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Android Wear aims at developers for Google Wearables
This morning Google introduced Android Wear, aiming to bring Android to our wearables future. The Internet giant provided a general look at what its system could do — bring a usable roster of information to your wrist rather than just a clock and notifications — and with that comes a slew of information for developers. We’ve delved into the Developer Preview for Android Wear, and have the details for you after the jump.
The idea is that smartwatches, in this case, will automatically provide the information someone needs when they need it, no tapping and requesting necessary. The system is primarily voice based, and will eventually find its way to more wearable technology than just smartwatches, though they are the current focus given their proliferation in the market at the moment.
Because the smartwatches to which Android Wear will be made available will come in various designs, both round and square, the Developer Preview allows developers to see how their current Android apps will appear on both types of hardware when made into their wearable counterparts.
Accordingly, one’s app notifications will appear on Android wearables, and via Android Wear APIs, developers can “customize and extend” the notifications, such as adding additional pages to the notification for detailed information, allowing the wearer to respond to notifications with voice or touch, and stacking notifications, which aggregates them in a way obviously convenient for the small face of a smartwatch. In that same vein, existing Android APIs can be used to trigger contextual notifications — arguably one of the most important aspects of a wearable device.
Developers will be able to developer their own custom card layouts, and to control data and actions betwixt the wearable device and the wearer’s smartphone, as well as gathering data on sensors for real-time display if needed and, of course, enabling their app to utilize “Ok Google” voice actions. Google stresses the four elements of an Android Wear experience among all this, steering developers to focus on being contextually aware and smart, glanceable, helpful, and doing so with little or no need for interaction.
This is just the start for developers and the Android wearables future, and as Google makes more developer-centric offerings available, the information will expand. Those who want to get in on the ground floor have some options to help them get started, however, among them being a new series by Android Developers on YouTube — DevBytes: Android Wear — that covers topics related to the Developer Preview. And, of course, an Android Wear Google+ community has been launched.
The developer options are still limited at this point, but Google says it will be launching the Android Wear SDK some time later on this year — specific date unknown — which will further open the doors for those who want to jump aboard this new platform. The possibilities are exciting, and as the Android Wear ball starts rolling, you can keep up to date on the latest wearables information via our aptly named Wearables Hub.
SOURCE: Android Wear Developer Preview
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15 Best Android Wear Games
The concept of smart wearables isn’t something entirely new. For a long time, fitness trackers and smartwatches like the old Sony Ericsson LiveView have existed, and have enjoyed a niche market share with gadget aficionados who just have to have the latest and greatest, no matter how weird (at least in looks) the product is. With Android Wear, for the first time, smartwatches became a proper product category of their own, with standardization in features and interface and appearances that made the devices look more watch and less science fiction gadgetry. The platform is consistently gaining more traction with Android users, and with that, the Google Play Store also keeps piling up with newer apps that will run on your Android Wear smartwatch.
1. 20482048 took the world by storm as soon as it was released, and the game enjoyed massive success across every platform that it was released. The premise is pretty straightforward – you get a set of numbered tiles that you keep merging to get consistently higher numbers, and the objective is to merge similar tiles to achieve the (almost unattainable) 2048 tile. While the concept is simple, this puzzler can keep you occupied for hours on end, and with the Android Wear variant of the game, you can waste those hours away on your wrist in a neat 4×4 grid with swipe gestures. No more boredom at work or school!
Compatibility: Android 4.1 and up
Availability: 2048 (Free) – Google Play Store
2. Rubik’s Cube for Android WearRubik’s cube has been widely acclaimed as one of the most challenging mathematical/logical puzzles out there, and there are a number of games that emulate the experience across iPhone and Android alike. With this app, you get a Rubik’s cube to play with on your Android Wear smart watch. Naturally, the small screen here poses a challenge, which Rubik’s cube for Android Wear addresses by providing pinch to zoom and swiping gestures. On the plus side, this app installs the same version of the game on your connected Android smartphone as well, providing the best of both worlds if you’re into puzzles like this.
