now available worldwide, meaning it’s just about time for a developer somewhere to improve the smartwatch software Google has shipped.

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You knew it was going to happen.

Just when you thought that Flappy Bird clones had run their course, Flopsy Droid has become the first unofficial Flappy Bird port for Android Wear devices. The app brings the bird-and-pipe experience to the LG G Watch, Moto 360 and other Android Wear devices, with the same one-tap controls as the smartphone version. The only difference is that Flopsy Droid is designed for markedly smaller screens. 
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As more and more Android Wear devices start to trickle out to the public, a somewhat major bug has been discovered by the folks at Android Police. According to users of the G Watch and Gear Live, there is currently no way to install paid apps onto the devices. Normally, Android Wear apps are installed to the watch from the user’s phone, via Bluetooth. Apps that cost money, however, are not installing on Android Wear devices.

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We told you late last week that Android Wear devices had started leaving the warehouse, and this week is seeing many of those orders reach their destinations. And with the devices now in more and more developers hands, countless apps have started appearing on the Play Store. It will soon get to the point where there are too many to keep track, but in the meantime we’re watching the Play Store closely for great (and not so great) new apps.
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It’s quite certain that Twitter will at some point launch their own app for Android Wear, but for those that are just itching to be able to tweet from their watch right now, there’s an app called “Bunting” that will let you do just that. The name might be confusing, but I can assure you there’s nothing baseball-related here.

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By default, the launch Android Wear watches (which are now shipping) only come with a select number of watch faces that packed in the OS. It was only a matter of time before developers developed their own, however, and it appears that there are now a few available. If you’re lucky enough to have an Android Wear device on hand, you can install them the same way you install any Android Wear app.

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