Android Smart Watches Are Coming!
Transcript of FrequencyCast Show 101 - inlcuding Android TV, Simple TV, Ownfone amd Finlux TV technology.
Listen to, or download, FrequencyCast Show 101 (31 mins) |
FrequencyCast Show 101:
Here's a transcript of of July 2014 show, Show 101...
Pete:
Show 101, Kelly. How are you feeling?
Kelly:
I'm not too bad. How are you?
Pete:
Very good. Do you fancy a minty biscuit?
Kelly:
No, I'm going to actually go for the orange one, and see if it's as bad as he says.
Pete:
Yes, thank you for all of those that sent in a message about the minty biscuit from the last show. It was show 100, we thought we ought to have a bit of fun with it. We'll try and lay off the biscuits, shall we, Kelly?
Kelly:
Well, I definitely need to. It's bikini season, so they're out the house.
Pete:
I still look pretty good in mine though, don't I?
Kelly:
Errr ... that's all I'm going to say, folks, that's all I'm going to say!
Pete:
Right, what are we going to talk about? We're not talking about wearing bikinis, we're talking about wearing smartphones today, with the announcement of Android Wear. So, smartwatches, Kelly – this is what it's all about. Would you wear a smart watch with your Android phone?
Kelly:
No.
Pete:
I knew you were going to say that. Why not? – they're great.
Kelly:
To be honest, I don't wear a watch anyway, so it would be something I'd most likely forget. I forget to wear my fit bands, so it's probably not going to happen for me, if I'm honest.
Pete:
Okay, but what about the rest of the world – can you seen the advantage of one of these things?
Kelly:
I can understand why you would quite like it, and why not? I mean, if you wear a watch on a daily basis, why not have one that does a lot more?
Pete:
And that's exactly what is going on here, so at the moment there's a race to bring these things out. We've had a few things, such as the Pebble that are these kickstarter watches, that are quite good, but really, the race is on to get a watch that looks (a) stylish, and (b) that works well with all the tech. With the announcement we've had just a couple of days before we recorded this from Google is of Android Wear, so you'd get away from the idea that a Samsung phone needs a Samsung watch, and it's any Android phone can work with any Android watch – that's going to be the plan.
Kelly:
Well, I think it's about time really.
Pete:
About time? About time?
Kelly:
Oh yeah – it was a pun, and I didn't even realise! I think there's no point limiting yourself to having to go with the same brand. If you find you prefer the watch to the phone, or vice-versa, then you kind of have got yourself in a pickle. This way, you can use whatever you like, whenever you like.
Pete:
And you can use these a lot sooner than you think, as well. There are two watches using Android Wear that will be out in the next few days, actually. The launch date here is shown as 7th July, so it may even be out by the time you're listening to this. They're actually relatively reasonably priced. LG are bringing out their G Watch, which is going to retail at around about £145, and Samsung have got the Gear Live, which is going to be around about £118, so it's not hideously ridiculous, when you consider the tech in these.
Kelly:
Can you, when you have a new phone, reprogramme it to a new phone?
Pete:
Yes, you can.
Kelly:
Fantastic.
Pete:
I guess a lot of this is going to depend on how useful they are. Now, traditionally people have talked about answering phones, and reading text messages on these things, and I kind of get that, but it's trying to work out what extra apps you can do, and that's really what's happening with Android Wear, is they're creating a platform that developers can come up with some weird and wonderful ideas on. For me, things like social media – I get a lot of tweets, Facebook messages and whatever else. It would be nice to just look at that on my watch, without having to physically get the phone out of my pocket, open it up, unlock with the little security code, just to read that a friend of mine's had a cup of tea. If I could glance at my watch, so much the better.
Kelly:
One thing as well, that I think it would be really good for, is if you are quite sporty, and you're out and about quite a lot, it would be quite easy to have a quick nosy while you're running. It's very difficult to pull your phone out of a pocket, or one of your armband holders.
