Database Develop

If you think maybe you should have gotten a Pebble....

Go here to see some of the watch faces and you will know you made the right decision!
http://www.mypebblefaces.com/?appType=0&generated=1&date=desc
I have a Pebble and like it too, but there is no contest.

Black and white only, holly pos crappy pebble.
Love my Gear even more now after that.
Ian B

Mr Ian B said:
Black and white only, holly pos crappy pebble.
Love my Gear even more now after that.
Ian B
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Click to collapse
crappy pebble? pebble was released long time ago, and easily lasts a week on it's battery due to e-ink display. comparing gear and pebble when it comes to watch faces is ridiculous, and i still think that gear faces are awful. this is a 300$ device for god's sake! should be easily customizable out of the box.

I've got all 3 Sony watches and a pebble and even tho the gear has a few teething problems it is bar far a more superior piece of hardware the screen amazes me how soft and responsive it is and every day here on xda the device is coming on leaps and bounds we cannot be to hard on Samsung they have given us a great watch it just needs more work to unlock is full potential. A custom Recovery is what is needed at present so if you are friendly with any developers that know a thing about recovery have a word with them
Sent from my SM-N9005

I have a Pebble and like it much, but I haven't charged it up since I got my Gear. A lot more functionality and COLOR. It's a 1.0 product but has come along in the just the last month. Root, Nova launcher, widgets. etc. My battery hasn't gone dead since I turn off the wrist montion. Get 2-3 days, justa little less than my pebble.
I'll get a Google watch and a HOT one via kickstarter. I'm looking for the best and so far the Gear is it. Soon we will have TWRP. custom ROMS, etc. Don't see any of that coming to the Pebble soon.

SkipKelley said:
I have a Pebble and like it much, but I haven't charged it up since I got my Gear. A lot more functionality and COLOR. It's a 1.0 product but has come along in the just the last month. Root, Nova launcher, widgets. etc. My battery hasn't gone dead since I turn off the wrist montion. Get 2-3 days, justa little less than my pebble.
I'll get a Google watch and a HOT one via kickstarter. I'm looking for the best and so far the Gear is it. Soon we will have TWRP. custom ROMS, etc. Don't see any of that coming to the Pebble soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This! (my pebble hasn't been touched either since the gear)

Is there a way to use this without Touchwiz? If not, pebble or SSW2 would be the obvious choice then?

Oilersfan said:
Is there a way to use this without Touchwiz?
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Click to collapse
It's easy enough to use Nova Launcher instead of TW.

Oilersfan said:
Is there a way to use this without Touchwiz? If not, pebble or SSW2 would be the obvious choice then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can side load nova launcher to the device through using adb commands on your computer

Unless you dont have electricity, have to tell time often and want a watch with no colored then by all means get a pebble. Who needs a watch on 24-7 anyways??? If you want something with color, can totally customize, play games and more then u will like the gear. Samsung kept it simple for quick access and simplicity. Mine will go approx 3 days on a single charge and will fully charge in little to no time. The gear is capable of so much more which these guys from XDA has proved. I'm waiting as to when we can push or watch a movie off this lil sucker! Haha
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I've not used my pebble since getting the gear. Have ordered a Nexus 5 though and if I decide to keep that, my s4 and gear will go and I'll be left with pebble
Gear looks better, colour screen, battery life is acceptable, touch, microphone, speaker, android based. It has so much going for it
No sdk though and pebble has tasker support which is a big bonus

Pebble just never appealed to me at all. I like the idea of it, but hate the design of it and the black and white screen. If you could get the Gear for 30% off, it was really a no-brainer

My 0,02$ about Gear

My first smartwatch ever was the original Sony Smartwatch 1. First of it's kind widely available, it was a pretty good product (if you compare the features to it's price). I bought Galaxy Gear few weeks ago shortly after startup for it's original price of 300 euros. I had it for few days and decided to return it, as this is a beta product with no support at all (at that time). So I returned the Gear and got Smartwatch 2 from Sony.. and that watch is really cool. It's waterproof to some point, it's very VERY light, super comfortable and you can even change the wrist stripe if you don't like the original one. It costs 150 EUR for silicon version, and 200 EUR for metal version here in Netherlands. So it's up to 50% cheaper than the Gear. Out of the box, you only have to install few applications to get messages, and notification to work. Installation is super easy and it works with nearly all devices running android 4.0 or higher. It's a nice device, but lack any kind of customization - and so far there haven't been any tools to change anything in the watch at all. Lately I got a chance to get a Gear for less than 200 EUR so I decided to give it another try, and here it is..
1. After using Smartwatch 2 for a while Gear feels more solid, but it's way more bulky. It doesn't rest nicely on my wrist, and I'm not a huge guy. I could survive uncomfortable top, but the metal bottom (where speaker and mic are located) is catastrophic. I can't stand having the watch on my wrist if I'm working on my desk, as it's touching the desk all the time and leaves scratches. Very annoying.
2. Installation. I had to change my custom ROM to original TouchWiz on my S3 to get Gear to work. Maybe it can work on custom - but there would be more troubles with it than stock so.. To get the full functionality, and don't run into endless troubles, you have to be stock, where SW2 works on custom roms without a single issue.
3. Out of the box experience.. it's a tragedy. The 'main menu' is really slow to operate, and even switching between apps can take few precious seconds. Notifications do not work properly. I have to use 3rd party app to get more notifications. No SMS forwarding to your watch. No replying to messages. No Gmail support. No keyboard. Simply nothing! Out of the box this is just a bluetooth headset with a clock. I don't know anyone who is really using S Voice on a daily basis. Samsung promised us making calls straight from our wrists, and Samsung did deliver that but..
4. Speaker quality - if you are using more than 50% of volume level, you can clearly hear a lot of buzzing. Sound is far from being clear. Not a huge issue though, it's a watch after all.
5. Hardware. Builtin camera that takes decent pictures and videos (as for a watch). Big plus! Loudspeaker so you don't have to hold your wrist to your ear - nice, although sometimes I would prefer to be the only one who can hear the other side (and look like an idiot, I don't care). AMOLED display with 320x320 resolution. Looks really sharp and vivid. Love it! Smartwatch is running a real Android 4.2.2, and that's great. You can root it, sideload apps and so.. but...
6. Usability - but it's pretty useless. There is no bluetooth tethering so you can't use any internet on your wrist (smartwatch 2 has a working internet browser!). You can install app like Tablet Talk to have messaging ability but it's really cumbersome, doesn't display your contact list, only the numbers are visible and generally, you can clearly see that it just wasn't designed for a wrist. I guess runninng Tablet Talk on Gear AND phone uses more battery which results in shorter battery life...
7. Typing. I can easily imagine typing short sentences/messages using Swype-like keyboard, or T9 styled. Display is big enough to send few words within seconds. Unfortunately that is not possible at the moment.
8. Future? There is definitely a future in smartwatches. This device is great, but Samsung tottaly ****ed up the software side. Nothing is working as it should, and if it does - it's cumbersome, and far from being user friendly. You can't get apps from Play Store, you have to use Samsung App Store which is really poor. There are very few apps that are actually somewhat usefull, but they do suck. I tried app like speedometer, that takes ages to start and catch a signal, and if it finally does - it's really ugly. SW2 to compare was displaying current GPS speed within seconds. When I was done with it, all I had to is just go back to home screen, or turn on the clock face, then GPS was stopped. On Gear? You have to open notifications, click on Speedometer, and FORCE STOP it in order to be closed. WHAAAAT?
I love the idea, I like the features (AMOLED, speaker, mic, touchscreen) but there way more wrong things with it than positive.. Media Controller doesn't always work properly, so you can't really shuffle songs etc. There is no SDK available to the publicity, so there won't be any dedicated apps from community anytime soon. Samsung didn't say anything that they will release it anyway so... if you buy the Gear, don't buy it cause it's gonna be "great in the future once XDA devs hack it". It didn't happen, noone knows if it's going to happen and what will come out of it...
I would really suggest waiting for next generation. But if you have spare cash, and can get the Gear cheaper than original price - go for it...