Compatibility: Android 2.3.3 and up
Availability: Rubik’s Cube for Android Wear (Free) – Google Play Store
3. Math it!It makes sense that most of the games playable on a wrist-wearable should be of the puzzle genre, and that is why you’ll find most of the titles in Google Play Store of that nature. Math it! is a title that will come in handy if you want to pump your brain for action with some quick fire mathematical questions. The game displays a number of mathematical equations on your wrist along side a possible answer, and you need to indicate whether it’s correct or not. As you progress, not only does your score keep accumulating but the equations get harder, too. This app, too, installs a full game on your phone as well.
Compatibility: Android 4.1 and up
Availability: Math it! (Free) – Google Play Store
4. GALAXIA (Android Wear)This arcade title is like a marriage between Space Invaders and Galaxian, right on your Android Wear smart watch. Galaxia offers wrist control for a space ship that will fight against hordes of aliens and asteroids alike. Graphics are neat, and there is even a retro mode for those who enjoy this sort of thing. The title costs merely a dollar, so it’s worth the investment if retro games are your thing for your Android Wear smart watch.
Compatibility: Android 4.3 and up
Availability: GALAXIA (Paid) – Google Play Store
5. Sookie Says for WearSookie says is a memory game that you’ll play on your smart watch. The concept of the game is really simple, with challenging game play. You have four colored boxes on the screen that will blink in a pattern, and you have to remember and replicate that sequence by tapping on the same boxes. As you progress, the sequences become longer and longer, and the challenge harder. Good fun if you want to sharpen your memory.
Compatibility: Android 4.2 and up
Availability: Sookie Says for Wear (Free) – Google Play Store
6. Space War (Android Wear)Space Wars is your classing vertical-scrolling shoot-em-up game for Android Wear. The game features stellar graphics (for Android Wear of course) and puts you in control of a space ship that you can control to hit and destroy incoming enemies, either through wrist movement or tap control. Decent title if you want more than casual gaming on your smart watch.
Compatibility: Android 4.3 and up
Availability: Space War (Paid) – Google Play Store
7. Ball Escape – Android WearA simple game with a simple objective – prevent the ball from escaping the screen. You start off with a randomly moving ball in the center of the screen, just like gas molecules, and it would try to go off one of the screen edges. Tap the edge before the ball strikes to create a barrier, pushing it in the opposite direction. The game gets frantically faster as you progress, and you’d love this title through and through no matter what kind of games you like.
Compatibility: Android 2.3.3 and up
Availability: Ball Escape – Android Wear (Paid) – Google Play Store
8. Wear DroidThe first Android Wear game in this list that features 3D graphics. Wear Droid tells the story of a professor who creates droids and leaves them for you test for durability. This obstacle course title features progressive gameplay where you can unlock different kinds of robots as you move forward. This is one of those titles that you will want to have on your smart watch just so you can show off.
Compatibility: Android 4.0.3 and up
Availability: Wear Droid (Paid) – Google Play Store
9. RepulsionRepulsion is an addictive finger-runner for Android Wear that can be truly frustrating in its gameplay. The objective is to pick the object with either the plus or minus sign, and navigate it through a twisting and turning path whilst avoiding the opposite sign. If you think it sounds easy, think again; the small screen of your smart watch will make you go nuts with this title.
Compatibility: Android 4.4 and up
Availability: Repulsion – Android Wear (Free) – Google Play Store
10. Wear Shooter for Moto 360Don’t judge this game by its title, literally. While it says it’s for the Moto 360, it works fine on just about any Android Wear device, although it gets a weird landscape rotation on square devices. This title is a first person shooter for smart watches which, in my personal opinion, is a must-have title for showing off what these smart devices are capable of. The gameplay is simple and straightforward, and you move around by rotating your wrist, making control all the more challenging. Since it’s a free title, I strongly urge you to give it a shot.
Compatibility: Android 2.3 and up
Availability: Wear Shooter for Moto 360 (Free) – Google Play Store
11. Bow Man Android WearA simple archery game for Android Wear which pits you against a computer opponent that you need to defeat to move to the next levels. The graphics are simple, and there’s nothing to write home about there. The gameplay is engaging, though, and will keep you playing as long as your smart watch’s battery lasts.
Compatibility: Android 4.0 and up
Availability: Bow Man Android Wear (Free) – Google Play Store
12. Swirl Attack – Android WearRemember those old arcade games that required catching stuff falling from the sky? Swirl Attack mimics that experience on your Android Wear smart watch, with touch based control of a 360-rotating circle that attracts balls of different colors, and you need to catch them at the right angle of the circle. If the description sounds confusing, the gameplay will puzzle you even further, because like similar games of the puzzle genre, this title, too, becomes progressively more difficult.