Pete:
Well, that is the benefit. If you're a fitness freak, and you do a lot of running with your smartphone, these are ideal: (a) you can alter your music while you're running, if you want to change a different track on your playlist or whatever; but also they're looking at integrating these with step counters, GPS, for your running tracking and whatever else, so you could glance at your watch, and see what your pace is, see how far you've run, all that kind of stuff, without, as you say, having to take the armband off to actually have a proper look at the phone. So for fitness people, and people out and about, brilliant – that solves a lot of problems.
Kelly:
Well, maybe I will get one, then.
Pete:
Tempting you now, aren't I?
Kelly:
You are. I kind of thought this might happen.
Pete:
And one of the real selling points of this is the voice control side of it, which has been something that hasn't traditionally worked terribly well, or been talked about too much, but yet the idea that you can, like Google Glass that we played with at the Gadget Show, you can speak to your watch, and say, "Hey Google, play me a song", without physically having to get your phone out of your pocket.
Kelly:
But would it actually pick it up, if you were out of breath?
Pete:
There is a little bit of a problem with background noise, and some of these were looked at at a tech expo a few weeks ago, and the background noise is a problem. You also look a bit of a prawn shouting into your watch. People will think you've gone round the twist. But I can see a lot of potential here, and this is a very smart move from Google, to try and get a common platform with this Android Wear SDK. Really, I think they're going to be Apple – we all know that Apple is out there busily producing the Apple iWatch, but this could kill the iWatch.
Kelly:
I think you're right actually, and because it's so affordable, and coming so soon, and it's only going to get better, I guess.
Pete:
And opening it up to developers, people are going to come up with really wacky ideas on what to do with this kind of stuff. So yeah, I think the future's actually looking pretty bright finally for these watches, now we've done away with this proprietary Samsung-for-Samsung, iPhone-for-iPhone, all that kind of stuff. This could finally put us in the right track, and we could see our prediction for the new year finally coming true – this could be the year of the smartwatch.
Kelly:
It could! – well, we'll have to wait and see.
Pete:
Okay, now if we all had these smart watches that we're walking around with, one thing that's very handy is reading live messages and alerts. I sign up to the BBC, I get alerts from the BBC. I don't think you do on your smartphone, do you?
Kelly:
I hate my smartphone at the moment, so I haven't signed up to anything. It just clogs it up.
Pete:
You loved your little phone. You had a BlackBerry, when I first met you. You binned it reluctantly. You didn't want to shift, and then you said, ah, do you know what? – I love my new Samsung – it's a Samsung, isn't it, you've got?
Kelly:
Yeah, it is.
Pete:
Which model have you got?
Kelly:
The S3.
Pete:
And you loved it, for about a week, I think, and then you've never been happy since, have you?
Kelly:
I don't even know if I liked it for a week. I think it was me just kind of putting up a front to you, because I didn't get an iPhone.
Pete:
That's an admission I didn't ever expect to hear from you.
Kelly:
I know, but honestly it's given me so much grief. A year later, and I literally feel like throwing it through a window.
Pete:
Well, I'm an iPhone person. You're currently an Android person, but it sounds like you're going to defect to somewhere else. I've got the BBC News app on my phone, and the day before yesterday, sitting in the office doing some work, and it played this little jingle ... (BBC News jingle) ... which means there's a news alert, and the news alert said: "NYPD Twitter campaign backfires after hashtag hijacked. Push sucks, pull blows, breaking news: no nudity in latest episode of Game of Thrones. More breaking news: I like testing", and about thirty seconds later, I got it again, as did several million people that use the BBC service, and somebody somewhere at BBC HQ pushed the wrong button.
Kelly:
Fantastic!
Pete:
Now, if you'd got that on your watch while you were out running, that could have distracted you, couldn't it?
Kelly:
Yeah, I could have quite easily got run over, I think.
Pete:
And is it a bit of a shock, that there's no nudity in the next Game of Thrones?
Kelly:
I don't believe it. It would stop me in my tracks.
Pete:
So you would need a news alert to tell you that?
Kelly:
I would.
Pete:
There you go, so well done to the BBC. Apparently, it was an accident, and someone somewhere pushed the wrong button.