I don't think you would any of these problems if you use a samsung supported phone (N3, or S4 with latest update.)

skyline23 said:
I don't think you would any of these problems if you use a samsung supported phone (N3, or S4 with latest update.)
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Click to collapse
I'm using official Android 4.3 firmware provided by Samsung. S3 is officially supported.

hurdlejade said:
I'm using official Android 4.3 firmware provided by Samsung. S3 is officially supported.
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Click to collapse
To each his own. I'm sure the camera, mic and speaker and ability to use S Voice to respond to messages all work wonderfully on the SW2.

mhoepfin said:
To each his own. I'm sure the camera, mic and speaker and ability to use S Voice to respond to messages all work wonderfully on the SW2.
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Click to collapse
out of the box, SW2 beats Gear in every aspect, if you forget the camera/mic/speaker. S Voice? i guess it's only widely used in USA. i see a lot of people on the internet asking how to actually turn this thing off. it's one of the first things i did when i installed official 4.3 rom.
this is not a hate post. i just tried both products, they are both far from being perfect, and although gear seems to be superior, it lacks the software. and we shouldn't wait months for basic functionality that hardware is fully capable of.

It's all personal choice. I have both Sony s2 and the gear and in my opinion the gear is far better.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

ardsar said:
It's all personal choice. I have both Sony s2 and the gear and in my opinion the gear is far better.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
may i know why is it better? besides the camera/speaker/mic/svoice thingy.

It's my opinion and personal taste. .. It looks more like a watch rather than a big Square thing on your wrist. The Sony is only a second screen and is like a dumb terminal in that it can't run anything ( the Internet app you mention runs on the phone and relays the image to the watch) and you can't ignore the fact that it has a camera speaker Mike and svoice.
It's best to drop this thread like I said it's all personal opinion.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

ardsar said:
It's my opinion and personal taste. .. It looks more like a watch rather than a big Square thing on your wrist. The Sony is only a second screen and is like a dumb terminal in that it can't run anything ( the Internet app you mention runs on the phone and relays the image to the watch) and you can't ignore the fact that it has a camera speaker Mike and svoice.
It's best to drop this thread like I said it's all personal opinion.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just wanted to find out why you prefer gear over SW2, that's it.
i do realise that the internet browser on SW2 works more or less on screenshots.. but it works! and there is no possibility to do so on Gear, although it's capable of real rendering.

Owning 2 Galaxy Gear I guess you can tell I like it. With more and more things being added to the ability of the Gear such as ATN and launchers, etc it is growing leaps and bound sans Samsung. There are 2 versions of Sony out there and this has been out weeks. I say write this after February when it has been thru a few updates. I don't need my watch to do everything the phones does or i wouldn't have bought a 5.7 inch phone. The great things is competition is great and I'm sure Apple is gearing up for theirs and then someone will come and beat theirs and so on and so on. Consumerism at it's best.

Oh yeah, it's not consumer ready at all. But for the hacker/maker crowd out there, it's by far and away the best.
Phone calls.. you can make phone calls from your wrist!!! Come ON that's so cool. You can hack out the click sounds and take super secret spy photos from your wrist....
I have a freakin' game boy emulator .. I can play pokemon on my watch!
HELLO this is like the dream
YES .. the speaker scratching is a problem on my mac book pro, I have to pull up my long sleeve shirt over the bottom to keep it from scraping across the laptop which annoys me as well.
Not sure how they're going to fix that.

