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Imagine never having to pick up your smartphone again to find the nearest Italian restaurant on Urbanspoon, or laboriously type out a text (and imagine the infomercial possibilities). Today, Google unveiled their version of a smartwatch using Android Wear technology, which basically tries to adapt itself to the wearer to the point where it'll guess what you're thinking before you can even pose the question. It's similar to Google Glass, except in a modified watch form, which could be an alternative for those who fear the Glass's recording capabilities.
A familiar command, "Ok, Google," gets things going, and from there it performs the daily duties that we've come to know and love, from finding out what catchy song is playing in the downstairs lobby to letting you know what traffic looks like on the daily commute to work. Where the big difference comes in is that the Google Now interface built into the watch will, in theory, learn your behavioral patterns in such a way that it will be able to guess and produce what you need as you need it, instead of waiting for a command.
This isn't just for techies, either. Perhaps learning from past mistakes, Google already announced a partnership with Fossil to produce the watches in fashionable forms that won't be too embarrassing to wear. While an exact release date hasn't been announced yet, we can expect to start seeing the final product later this year.
· Google Just Announced The First Decent Smartwatch Interface [Fast Company]
· Google Extends Android to Smartwatches [WWD]
· Google Likely Building a Floating Glass Store in the SF Bay [Racked]