Kelly:
Ah well, I'll definitely watch the next episode of Game of Thrones now, then.
Pete:
Okay, now will you be watching Game of Thrones on a 4K TV?
Kelly:
No, I don't have that much money.
Pete:
You know they're getting more and more affordable? 4K is the future. You may think HD is the biz, but 4K is around the corner, as is some other rather clever tech – things like curved TVs, where you get that kind of cinema curvy kind of thing going on, they're cool; thinner, lighter, higher res; 4K, and also a TV that you can watch, and somebody sitting next to you can watch, but they can watch a different programme – how does that sound?
Kelly:
It sounds very interesting.
Pete:
And we had a little look at some of this tech when we were up at Gadget Show Live. You really loved that, didn't you? – a little theatre thing in the middle of Birmingham?
Kelly:
Oh, it was absolutely perfect. They set up like a mini-cinema.
Pete:
And after you'd been walking around all day on your little tootsies, you put your feet up, had a little rest, didn't you? – and you loved that.
Kelly:
And I thoroughly enjoyed watching the TV.
Pete:
So let's find out what we discovered there. We spoke to Rita from TV manufacturers Finlux, to find out more.
Rita:
4K is going to be the next big thing. It's now become very, very affordable in the UK.
Pete:
Now, if I remember rightly, this hit the Asian market a few years ago. It's slowly creeping into the UK, but I must say, these pictures are absolutely stunning. Kelly, some of the pictures we've just seen on these 4K TVs, you've got to admit, it wipes the floor with HD, doesn't it?
Kelly:
Oh, 100%. To be honest, I can't even really tell the difference with the HD half the time, but this, it actually feels like I could walk straight into it.
Pete:
It is pretty good. Admittedly, we're watching a massive screen. What size is this huge screen that we're looking at?
Rita:
This size is 84", and so mega, mega-size.
Pete:
That is pretty good, and compared with HD, what sort of quality are we looking at?
Rita:
So in layman's terms, it's four times the resolution of full HD TVs, so incredibly lifelike.
Pete:
Now, I have to say, as far as I'm aware, there isn't a huge amount of 4K TV content out there yet, so presumably, if you buy one of these, are you limited to what you can watch at the moment?
Rita:
You're really not going to be stuck. Admittedly at the moment there's very limited content, but we know for a fact that that is changing. Gradually, you're going to see more and more 4K content. I'm sure the BBC, for example, are going to jump on board, but a lot of the other huge big blockbusters are going to probably jump on board, and produce much more content.
Pete:
Well, it's got to happen. It certainly happened with HD, so I'm sure it's going to happen with 4K. And as far as prices go, what sort of price are we looking at to get into 4K at home?
Rita:
Well, 4K actually, you can get a 50" for as little as three grand. Even the 84" now are around £15,000, so it's actually much more affordable than ever before.
Pete:
And of course, over time that's presumably going to come down as more and more products come onto the market?
Rita:
The price will definitely drop, and you'll see the difference, but it is a product that's in demand, so it's going to be mass-produced.
Pete:
4K is the future. Having said that, the future could be what Kelly and I are looking at now. Now, this seems to be, if I've got this right, the product that solves that problem of two people wanting to sit down next to each other on the sofa, and watch different shows. You must have had that?
Kelly:
Oh, it's the story of my life, I'm telling you now. The amount of times that I sit at home, and I end up having to watch football or rugby or motocross, or God knows what else.
Pete:
Now, you see, if you and me got together, we'd be fine, because you could just watch Star Trek all the time.
Kelly:
Oh yeah, that'd just be marvellous!
Pete:
So, help me out here, then. We're looking at a single TV – are you really telling me that Kelly can watch The Great British Bake-Off, while I'm watching Star Trek?
Rita:
Absolutely. One of you will be wearing headphones, of course. That deals with the problem of sound. But literally, one person can be watching the football, for example, while the other person could be watching a movie, all on the same screen.
Pete:
Is it dependent on the angle that you're sitting, or is it some kind of glasses? How does that work, then?
