????但是Android Wear也并非沒有瑕疵。它的通知管理在某些地方做得仍然不足，比如不支持谷歌的通訊工具Hangouts。另外還有不少小問題，比如當你回復了一條信息之后，通知就應該自動消失，但是Android Wear上的通知卻不會自動消失，而是要等你去手動清除它。另外有些第三方應用的回復欄上面會顯示出一個綠色的復選框，而不是通常的輸入界面。

????除了觸摸輸入之外，Android Wear也支持谷歌的語音識別軟件。我很高興地發現，只需要很短的時間，它就可以識別出“OK谷歌，7分鐘后提醒我給牛排翻一下面”這樣復雜的指令。語音指令同樣可以用在搜索、撰寫郵件或短信、定鬧鐘甚至是在Lyft網站上打車——只要你像蝙蝠俠一樣很酷地說一聲：“OK谷歌，給我叫輛車。”

????在實測過程中，Android Wear的語音指令大多數時候可以毫無問題地運行。（只有一個例外：當我在一個有很多“熊孩子”大喊大叫的屋子里時，機器無法識別我發出的“OK谷歌”的啟動指令。雖然我可能是當代的“糊涂偵探”，但我卻沒有一個隔音區。）我常常只要一抬手腕，就能設置一些項目或者發送一些文字。最妙的是這些在10秒鐘之內就能完成（你可以試試看在智能手機上需要多長時間）。

????我要坦白，當我第一次發現有人盯著我對一塊手表喃喃自語的時候，我感覺非常尷尬，但是后來我克服了這種尷尬感。相比之下，我上次試用谷歌眼鏡就沒有過去這個“心理關”。

????由于安卓開發者們給谷歌Play Store里的很多現有應用也添加了Android Wear功能，因此使這款智能手表平添了許多新的能力，也使Android Wear在目前市場上智能手表產品中一枝獨秀。比如達美航空公司（Delta Airlines）出品的Fly Delta應用就包含了一個Android Wear版，一旦你把智能手表與手機進行配對，Wear版的應用就會自動安裝，然后你就可以將腕表的屏幕當成登機牌來使用。（至于航空運輸管理局的安檢人員是否認可這張“登機牌”，那就是另外一回事了。）從我本人來說，我希望星巴克（Starbucks）也能早日推出相應的Android Wear應用，這樣我就可以在智能手表上顯示我的會員卡條形碼來進行快速支付了。

????再回到前文提到的身份象征問題。智能手表是否成為一種身份的象征？雖然這也不是谷歌的錯，但是搭載Android Wear的第一批智能手表缺乏具有吸引力的外觀，恐怕暫時難以取代傳統手表。LG的G Watch看起來就像一個黑色的塑料方塊，三星的智能手表則飾以銀色塑料邊框。這樣看來，這兩款手表的硬件設計顯然是讓位于軟件和服務了。就這一點，我要給個差評。（外觀更好看的摩托羅拉Moto 360智能腕表將在今年夏天上市。而傳言已久的蘋果iWatch據悉要等到九月份才能與消費者見面。）

????但是，它們的確是在朝著正確的方向發展。智能手表需要提高的方面還有很多。雖然對于生產廠家來說，他們面臨的風險與16世紀生產懷表的廠商可能無法同日而語，但有一點毫無疑問，他們將改變我們的生活方式。（財富中文網）

????譯者：樸成奎

????It’s not all hunky dory. Notification management falls short in some areas, particularly for Hangouts, Google’s communication tool. The quibbles are small but frequent: for example, it makes sense for a notification to disappear after you reply to a message, yet it persists until you manually clear it. And third-party apps that allow you to reply display a green check mark upon the selection of that option, rather than the usual input dialogue.

????In addition to touch input, Android Wear supports Google’s speech recognition software. I’m happy to report that it takes very little time to fire off instructions like “OK Google, remind me to flip the steaks in 7 minutes.” The same can be done to search, compose an email or text message, set a timer, or even call a Lyft car with a Batman-eqsue, “OK Google, call a car.”

????In testing, Android Wear’s voice commands mostly worked without issue. (An exception: when I was in a room full of screaming kids, I couldn’t get the initial “OK Google” command to work. I may be a modern-day Maxwell Smart, but I lack a cone of silence.) I regularly found myself setting or sending an item just by lifting my wrist and uttering some words. The best part: all of it was done in 10 seconds or less. (Try doing that on a smartphone.)

????True, I was overcome with embarrassment the first time I caught someone looking at me as I dictated a text message to my watch. I got over it in a way that I wasn’t able to with, say, Google Glass.

????There are a number of new capabilities opening up as Android developers bundle Android Wear functionality into existing Android apps in Google’s Play Store, setting the platform apart from other smart watch offerings on the market. For example, the Fly Delta app also includes an Android Wear app: Once you pair a watch to your smartphone, the Wear app is installed and you’re able to use the screen on your wrist as your boarding pass. (Finding a TSA agent that allows you to use it, on the other hand, is another story.) I hope for a Starbucks Android Wear app with which I can display my Starbucks Card barcode for quick payment.

????And what about that status symbol, you ask? Though it’s far from Google’s fault, the first models of Android Wear watches lack a compelling look to serve as a replacement for more analog alternatives. LG’s G Watch looks like nothing more than a block of black plastic, while Samsung’s Gear Live offers a plastic face with a silver bezel. The watches’ hardware design clearly took a backseat to software and services. For once, that’s not OK. (The better looking, if large, Moto 360 arrives later this summer. Apple’s rumored iWatch? September, supposedly.)

????But they’re headed in the right direction. There’s a lot of work yet to be done on the smart watch, and though the companies that make them aren’t quite facing the same stakes as their analog counterparts in the 16th century, there is no question that they will change the way we live our lives.