There are already enough of these threads here...
The watch des exactly what it says. It is a companion to phone, not a replacement (Why does a watch actually need software?)
it also has mic/speaker/cam which all work surprising well. Didn't take long to adjust to bulky speaker when resting palm on flat surface (mind I wear it a little loose)
There are several default notifications that are sent that everyone has - sms, email, etc. Granted they could do with more detail (html emails, all text in notification), however that will have to come when apps start supporting it - 4.3 helps a lot here
it is waterproof enough - that whole thing seems to be a scare campaign. All the watches available can survive water, just not to the extent of swimming/diving
Gear looks the best out of the watches available and once you use it for a few weeks, then the chance of wanting to return is much lower. I'd say my Pebble does more currently (especially tasker integration!), however, I've not touched it since getting gear a month ago
It only supports 4.3 and Touchwiz, but if you look at the percentage of s3, note2, s4, note3, and future phones, there is no need to support others. Will people complain when apple come out with a watch and it only supports two devices like pretty much everything else they do? (latest and previous model)
Samsung really need to get a move on with releasing sdk though
Plus it is first gen, so it can't have everything. Just be thankful you aren't with Apple and have to wait years for stuff everyone already has
Still going to try out Neptune Pine when it is released, but it is a replacement not companion

blazespinnaker said:
Oh yeah, it's not consumer ready at all. But for the hacker/maker crowd out there, it's by far and away the best.
Phone calls.. you can make phone calls from your wrist!!! Come ON that's so cool. You can hack out the click sounds and take super secret spy photos from your wrist....
I have a freakin' game boy emulator .. I can play pokemon on my watch!
HELLO this is like the dream
YES .. the speaker scratching is a problem on my mac book pro, I have to pull up my long sleeve shirt over the bottom to keep it from scraping across the laptop which annoys me as well.
Not sure how they're going to fix that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm enjoying my Gear paired with Note 3. Still completely stock, and I can see how some might think the price is steep for what it currently does. But again, I am ok with what I paid for it, knowing what it does so far and knowing what lays in store for it in the future.
I need to read up on rooting and side loading. How effective is a gameboy emulator on the small screen? Seems like there wouldn't be enough room

Awesome
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

hurdlejade said:
I would really suggest waiting for next generation. But if you have spare cash, and can get the Gear cheaper than original price - go for it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Snipped For Space!
At 73, I cannot play the waiting game. With smartwatches, women, and fastazz motorcycles..
I want and need it NOW!!
About you comments, they seemed to be like the case of one man's terrorist is another man's freedom-fighter..
BTW, can you answer and call from the SW2?? :fingers-crossed:

I also have a Sony Smartwatch 2. It's a great watch and the SDK support is superb. I recently bought the Gear and my first impression was
1. Wow, smaller than I thought. Because of the design less bulkier than the SW2. Way more stylish (up to a point even my gf thought that i didn't look like a total nerd)
2. Much better resolution and much clearer display
3. Touch response is so much better than the SW2
4. Awful charging method..
5. Miss the always on mode that the Sony has. The magical movement thing to wake up the Gear does work in say 75% of the time for me. The other 25% makes it a bad experience as a watch. Maybe I still have to get the hang of it and learn to make the movement work.. or maybe I have to adapt myself. Have the watch for 2 days now, I'm still learning and not ready to give an overall conclusion.
6 Apps.... yep the Sony has a lot more apps and yes there's a browser out there. But it also has a lot of weird amateuristic apps in the Play store (not made by Sony). I somehow am appreciating Samsung's approach now after a couple of days of using the Gear. They've teamed up with some good third party developers (a few not so good also) and seem to be very careful about what they release on the market right now. Seems like a good thing to me. I bet you can trash a potential goood product that still has to prove itself as a thing that could work by opening it for badly written and designed apps. Good thing to go easy on this. Nevertheless as a developer I love to jump on the bandwagon... But I understand that somehow one needs to direct the experience of a new product. Too many apps that do just half of what you can do can ruin the experience totally. (That said, they might have released the watch too early. On the other side, by releasing it early they now can work on a lot of feedback. It's a decision they've made and it is a decision that comes with a trade off (bad reviews), but in the end it might be the best decision. Nobody knows and nobody will know)

mike208 said:
I'm enjoying my Gear paired with Note 3. Still completely stock, and I can see how some might think the price is steep for what it currently does. But again, I am ok with what I paid for it, knowing what it does so far and knowing what lays in store for it in the future.
I need to read up on rooting and side loading. How effective is a gameboy emulator on the small screen? Seems like there wouldn't be enough room
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you kidding me! It's AWESOME ... well I have long thin fingers though. I use gameboid.
They could probably optimize the control setup on gameboid for the watch a bit more.
Sideloading is easy to do, don't need to root. I highly recommend it.
1. Wow, smaller than I thought. Because of the design less bulkier than the SW2. Way more stylish (up to a point even my gf thought that i didn't look like a total nerd)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. People have commented that the watch looks great. Sony with it's geeky logo and buttons... come ON.
That being said, there are pros/cons to them all. I'd *love* the battery life of the pebble on the Gear, but I can't go without having Android on my watch. That's just a non starter (for me), but I'm a developer so my opinion is entirely unreflective of the market at large .. but I love it, so who cares.
The one huge problem with the gear, in my opinion, is the lack of compatibility. That's what is really pissing 99% of the world out there that doesn't have a Note 3, frankly. This bundling nonsense is so deeply arrogant. It's monopolistic and completely unnecessary.
It's what makes you root against a company and pray they fail as an enterprise. It's the same sort of arrogance that makes me despise Apple and why I take every opportunity I can to root against them even though my career is tied up with their technology.

I agree with you on the speaker buckle being annoying, but otherwise, it's not THAT bad.

Off-topic, other device, comparisons to other devices, and upgrading discussion

Please use this thread to discuss devices other than and any comparisons with other devices on or about Gear Live in this thread and any other off-topic issues that are not needing a new thread.
Post with respect, this is a helpful community, hope we all learn from this stuff in here.