Compatibility: Android 2.3.3 and up
Availability: Swirl Attack – Android Wear (Paid) – Google Play Store
13. Flopsy DroidOK, so who isn’t familiar with the frustrating, agonizing, and virally-popular Flappy Bird? This game is a knock off of the addictive title on your Android Wear, where you need to navigate a Google Droid through pipes. What makes Flopsy Droid even more frustrating than the actual Flappy Bird is the small screen that you have to play with, which makes judging the upcoming pipes more difficult. Take it for a spin, and be careful not to smash your smart watch’s screen in annoyance.
Compatibility: Android 4.3 and up
Availability: Flopsy Droid (Free) – Google Play Store
14. Save the Troops – Android WearAnother “catch-em-all” genre game, where paratroopers are falling from the sky and you get to catch them in your boat before they fell in the river and meet their demise. Controls are both tap and orientation based, and if you like you use your smart watch for more futuristic outlook when gaming, motion-based control is a better choice for this title. This game also features in-app purchases to unlock content, and has pleasing graphics that are neither stellar nor really cartoonish. Since the title is free, it’s probably worth checking out for yourself.
Compatibility: Android 2.3 and up
Availability: Save The Troops – Android Wear (Free) – Google Play Store
15. Wear RiderWear Rider will satiate the speed buff inside you with its high-speed traffic-dodging gameplay. This game is basically an endless runner where you navigate a bike through traffic while avoiding collisions. Different stunts give you more score, and, as you’d have come to expect by now, the gameplay will become more and more difficult as you move forth. This free title works well on any Android Wear smart watch, and is worth trying out.
Compatibility: Android 4.4 and up
Availability: Wear Rider – Android Wear (Free) – Google Play Store
SEE ALSO: 20 Best Android Wear Apps
Typography For Designers & Developers
Have you ever wondered that Why the designs of Dribbble and Behance look so elegant? One of the secrets behind those great Web and Mobile App Designs is the perfect use of Font Combinations, powerful usage of white space, and grids.
To learn this Super Power of Typography and the use of Time and Space, Take this course
This course’s main focus is on Typography for Designers and Developers. All great designers possess the skill of Typography and their usage of white space is always out class.
Take Away For Designers:-
In this course, we will convert your boring designs to Dribbble level designs by learning
Basics of Typography Classes and Anatomy
Learn how to make your text look interesting by using variation techniques
Create elegant web & Mobile app design by selecting and pairing meaningful fonts
How different Moods or Voices of Fonts works
Master Font pairing and learn tons of online resources to automatically pair fonts
How to use white space effectively by using Vertical Rhythm and Modular Grid
Learn about IOS App Typography and understand different iPhone Screen sizes
Learn Google Android Typography, its scale, and its SP unit of type
Use Free Apps to connect your Photoshop Screen to iPhone or Android Device
How to balance your design using the LEGO Blocks method
Dribbble Styled Design Exercises to improve your designs
Take Away For Developers:-
How to use padding, margins, and other elements to create Vertical Rhythm in CSS
How to use Vertical Rhythm in Bootstrap
What are absolute & relative font-size units e.g em, rem, VM, %, and when to use them?
Step by Step coding exercises to apply Baseline Grid for Developers
How to show baseline grid in HTML page with just one line of code
What font sizes are best standards as Base font Size
How to set up Typography Scale using online tools easily
A lot of quizzes to test your knowledge
So if you really want to step ahead of your fellow Designers & want to get out of the crowd.
