Google Releases Android Wear SDK, LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live Smartwatches Are Now Available

I’ve just covered what’s new in Android L?, and I’m going to focus on Google I/O 2014’s announcements related by Android wear starting with hardware with LG G Watch ,and Samsung Gear smartwatches, followed by some details about the first official release of Android Wear SDK.

LG G Watch

Specifications:

• SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 @ 1.2 GHz
• System Memory – 512MB RAM
• Storage – 4GB eMMC
• Display – 1.65” IPS display (280 x 280)
• Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE
• Sensors – 9-Axis (Gyro / Accelerometer / Compass)
• IP Rating – IP67 dust and water resistant
• Battery – Li-ion 400mAh
• Dimensions – 37.9 x 46.5 x 9.95 mm
• Weight – 62.5 grams

LG G watch will run Android Wear (as it’s the subject of this post), and it currently available on Google Play for $229 (US only?) with shipping scheduled for early July.

Samsung Gear Live

Specifications:

• Processor – Unnamed 1.2 GHz processor (Samsung Exynos?)
• System Memory – 512MB RAM
• Storage – 4GB Internal Memory
• Display – 1.63” Super AMOLED (320 x 320)
• Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE
• Sensors – Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Heart rate monitor
• IP Rating – IP67 dust and water resistant
• Battery – Li-ion 300mAh
• Dimensions – 37.9 x 56.4 x 8.9 mm
• Weight – 59g

It looks similar to Samsung Gear 2 with Tizen, but this one runs Android Wear with Google Services, Google Now,  Google Voice, Google Maps & Navigation, Gmail, Hangouts, and you can recieve notification for SMS, E-mail, etc. It’s available for $199 on Google Play.

LG G Watch has a larger battery (33% more), a barely larger screen (1.65″ vs 1.63″0 but at lower resolution (280×280 vs 320×320), but the Samsung Gear Live features an Heart rate monitor which at first glance makes it a better deal.

If you’re wondering about Motorola’s Moto 360 rounded smartwatch, it will be available later. In the meantime, Android Community wrote an hands-on post.

Android Wear SDK and Apps.

Back in March, Google released Android Wear Developer Preview, and the company will release the first official release of the Android Wear SDK later today possibly via the Android L developer preview page, so developers can actually develop for Android (Wear) based wearables with a stable API to build user interfaces, control sensors, handle voice actions, and exchange data between phones and wearables.

Google also showcased a few apps optimized for Android Wear such as Eat24 that let’s you order food with your watch using a few swipes, and Lyft an leverages Google Now so that you can use a voice command to call a (ride-sharing) car, and rate the driver.

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