What made everyone choose this over the LG G watch?

i went for gear live because it has amoled display and the silver thing on the two side makes the watch look a bit premium
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

big_b0sss said:
i went for gear live because it has amoled display and the silver thing on the two side makes the watch look a bit premium
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
Don't forget it's also $30 less as by the end of the year we ALL know we will be owning superior devices anyways.

enko420 said:
Don't forget it's also $30 less as by the end of the year we ALL know we will be owning superior devices anyways.
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Click to collapse
i actually paid £10 more as its priced higher than lg g watch in uk

I absolutely cannot believe they did not include a speaker! I just returned the gear neo 2 because it was running Tizen and not Google wear. making phone calls on it without pulling my phone out of my pocket was the absolute greatest feature.I ordered the gear live because it was running Google wear, thinking of the future. Now I find out it does not have a speaker so I can not make phone calls from the watch. I'm going to return the gear live and go back to the gear neo 2. Wrong decision Samsung.

chumboy said:
I absolutely cannot believe they did not include a speaker! I just returned the gear neo 2 because it was running Tizen and not Google wear. making phone calls on it without pulling my phone out of my pocket was the absolute greatest feature.I ordered the gear live because it was running Google wear, thinking of the future. Now I find out it does not have a speaker so I can not make phone calls from the watch. I'm going to return the gear live and go back to the gear neo 2. Wrong decision Samsung.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly don't care for making phone calls on my Gear 2 Neo. If you aren't in a quiet room its near impossible to hear what they are saying.

enko420 said:
I honestly don't care for making phone calls on my Gear 2 Neo. If you aren't in a quiet room its near impossible to hear what they are saying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To each their own.
But it's fascinating to know you don't like it.
I had the Gear 2 Neo for about a week and had good results when not standing in Time Square.
Gear Live 2!

I would like the ability to turn off the motion sensor, sense everytime I move my wrist a certain way my watch just turns on.I look at my watch ocassionally and notice that the screen is on I have indavertenly been touching the screen selecting things. I prefer to touch the screen to turn it on. I have already turned off the screen always on option, but would like to turn off motion as well. Would extend the battery life alot further.

chumboy said:
To each their own.
But it's fascinating to know you don't like it.
I had the Gear 2 Neo for about a week and had good results when not standing in Time Square.
Gear Live 2!
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Click to collapse
i'm 100% in the not taking phone calls on a watch camp for the same reason i don't use speakerphone when not in a car.
but i would have liked a speaker simply for alarms and stopwatch/timer funcionality. nothing crazy, just a simple beep/chirp would have been enough

adiliyo said:
i'm 100% in the not taking phone calls on a watch camp for the same reason i don't use speakerphone when not in a car.
but i would have liked a speaker simply for alarms and stopwatch/timer funcionality. nothing crazy, just a simple beep/chirp would have been enough
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, we can find common ground here! A speaker would make us both happy.
Surprised that Sammy decided to remove a hardware feature rather than adding them (to a point).
Their research must have shown that the cost/benefit was upside-down.
So it goes.

They should have stuck with Gear 2 features and gwear os. I'm sure it will be ported.... I love my Neo 2
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

I have a feeling that Samsung was forced to make the watch according to Google specifications. (No Speaker, No WiFi, Single Button for turning the device on) There is also a WiFi antenna in the Gear Live that is not being used according to iFixIt.

StevenMattera said:
I have a feeling that Samsung was forced to make the watch according to Google specifications. (No Speaker, No WiFi, Single Button for turning the device on) There is also a WiFi antenna in the Gear Live that is not being used according to iFixIt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
antenna but they couldn't confirm if there is a wifi controller on the mobo, could just be the cheapest way to order that part for assembly.
i agree that samsung was probably told to stick to the reference design which i'm fine with, but it's curious that google decided not to include a basic speaker for alarm use in the reference design for android wear.
i am however much happier (so far) with the watch than i expected to be. if moto prices the 360 out of what i'm willing to pay, i'm actually satisfied enough to hang on to the gear live until i can get the moto for a reasonable price (i won't pay more than $250 for the 360)
---------- Post added at 12:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:32 AM ----------
hashcheck said:
They should have stuck with Gear 2 features and gwear os. I'm sure it will be ported.... I love my Neo 2
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i like the general design of the gear 2, but i am so glad that android made wear, i see adoption for this from a developer standpoint to be much much better than any proprietary garbage os that samsung puts out. and personally, i dislike samsung devices (read: touchwiz) and plan to stay away from them for the foreseeable future.

adiliyo said:
i like the general design of the gear 2, but i am so glad that android made wear, i see adoption for this from a developer standpoint to be much much better than any proprietary garbage os that samsung puts out. and personally, i dislike samsung devices (read: touchwiz) and plan to stay away from them for the foreseeable future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know, I've been reading about the gear watches and android wear all day and I still just don't see it. Anything that's on there I would normally pull up my phone for, and the small watch screen version and limited functionality (no speaker, small screen, etc)... I think if I get any notification I'll end up pulling out the phone and responding there anyway... Is this stuff just a lazy persons solution to a problem that doesn't exist?? If wear devices were more like little phones with built in wifi, IR (I think some gear watches had this?!), etc at least you could use it to control your movie watching experiences...
I'm probably just getting old and wanting stuff to stay how I'm used to it

peaklabs.net said:
I don't know, I've been reading about the gear watches and android wear all day and I still just don't see it. Anything that's on there I would normally pull up my phone for,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that IS the point, so you don't have to pull your phone 100 times a minute for every notification, it is trying to "change" the way we use the phone and not trying to replace it. For all that "extras" (Wifi, Speaker, etc, etc) you have the phone.
I love it, I hardly touch my phone now, the battery life on my phone had gotten so much better and I am more interactive responding to all SMSs and facebook/Whasapp messages than before. :laugh:

peaklabs.net said:
I don't know, I've been reading about the gear watches and android wear all day and I still just don't see it. Anything that's on there I would normally pull up my phone for, and the small watch screen version and limited functionality (no speaker, small screen, etc)... I think if I get any notification I'll end up pulling out the phone and responding there anyway... Is this stuff just a lazy persons solution to a problem that doesn't exist?? If wear devices were more like little phones with built in wifi, IR (I think some gear watches had this?!), etc at least you could use it to control your movie watching experiences...
I'm probably just getting old and wanting stuff to stay how I'm used to it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maturola said:
I think that IS the point, so you don't have to pull your phone 100 times a minute for every notification, it is trying to "change" the way we use the phone and not trying to replace it. For all that "extras" (Wifi, Speaker, etc, etc) you have the phone.
I love it, I hardly touch my phone now, the battery life on my phone had gotten so much better and I am more interactive responding to all SMSs and facebook/Whasapp messages than before. :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the watch essentially becomes a (more useful) implementation of notification triage, i can see what's important and respond to many things without taking out my phone.
it comes down to the user and their daily flow of usage. the big difference with this vs a very limited and closed off system (like samsung's system, or sony's for that matter) is that it leverages two things.
1. android itself as the platform (no seperate market, no need for seperate apps and figuring out how to make sure the apps work with the phone versions)
2. google now, which i think in the long run is going to be the real centerpiece of the platform. as it gets smarter you really will need to use your phone less for basic things since it will offer up the information you need when you need it with even less interaction necessary from the user.
the biggest deal breaker for the samsung system (for me) is the need for a crappy galaxy smartphone. i can't stand touchwiz and the lag samsung's software developers can't seem to get rid of in the many iterations they've had of their software.
i also enjoy the freedom of leaving my phone at my desk, or at home on the charging pad and just checking things on my watch as i go about my day.
i think i like android wear more as i don't want a tiny phone on my wrist to look awkwardly at and speak to people on. i want a companion device that lets me get on with my day and look at my phone less. it's a change in mindset and workflow that pulls you out of your phone and lets you get back into the world.

Yeah ... I'm constantly having to refer to my phone, more with this than I had to with my Galaxy Gear ... After two weeks with it, I feel like I'm done and ready to go back to the Galaxy Gear for good.
But I don't want to give up on it for some reason. I think because what it does do it look better than my Galaxy Gear, in terms of UI. And the always on is very nice.
I dunno ... Maybe I should have just gotten a Gear 2.

sbrownla said:
Yeah ... I'm constantly having to refer to my phone, more with this than I had to with my Galaxy Gear ... After two weeks with it, I feel like I'm done and ready to go back to the Galaxy Gear for good.
But I don't want to give up on it for some reason. I think because what it does do it look better than my Galaxy Gear, in terms of UI. And the always on is very nice.
I dunno ... Maybe I should have just gotten a Gear 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said in my previous post...I went from the Gear 2 Neo to the Live.
Found out it didn't have a speaker after I ordered it.
Tried it out for 3 days and (same as you) had to refer to my phone more.
Called Google to send it back and the Rep said "yea, surprisingly we're having allot of returns b/c of no speaker and many going back to Gear or Gear 2."
They sent me an email for to fill out stating why I'm returning. She said they're interested in feedback for the next model they release. I hope they listen.
I went back to my Gear 2 Neo and am patiently waiting for the next model (with speaker I hope).
They had the same with the Gear 1, made some changes and launched the Gear 2.
Don't waste your money on something you won't use and be happy with.
Wait for the Gear Live 2.

I think I'm going to suck it up though. When the next one comes out I'll gift it or sell it for $100 or so to subsidize the new one.

Gear live Versus gear2 neo

I just bought a neo 2 yesterday. My reasoning was
- 4 day battery. I have been using neo2 constantly since yesterday, and the battery only dropped 30%. Wow.
1 day battery will not work for me... I go a lot out on weekends and dont want to carry a charger (non-micro usb) with me. I know i will forget and then 1daybattey watch will be a bracelet.
- speaker phone is good.. like how I can quickly take a call, rather than run to find where did I leave my phone in the house.
- fleksy makes it easy to send messages.
- I can choose notifications I like to see on watch. For now I picked up whatsapp, messanger, skpye, hangouts, calls.
- I dont use google now... dont even have it enabled.
- I like the IR port to use for my TV and air conditioner.
So that all is good... I feel like this is a really useful device. BUT...
I feel concerned that this only works with samsung phones.
Android wear may get better that this is due time. Battey usage may improve...
Basically neo2 is miles ahead of android wear today, but android wear will get better in time...
I still have 2 week return window... so just wanted to get opinions of everyone else in the same boat. What did u choose and why?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

My wife read the post and her feedback was that my qn did now emerge out clearly.
So,
1) can android wear work without google now? Like reply back to sms, call notifications etc.
2) do u all forsee battery getting better to like 3 days with firmware updates on android wear?
Neo 2 has same size battery and works 4 days with more functionality... so I hope it gets better on wear platform.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

smrsxn said:
I just bought a neo 2 yesterday. My reasoning was
- 4 day battery. I have been using neo2 constantly since yesterday, and the battery only dropped 30%. Wow.
1 day battery will not work for me... I go a lot out on weekends and dont want to carry a charger (non-micro usb) with me. I know i will forget and then 1daybattey watch will be a bracelet.
- speaker phone is good.. like how I can quickly take a call, rather than run to find where did I leave my phone in the house.
- fleksy makes it easy to send messages.
- I can choose notifications I like to see on watch. For now I picked up whatsapp, messanger, skpye, hangouts, calls.
- I dont use google now... dont even have it enabled.
- I like the IR port to use for my TV and air conditioner.
So that all is good... I feel like this is a really useful device. BUT...
I feel concerned that this only works with samsung phones.
Android wear may get better that this is due time. Battey usage may improve...
Basically neo2 is miles ahead of android wear today, but android wear will get better in time...
I still have 2 week return window... so just wanted to get opinions of everyone else in the same boat. What did u choose and why?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only reason I got the live is because I decided to forego Samsung phones altogether. I got the LG g3 and love it. So I had to get rid of my gear 2 and get the gear live. Quite a step back for all the reasons you've mentioned. But hey, what can you do? Lol.