Who this course is for:
NOT for Novices (Must have some Photoshop Experience)
Web Designers
Mobile App Designers
All Designers who think their design have something missing
Web Developers
Graphic Designer
Goals
Create elegant web & Mobile app design by selecting and pairing meaningful fonts
How to use white space effectively by using Vertical Rhythm and Modular Grid
Dramatically improve your boring designs with Modular Grid & Baseline Grid
Learn about Typography Classes and Anatomy
Learn about how to use line-height and letter spacing effectively
Learn about IOS App Typography and understand different IPhone Screen siz
Learn Google Android Typography, its scale and its SP unit of type
How to connect your Photoshop Screen to IPhone or Android Device
How to balance your design using LEGO Blocks method
Step by Step coding exercises to apply Baseline Grid for Developers
How to show baseline grid in HTML page with just one line of code for Developers
How to use padding, margins and other elements to create Vertical Rhythm in CSS for Developers
How to use Vertical Rhythm in Bootstrap for Developers
Learn when to use em, rem, vm or % font-size units for Developers
How to set up Typography Scale using online tools easily for Developers
Prerequisites
Must have good knowledge of Adobe Photoshop (For Designers)
Must know HTML and CSS (For Developers)
Download and Install Adobe Photoshop Latest version
Apple Jab At Google Likely At Wwdc
Apple is expected to reveal its homegrown replacement for the Google Maps application, built into iOS 6, as a highlight of the Worldwide Developers Conference opening Monday.
Attendees are also likely to get a peek at that next-generation iOS, which will reportedly launch in the fall for select devices, including a brand new iPhone handset.
Apple’s anticipated break from Google Maps would be yet another sign of the growing battle between Apple and Google for domination in the mobile space.
Since the original iPhone was introduced in 2007, Google Maps has supplied the iPhone’s built-in mapping and location capabilities. But Apple is reportedly looking to control its own mapping functions as location-based services and features become baked into more mobile apps.
Location on the iPhone is big and promises to get bigger as people increasingly consult their smartphones for local restaurant reviews, finding the nearest car mechanic, tourism tips, and movie times.
Map BuildingApple is wary of leaving such a key component for the iPhone in the hands of one of its biggest rivals and is getting ready to dump Google Maps, The Wall Street Journal reports. Over the past three years Apple has purchased three mapping companies: Placebase, Poly9, and C3 Technologies. Apple in 2010 also revealed in a letter to Congress that it was working on a traffic conditions service for the iPhone — something Google Maps already offers Android users.
Apple in fall 2011 replaced the iPhone’s Google-made geocoder — a piece of software that turns longitude and latitude into a point on a map — with its own technology, according to the Journal.
Then, in early 2012, the first fruits of Apple’s homegrown map effort turned up in iPhoto for iOS.
What Will Google Do?As for Google, critics believe the company will suffer if its business relationship with Apple disintegrates. Many Apple watchers believe the iPhone maker is trying to wean its mobile users off other Google services in iOS. Apple’s digital voice assistant, Siri, for example could encourage more people to give up using Google search — the default search engine for the Safari browser on iOS. Siri can supply data from a variety of sources such as Yelp for local information and Wolfram Alpha for facts and figures.
The majority of Google’s mobile traffic comes from the iPhone, the Journal reports. So if fewer iPhone users turn to Google for information, that means the search giant will see less potential ad revenue and user data from mobile users, an ever-expanding user base hungry for online information.
One thing that Apple probably won’t, or at least can’t, replace is the iOS app for Google-owned YouTube. There simply isn’t a credible replacement for the most popular video site on the Web.
Will You Switch?But will iPhone users accept Apple’s homegrown alternative? Google Maps is very popular thanks to features such as Place Pages with local business information and Street View’s immersive 360-degree photos of locations around the world.
And Google Maps promises to only get better. Google on Wednesday revealed new improvements to Google Maps including 3D flyovers and offline maps access. Google Maps will also be getting more Street View images using a special camera that can be carried by a person on foot, adding to Google’s existing Street View images taken by a fleet of cars and special tricycles.
If Apple does dump Google Maps, the company may also choose not to make a lot of noise about it. Apple may opt instead to discuss potential new features of the iOS Maps app or perhaps a new look, while avoiding issues surrounding its business relationship with Google.
Regardless, many critics and pundits will be waiting to see if Apple on Monday offers a glimpse of what the Maps application will look like in the next version of iOS.
Connect with Ian Paul (@ianpaul) on Twitter and Google+, and with Today@PCWorld on Twitter for the latest tech news and analysis.
Chrome Update: Changes For Seo And Developers
Chrome 69 introduces performance enhancements as well as changes that will affect how users search. Chrome also introduces opportunities for developers to create interesting user experiences on mobile devices.
Smart AnswersThe most dramatic change is a new feature called Omnibox Smart Answers. It allows users to get answers to questions in the address bar without loading a website. These are rich results shown in the address bar. Chrome calls the address bar the Omnibox. And it calls the rich results shown in the Omnibox, Smart Answers.