Rita:
You actually have to wear glasses, so literally one of you will be seeing one thing, and the person sitting next to you will be seeing something completely different.
Pete:
Oh, that is awesome! And they're standard glasses, they're not these ones that have batteries?
Rita:
They're passive, so very comfortable and lightweight to wear.
Pete:
Okay, what's this technology called? – I've not come across this before.
Rita:
Dual-view technology.
Pete:
Dual-view, that's got to be the future. Kelly, do you reckon that's the future?
Kelly:
Oh, 100%. Honestly, it would make my life a lot easier.
Pete:
So this dual-view technology, is this something I can actually get now?
Rita:
No, not quite yet, but it is something that we hope to bring to the range very shortly.
Pete:
Awesome. I'm very, very, very impressed. If someone wants to find out more about this range, just remind us of your web address, if you could?
Rita:
It's Finluxdirect.com.
Pete:
Excellent, and can I take this one away with me?
Rita:
Absolutely not.
Pete:
Kelly, you get that end, I'll get this end.
Kelly:
Oh right, okay – we'll carry it out now.
Pete:
Right, we were talking earlier about smartphones, and how much you love your touchscreen Samsung.
Kelly:
Yes.
Pete:
Would you trade it in for a 1stFone, though? – open your hand?
Kelly:
Er, no.
Pete:
Just tell the dear listener what we're looking at here, while I just turn it on.
Kelly:
It almost looks like a child's toy. It's a necklace that's kind of got a small phone on there. It's got four contacts, and simply has an answer and an end call button.
Pete:
So it is the world's most simple phone. As you say, it's very, very kiddie-friendly. It comes on a lanyard, so you can wear it. The aim of this is to give your kid, and as you see here, it's got a button that says "mum", a button that says "dad", "Kate" and "gran", and you press the button, and it'll just do a voice call for you. But in the news for the last show, we talked about a little update to these, which is a Braille version, so you can get these customised to say mum and dad in Braille.
Kelly:
Yeah, I quite like that, to be honest. It's nice and simple. Phones though have Braille on, no?
Pete:
They have a little dot on the five button, on physical phones, but if you look at a smartphone, of course, where it's a touchscreen – no Braille, no buttons, and they're getting harder to find phones that actually have Braille on them. We caught up with Ian from the company, OwnFone, that make these little phones.
Ian:
Well, what these are are simple mobile phones. They have no texting, no internet. They are simply phones for calling family members, mum, dad, sister, whoever, and that is it. You can receive calls from any number, but you can only make calls to the numbers that are programmed onto the phone. You can have anything from a two-button phone, four-button, eight-button, or twelve, depending on how many people you want the phone to call.
Pete:
So if we were looking at a basic end top-up version, what sort of price are we looking at for these?
Ian:
Okay, well the handsets start at £40, and for top-up, you can do 60 days, which is two months, 100 minutes of calls per month will cost you £10.
Pete:
Could be this used as a sort of an emergency phone that maybe you keep in your glove box of your car?
Ian:
Of course it could. For three hours' charge will get you three days, but you can also charge the phone and put it on shutdown mode, and the battery will last and hold for up to a year.
Pete:
Ah, so that's your glovebox one, isn't it? You charge it up, stick a tenner's worth of credit on it, and you've got your emergency – ooh, I like that. And the design, so you've obviously got pictures here of family members and whatever else. Can you upload your own pictures?
Ian:
Yes, that's right. You can upload your own pictures. You can also choose any of our background designs from our website, or upload your own, such as a family pet, or family pictures.
Pete:
And that's all in the £40 price that we were talking about?
Ian:
That's right, that's correct.
Pete:
Now obviously, I can see a market for this being given to kids by parents. Has it got any other uses you could think of?
Ian:
Yes, three-quarters of our market is actually aimed at seniors.
Pete:
That makes sense actually, thinking about it. You've got someone who's maybe not overly dextrous with their fingers or whatever else, the whole peace of mind thing. So if someone wants to order one of these, have you got a web address we can send them to?
Ian:
Yeah, to go to our website, it's www.ownfone.com.