Actually gear neo 2 can work on non samsung phones as well... u just need gear manager apk on the other phone
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On my Gear Live, I get 2 days battery with the screen always on. More if I turn the screen off. It has improved with each firmware update. The main reason to get one - support from third party apps such as runtastic, and the hundreds of watch faces that have become available in such a short space of time. Things are accelerating very quickly!
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Gear Live and NEO have the same processor, battery and screen.
The difference is you can not always have the screen on, I always want the screen on.
If I am willing to use gestures to wake the watch I would notice no difference.
Yes you can pair the device to non-Samsung devices but you do not get 100% functionality.
Also Tizen, no thanks.

I had a gear one that was given to me. It was way too much a pain in the ass to get it to work with my nexus 4. Plus all the features you don't get. I'm happy with the gear live although it should have the functionality of being able to talk on the phone through it would have been perfect

In all honesty they both have good and bad points
The issue of battery is not a problem for me as I always have to charge the phone overnight so charging the watch is now second nature.
The biggest issue with the gear 2 is the notifications there just is not enough of the message on the screen when it alerts
For me the idea of a smartwatch is to see what's incoming and then I can decide if I need to look at the phone or not and with the gear live (and the original gear using an app caked swapplink ) I can do that, but I can't on the gear 2 which for me seems a waste of time having one.
As regards to apps the live has more apps available now and is growing day by day whereas the gear 2 has gone stagnant.
I have a galaxy gear running null rom , a gear 2 and a gear live and for me I have only used the gear live for a while and I've not missed the others, apart from making a call with the watch but I always felt a bit of idiot when I did hehe

machmandp said:
In all honesty they both have good and bad points
apart from making a call with the watch but I always felt a bit of idiot when I did hehe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
\\:laugh: Me too

smrsxn said:
Actually gear neo 2 can work on non samsung phones as well... u just need gear manager apk on the other phone
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it does connect and there are ways to get gear manager on your phone I know. Been there done that. the problem is that in the end the phone sees your watch as a bluetooth headset and when you pick up a call it gets diverted to your watch and you have to divert it back to your phone. You can't have a bluetooth headset and your watch connected at the same time, the pictures you take with your watch don't get transferred to your phone,the weather watch face doesn't work just to name a few things functionality wise. Trust me the calls getting diverted to your watch thing, it gets old fast. I'm sure there must be some kind of tasker workaround but I ain't got that kind of time on my hands.

After playing a whole day with a friends gear live, I decided to stick with gear 2 neo.
Being able to answer calls with my watch when at home, sms discreetly with fleksy when in a meeting, reject calls from watch when in a meeting, and a 4day battey life are more important use cases for me.
I do not use google now anyways... besides I get all app notifications on gear2 neo as well.
Very happy so far... but I am not married to this tizen platform... when android wear matures, i'll be back...
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Venting about gear 2

I recently received a Gear 2 for my Bday
I was excited and couldn't wait to play with it to see what it would do
Well I've had it going on 2 months now, to my displeasure the Gear 2 is useless IMO
1st the heart rate monitor doesn't monitor, you have to start it and 9xs out of 10 you have to restart it and it's mostly wrong, I've started 5xs conservatively and got a range from 65-95, WORTHLESS
2nd The pedometer, we'll it's never right, I can have the gear 2 sitting on coffee table and pick it up and it say I've walked 700 FT, WORTHLESS
3rd Apps, There are very very few apps that are worth downloading, unless you want a different watch face everyday, there are tons of watch faces and most of them are unattractive, plus I've purchased a few apps at the beginning and mostly none worked as advertised or they were very buggy, WORTHLESS
4th If I'm not mistaken Gear 2 came out in 2014 and here it is Nov 2014 and the Gear 2 is out of date, this thing was purchased for $299, luckily it was a gift, MAD
in my opinion Samsung screwed the consumer, Yes the phones are very good but on this watch thing it's an other issue, and a bad one
The reason I left the IPhone behind was because they are proprietary and now Samsung is doing the same thing
I'll be leaving Samsung behind also when contract is up
Thanks for the VENTING

Lonestarman said:
I recently received a Gear 2 for my Bday
I was excited and couldn't wait to play with it to see what it would do
Well I've had it going on 2 months now, to my displeasure the Gear 2 is useless IMO
1st the heart rate monitor doesn't monitor, you have to start it and 9xs out of 10 you have to restart it and it's mostly wrong, I've started 5xs conservatively and got a range from 65-95, WORTHLESS
2nd The pedometer, we'll it's never right, I can have the gear 2 sitting on coffee table and pick it up and it say I've walked 700 FT, WORTHLESS
3rd Apps, There are very very few apps that are worth downloading, unless you want a different watch face everyday, there are tons of watch faces and most of them are unattractive, plus I've purchased a few apps at the beginning and mostly none worked as advertised or they were very buggy, WORTHLESS
4th If I'm not mistaken Gear 2 came out in 2014 and here it is Nov 2014 and the Gear 2 is out of date, this thing was purchased for $299, luckily it was a gift, MAD
in my opinion Samsung screwed the consumer, Yes the phones are very good but on this watch thing it's an other issue, and a bad one
The reason I left the IPhone behind was because they are proprietary and now Samsung is doing the same thing
I'll be leaving Samsung behind also when contract is up
Thanks for the VENTING
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I own the original galaxy gear and while I was running with andriod for the longest time, I decided to give tizen a try and it made the watch better imo. However, pedometer and all of its original apps worked flawlessly with both OS's, the only gripe I have with it is that I can't swap bracelets like the gear 2. What apps are you using for it? I'm using News replubic, fleksy messenger, calculator, instant settings, travel translator and a whole bunch of watch faces; all working well. Ive been hesitant to try any of the other apps as I feel they are unnecessary, for example all the FB, twitter and location apps. One more thing I'd like to share is that different apps are available for different model phones, don't know why samsung does this; I've been able to get most apps by modifying the build prop on S3 to make seem like it is a S5. The pedometer works with a movement motions sensor on the watch, not GPS, this is why the watch picks up a step you move the watch up and down or back and forth.