The Omnibox can show baseball scores:
The Omnibox Smart Answers can show the weather:
Here is what Google’s announcement said:
You know the box at the top of Chrome that combines the search bar and address bar into one? We call it the Omnibox, and we built it so that you can get to your search results as fast as possible.
Features for DevelopersChrome 69 introduces neat features for developers that may improve the user experience on mobile devices.
CSS Scroll Snap
Display Cutouts
Conic Gradients
CSS Scroll SnapCSS scroll snap is an improvement that will be useful in animated carousels. This feature allows developers to control where a user scrolls to in an image carousel or within paginated sections.
Mozilla’s specification for the scroll snap is described like this:
CSS Scroll Snap Points is a module of CSS that introduces scroll snap positions. These determine the specific positions that a container’s scrollport may end at after a scrolling operation has completed.
Display CutoutsDisplay cutouts allows a developer to create a web page that spills over into the entire available space on a mobile device. This gives developers greater control over how a website looks on a mobile device.
Conic GradientsConic gradients is are additional CSS 4 properties that allow developers to create color transitions around a circle. There are also animations that can be created. See an example of the animation here and conic gradients here.
There are many more CSS features that are adopted.
Read Google’s Chrome Blog Announcement
Read the Developers Page Announcement
Look How Much Sleeker Apple Watch Is Compared To Android Wear Watches
From 9to5Google:
The Apple Watch was once again shown off at Apple’s “Spring Forward” event on Monday, and many have been left wondering how the device compares to the Android Wear devices currently on the market. Technology has surely evolved a bit since the G Watch was announced, but how much have things changed?
There are several differences between the two platforms, but one that has now been brought to light is the device’s physical dimensions. Looking at Apple’s renders and images makes the device look big, but comparing its actual dimensions to Android Wear devices does the opposite. It’s tiny compared to most of what’s available today.
Norm Chan on Twitter put together a couple 3D-printed Apple Watches and placed them next to his ZenWatch, and it’s a bit shocking to see how small the 38mm Apple Watch is in comparison. But let’s not stop with the ZenWatch; let’s see how all of the top Android Wear devices compare to the Apple Watch in physical size…
Here are the Apple Watch dimensions:
38 mm model: 38.6 x 33.3 x 10.5 mm
42 mm model: 42 x 35.9 x 10.5 mm
And here are some of the dimensions of popular Android Wear devices:
Asus ZenWatch: 51 x 39.9 x 7.9 ~ 9.4 mm
LG G Watch R: 53.6 x 46.4 x 9.7 mm
Moto 360: 46 x 46 x 11.5 mm
LG G Watch: 46.5 x 37.9 x 9.95 mm
Sony SmartWatch 3: 51 x 36 x 10 mm
Samsung Gear Live: 56.4 x 37.9 x 8.9 mm
Huawei Watch: 42 x 42 x 11.3 mm
As you can see, it looks like Apple managed to cram the innards of the Apple Watch into a much smaller case than its competitors—and this is especially the case with the 38mm model. The Apple Watch is thicker than all of the Android Wear devices we’ve listed here except the Moto 360, but not by all that much. The thinnest Andoid Wear device listed here, the Asus ZenWatch, is 2.6 mm thinner than Apple’s offering at its thinnest point—and only .9 mm thinner at its thickest. Other devices, like the LG G Watch R, are only .8 mm thinner than the Apple Watch.
As for the width and height comparison, the Apple Watch is definitely smaller. The “large” version of the Apple Watch, for example, is still 4mm shorter than the LG G Watch. Also, notably, the closest comparison in size seems to be the recently announced Huawei Watch, which is 42 mm in diameter and 11.3 mm thick.
For some perspective, here’s a comparison of the ZenWatch to a few of these other devices:
So the question that remains—and it will probably remain a mystery until we have our hands on real-life benchmarks—is how the Apple Watch will compare to Android Wear devices in battery life knowing that it’s so much smaller (specifically the 38mm model). Apple claims the device will get 18 hours on a single charge, and the smaller model will typically stay alive for a shorter amount of time. We’ll see how they fare in real-life use.
— Norm (@nchan) March 11, 2023
Updated with some GIFs via Reddit
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