Pete:
Okay, just before we dive into interaction, we are actually going to pull one of the questions from interaction forward into our Focus section. This one came from Harry. Normally it would be an interaction, but we do need to talk about a product that might help out Harry, so could you just read his email for us?
Kelly:
He says, "I'm thinking of purchasing a Slingbox for a holiday home in Spain. My question is this: can we stream Sky HD to Spain, but also watch different programmes on Sky in the UK at the same time? – ie, if one of the children does not go on holiday?"
Pete:
Well, the short answer to Harry's question is no. What a Slingbox does is, it takes the output of your Sky box, and sends it over the internet to a remote location. If somebody changes the channel in the UK, that's what Spain will get. It can only do one thing at a time. However, there is a rather nice little product from a company called Simple TV that we saw at Gadget Show, that could be the answer, and here is David Burton from Simple TV to explain a little more.
David:
Well, we're looking basically at the ability to send your Freeview TV around your home to any of your devices, or your iPad or your Android tablet, etcetera, and also outside the home. So wherever you are in the world, as long as you've got an internet connection, you can stream live, or watch your own recorded shows, on the device itself as well.
Pete:
So let me just get this straight – if I look at my Apple TV, I plug that into the telly, and I can pull in external sources onto my TV. This is the other way round – the box is actually able to transmit the picture externally from its box?
David:
Yes, so it's a media server, in that respect, but it also is what they call a DBR, so you can record that content. You can choose to record a single show, or a whole season, and then you've got that as long as you want. You just put your hard drive in the back, and record away to your heart's content.
Pete:
Now Kelly, this will solve the problem we had yesterday. We were in a hotel room overnight, not the same hotel room, but you know what I mean.
Kelly:
Yes, yes, I know what you mean!
Pete:
And we were limited to the pay TV channels on the hotel room TV. Presumably, with this solution, and the free wi-fi in the hotel, we could connect into our boxes at our own homes, watch what we've recorded, or watch any Freeview channels?
David:
That's exactly it. In fact, if you happen to be on a plane, we also let you download before you go, so you can put all your content on there, so even if you're offline, you don't need to miss anything. And not only you – if you had four other members of your family are elsewhere in the world, they can also be watching content at the same time as well, not necessarily the same content you are.
Pete:
Okay, well I can see an obvious solution here for ex-pats, for instance, that live in the UK, spend a lot of their time abroad, Portugal, wherever, and they can't watch their telly. Is this solution something for them?
David:
It's perfect for them. In fact, a lot of people I've spoken to already have said they want to send one home to mum, wherever she may be, so it's easy for mum to set up, it's very simple to go, and then that's it. You start just bringing home TV to wherever you are.
Pete:
Now, we've seen a similar product, this is going back a few years now, called the Slingbox, which was an external box that would sort of sit next to say a Sky box, or a Freeview PVR. This looks a bit more of an elegant solution. Is it a cheaper one, by any chance?
David:
It is about half the price of Slingbox, and also where there's a little bit of tech required in setting up a Slingbox, you literally just plug this into your wireless router and your aerial antenna, and that's it – you're away.
Pete:
And presumably, does it integrate with smartphones, tablets?
David:
It does, both Android and iOS. We're also looking at the Chrome custom device that's just come out – that'll be available shortly, and a bit longer term, Xbox and PS3 will also be able to play back your content.
Pete:
Okay. And if you've got a smart TV, one of these, say, Samsung ones with all the apps built in, is the plan that you'll have an app that you can integrate?
David:
Exactly that. So if you want, so the whole idea really, eventually you won't need a special box. Our services will be available through those smart TVs, too.
Pete:
Oh, I want one. When are they out?
David:
We're looking at summer, probably August time, when we're going to be launching in the UK.
Pete:
Excellent, and David, do you have a website we can direct people to?
David:
We do. If you just go to simple.tv, very simple.
Pete:
And it was a really nice little solution, wasn't it?
Kelly:
It was, certainly something that I think a lot of people will be looking at.
Pete:
For more details, see the notes up on our site.
Listen to, or download, FrequencyCast Show 101 (31 mins) |
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