I use News Republic, calendar, and a different media controller other than stock
I am disappointed really due to the lack of quality apps and the watch is out dated so quickly, less than months old and it's outdated, uurrrr
I wish there was away to make it into an Android Wear
More apps, would be better all around
It just makes me mad the watch is outdated and the lack quality apps all $299
I work had for my money and sacrifice to get items
I've learned a valuable lesson

Lonestarman said:
I use News Republic, calendar, and a different media controller other than stock
I am disappointed really due to the lack of quality apps and the watch is out dated so quickly, less than months old and it's outdated, uurrrr
I wish there was away to make it into an Android Wear
More apps, would be better all around
It just makes me mad the watch is outdated and the lack quality apps all $299
I work had for my money and sacrifice to get items
I've learned a valuable lesson
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you. I love my Samsung phones, but I have had the Gear 1 since inception and the apps have not been good and very far and few in between. I feel as if the gear 1 users were just abandoned by Samsung. In fact the original gear wasn't even out a few months when they brought out gear 2. This is my last try at being an early adopter to any electronics.
One more thing. The only app that most gear 1 users really enjoyed was Watch Styler for making new watch faces and that was even taken away.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app

Yeah the best thing to do about this new gimmick watch thing is to sit back and wait till everyone not just Samsung gets it right
I'm still mad at Samsung for putting out gear 2 and then months later they put out another, and then quit supporting it, it's just wrong, They should of done it right the 1st time
Even though I like there phones I'm done with them, they are screwing the consumer by putting out these watches that are obsolete in 3 months
I just hope someone that's smart enough can transform my gear 2 to something more usable
I'll be waiting

The watch let's us reply to text using s voice, emojies, text templates and of you are using fleksy it even let's you reply by using the fleksy app from your watch. You can place and answer calls using s voice and have a conversation thru the watch of you are driving, etc. You can read articles with the news republic app, take pictures with it (not pro quality but the cam is great), it let's you control the media you are playing on your phone and it plays music you've stored on your watch to use thru bt headphones while jogging/exercising, it let's read alerts from different apps and while you cannot reply to most, you at least can see who is trying to get a hold of you and if it's important to reply right away, you can use s voice to do quick searches (even though is not as accurate as ok Google) but it works fine, you can use a calculator on it, control different settings on your phone from the watch, select different fonts and background wallpapers, you can also take voice notes and memos and sync them to your phone for storage. This is a companion device, that's all. I find it very functional, what else would you like it to do?

I don't think you understand what I'm saying
Samsung has abandon the gear 2 and any gear before and the gear 2 is not even a year old, no developer will make any new apps that's worth anything
Yes it's a companion device, so what new app has come along lately that's worth anything as a companion to your phone ? , none!!!!
Do you really read News Republic from your gear 2 , Do you really use Flexky to text from your gear 2
If you do the are a small majority
So you listen to your music on gear 2 hell I can do the same with my phone with all my music not just limited
These are the apps I use on my gear 2
I heart radio has a companion app for gear 2 if you download and use I heart radio, its not in the gear manager
Calendar app that shows holidays and one or 2 watch face that show you a glimpse of the weather
I have tried to find apps that look worth using but come to find out the apps are so buggy or they just don't work as advertised
The gear manager sucks, come on be honest
All I'm saying is Samsung abandoned the gear 2 and now has the Gear S, Android wear that they concentrating on
Have you seen any support from Samsung for the gear 2, no just here on XDA
would you buy a phone that would be obsolete in 2 months of getting it with zero support no updates, you can not get any apps for the gear 2 except from gear manager all other watches you can get apps from the play store that are worth something out of a 1000 apps on gear manager out, which is very little, except maybe 5 that at with anything
This is just about to be 2015,show me some innovation
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app

Yeah I get what you mean, but I dont think the watches are obsolete just yet. I do agree that there isnt anything new for our watches cause all development as moved to newer watches. However, the gear S as doesnt attract me, specially its battery! come on now, such a large watch couldve had a bigger than 300mah battery, thats a big no no for me not to jump on it. Android wear is as good as our gear watches at the moment, im gonna wait for the new generation of watches that will come just like im waiting on the new generation of cell phones that will come, so that I dont regret buying something now that most devices are in transition to become better.

So tell me in 2 or 3 more generations of watches what you think you'll be able to do
I don't want to look like **** Track or Maxwell Smart, I hope you know who they are, Im telling my age now
I guess I expect to much from companies
I honestly believe they rely on there engineers heavily and don't listen to the average Joe on the street, (the consumer) I'm not bad mouthing engineers, I've worked around them for over 30 years now and if it wasn't for them we wouldn't have the advancements we now but I also know they can be the most stubborn and arrogant people I have been around
I actually believe this watch gimmick as I call it will be a bust
The screen is just to small to do anything with
Does anyone remember the old calculator watches back in the 70s and 80s,do you see thoughs anymore?
a watch is a watch, it gives you the time the date and maybe a timer or an alarm, that's it
Do you really want to look like an FBI agent talking to your wrist
OK I'm thru with my venting and rant
Thanks for letting me do that
See ya
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app

Honestly I feel watches are gonna move in the direction of the new Gear S watch, towards being devices independent from a cell phone. The question is why? simply because there is some demand for it and because there a lot invested on it. Also, they are thinking about watches just like they think about cell phones, new version every 6 to 12 months, its all about marketing and extreme consumerism.; so all we have to do is not fall for every device and research about specs and actual usability. For example, the new Gear S is a nice device but samsung messed up when they put such a small battery (300 mah just like out Gear). We just have to shop smart, personally I love watches which is why I have a "smart watch"

I love gadgets, but I'm getting old and probably set in my ways
In my life right now it's about being practical
I hope that your right, because before I pass away I want to see technology grow beyond my wildness dreams
Shot I remember when microwaves were 1st sold and we've grown every sense
I actually love new technology and gadgets, but I'm sorry to say the watch thing is going to go south, maybe not in next 3-4 years but it will be gone
I hope I'm wrong and your right
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I think smart watches do have a role to play, but they're not going that way. Yes, the screens are too small to surf the web or type emails etc. But what they're the right size for is to get strapped on my wrist where I can glance at them to see if it's worth pulling my phone out of my pocket right then and there (when I'm on my bike, or driving, or doing things). They're also great for taking a QUICK phone call when my hands are full or I'm busy, long enough to say "hold on a sec" or "I'll call you right back".
So much missing the point.

All I'm trying to say is are these watches worth the 199-299 price tag just so me and you can glance down to see who's calling us just because we are to lazy to pull our phones out of our back pocket
One more time as I've mentioned in the above threads
I have a gear 2 which was released this year 2014 which I wear every day and it's already obsolete, Samsung hasn't done one thing to the watch since release and there not going too, they have moved on to the Gear S and/or Android wear, the developers have stopped making apps for it and the apps that are out there are very buggy, they aren't worth using, so by the end of the year my gear 2 will be an expensive watch that will be doing the same thing an 35 dollar Timex will do, which is give me the time, the date, a stopwatch, etc
Maybe other smart watch makers will be OK and make some decent smart watches for the consumer but Samsung has pissed me off by taking mine and your money for a watch they knew they were going to stop supporting after a few months on the market and that's just wrong, period
There's nothing you can say to defend that unless you know a major change coming
I hope the smart watch trend works out, I love gadgets, I love technology but I will not spend my hard earned money on something that's doomed by the manufacturer from the beginning which right now is Samsung
In the business world if you want to keep your customers coming back you must treat your customers right
Yes I'm mad at Samsung for deserting me and others, they've showed no loyalty
So when it all said and done, I'm going to desert Samsung and show no loyalty to them
I'm hoping that there will be a developer out there that will be able root this gear 2 and make it useable in the future as an android device not a dedicated Tizen /Samsung device
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app

Lonestarman said:
All I'm trying to say is are these watches worth the 199-299 price tag just so me and you can glance down to see who's calling us just because we are to lazy to pull our phones out of our back pocket
One more time as I've mentioned in the above threads
I have a gear 2 which was released this year 2014 which I wear every day and it's already obsolete, Samsung hasn't done one thing to the watch since release and there not going too, they have moved on to the Gear S and/or Android wear, the developers have stopped making apps for it and the apps that are out there are very buggy, they aren't worth using, so by the end of the year my gear 2 will be an expensive watch that will be doing the same thing an 35 dollar Timex will do, which is give me the time, the date, a stopwatch, etc
Maybe other smart watch makers will be OK and make some decent smart watches for the consumer but Samsung has pissed me off by taking mine and your money for a watch they knew they were going to stop supporting after a few months on the market and that's just wrong, period
There's nothing you can say to defend that unless you know a major change coming
I hope the smart watch trend works out, I love gadgets, I love technology but I will not spend my hard earned money on something that's doomed by the manufacturer from the beginning which right now is Samsung
In the business world if you want to keep your customers coming back you must treat your customers right
Yes I'm mad at Samsung for deserting me and others, they've showed no loyalty
So when it all said and done, I'm going to desert Samsung and show no loyalty to them
I'm hoping that there will be a developer out there that will be able root this gear 2 and make it useable in the future as an android device not a dedicated Tizen /Samsung device
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same with the Gear 1 that I bought... l have been a dedicated Samsung customer on phones for years and I am beginning to rethink that..
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app

I realized I was sloppy and vague in my earlier post, so to fix that: "so much missing the point" was meant to apply to Samsung & smartwatch makers in general, and not Lonestarman and Rsmin, with whom I substantially agree. I just wish the focus could be on doing the simple things (email, messaging, notifications, maps) *well*; after that, anything else is gravy. At least for how I roll.
I can't begin to tell you how peeved I am that Sammy's latest few Manager updates broke rich notifications.

Ha! You guys are insane! I love my Gear watch. I have the original gear watch and I found it useful in more ways than one. Take my post light heatedly guys, I know each situation is different for everyone.
For those of you with gripes about the apps and functionality, you need to seriously sit back and re-think what it is you thought this watch could do. Being able to see messages because you are too lazy to pull it out of your pocket is ludicrous. I drive a lot for work, not only that, when I am in the office I am often in different team members cubes assisting with something. I don't have to pull my phone out of my pocket and fumble around with the side key then swipe up and enter messages to see who just messaged. It's there at a quick glance. I don't have to unplug my phone each time I walk away from my desk so I don't miss a call.
If I am at a team members desk and my phone is ringing (usually on silent) I know about it. I have missed many, many important calls before simply because I forgot my phone was on silent or I was away from my desk. With this watch, I am alerted no matter what. You're telling me that alone isn't worth the price tag?
What about when you are driving and your wife asks you to bring something home for dinner. All the food places are miles from your home. You get home, only to realize you missed the call, and have to go back out. This has happened to me also.
These situations may be specific to me, but reading all these negative posts leads me to believe you all thought your watches would become your wives. Cooking dinner for you, rubbing your feet, telling you how great you look in those new skinny jeans of yours. It's not a "fleshgear" gents. And the pedometer and heart rate sensor? Of course it's not going to work! LOLOL. It's a stupid gimmick Samsung keeps throwing in all their ****, everyone knows this, and you should have too.
I have found usefulness in quickly telling someone the weather in the coffee room while my phones at my desk. I used the calculator daily. I use the vrecord app to take pictures of me and my family on Halloween from my phone that was set 10 feet away. I use the media control to control the music on my phone connected to a blue tooth speaker while my phone is in the other room charging. I use svoice to send texts and make calls right from the watch. I find it most useful at home, when I move about the house and the phone is charging in the cradle.
This is an accurate portrayal of all the things this watch can do, and I have a first gen. Please don't write something nasty back, I won't bother answering you. These are my 2pennies and information for anyone who might be thinking about grabbing a first gen gear on A4C.com for $84 and free shipping.
Best of luck to you all,
-Dave
---------- Post added at 01:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:52 PM ----------
Oh, and I do agree Gear Manager sucks. Samsung is the WORST about updates.