Hey Cortana doesn't work as advertised. I think that once I turn on, Cortana is supposed to respond whenever I say "Hey Cortana." I went through the process of training Cortana for my voice, and it worked for a while but then stopped.
I next tried configuring Hey Cortana to just work via any voice, and again it would work for a while and then stop. Cortana is one of the features of Windows 10 that Microsoft is promoting really hard, so it isn't good that it isn't working as one expects.
Continnum is one of the new features in Windows 10, and one that I find most interesting. The idea is have Windows automatically switch between the full screen tablet mode, which in the past has been referred to as Modern UI, and the traditional desktop with start menu mode.
Microsoft has said that Continuum will decide which mode based on whether or not there is a keyboard attached to the computer. Of course, Continuum only makes sense for 2-in-1 computers where one is going to frequently add and remove keyboards. An example of such a 2-in-1 is the Surface 3.
Indeed, when I attach and remove the Type Cover keyboard from my Surface 3, Continnum automatically switches between tablet and desktop modes. To the best of my knowledge, however, Microsoft hasn't explicitly stated Continuum will only work with the Type Cover, so shouldn't it work when a bluetooth keyboard the Logitech k480 is attached?
If I were designing Continuum, I would have made it work with Bluetooth in a way such that when you pair a Bluetooth keyboard it asks you which mode, desktop or tablet, do you want to use with that keyboard. Ideally, Microsoft would also enable users to manually configure which mode right from the Bluetooth settings, unfortunately it does not appear there is any way to configure Continuum.
An even more obvious connection for desktop mode is when there is a mouse attached to the computer. If I have a mouse paired and connected to the Surface 3, that is a very strong indication that I prefer desktop mode.
As it currently exists, Continuum doesn't appear to work for standalone tablets where one might use a bluetooth (or USB) keyboard or mouse.
You can manually switch between tablet and desktop mode from the Action Center, but that is not the automation promised by Continuum. I am hopeful that I just misunderstanding how Continuum is supposed to work, but I fear that for right now it is only going to be of use with the Microsoft Surface computers.
Ok, the upgrade is now complete and it is time for first impressions. Time to poke around and see what Windows 10 has to offer.
I see the Windows desktop, at the bottom left is a Windows button and a search input box. Click the button and I see the Start Menu. My understanding is that this is how the Surface 3 will appear whenever the keyboard is attached.
Hello Cortana? Apparently, Cortana is not listening by default, she didn't respond to my query. I think I have a notification, per a little message icon on the lower right. Clicking that displays the Action Center, but no notifications.
Now what do I do? Seems to me that all OS vendors have an issue in getting users to discover the new features in an upgrade.
Checking out Edge, the new web browser by typing in this update. Something is wrong, because there is a huge lag while I type here in Fargo. Another problem with Edge is that it doesn't support LastPass, which I rely on heavily. I will not be living on the Edge.
Cortana says she might not like the microphone built in to the Surface 3. How cannot she not know about a microphone in a Microsoft computer? I went ahead and set it up, and it appears to work just fine. It looks like I have to click the microphone in order to talk to Cortana, I wonder if there is a way to configure her to always be listening for me?
Next, I try the Calendar, but something is wrong, it keeps shutting down. It tried setting up my accounts and then went away, not leaving a good first impression. Appears Calendar is simply refusing to run right now. Not good. Time to try Mail.
Well, Mail is doing the exact same thing. I am going to bet they don't like the Exchange accounts I set up under Windows 8. I wonder how I can fix that?
Tried People, which said it didn't have any accounts, so I configured it to work with my Google account, and it at least appears to work as expected. Calendar and Mail, on the other hand, keep shutting down.
Sweet... One Calendar doesn't appear to be recognizing the Gmail license I paid for, will need to figure out how to make that work. I am starting to accumulate a pretty good "what's broken" list here, which is not a very good experience.
I restarted the Surface 3 and that resolved whatever issue that I was having with Calendar and Mail, although it did force me to re-configure each of my accounts.
I am having issues with the Surface Pen after upgrading to Windows 10. The top pen button is only working for the touch version of OneNote and not the desktop version as I have it configured in the Surface app. This issue is similar to what I experienced when I first got the Surface 3 and at that time (several months ago) the solution was a patch for Windows 8 that solved the problem. Given that Windows 8 was patched, I don't understand why this problem would exist in Windows 10, but it is. Fortunately, I don't use the button too often, so this is not a deal killer.
I have a Logitech k480 Bluetooth keyboard that I use with my Surface 3. Right now, when I use this keyboard with the Surface 3 it is in tablet mode, I think it might be nicer to use it in desktop mode. Ideally, I would be able to configure the Surface 3 such that whenever it is connected to the k480 it Continuum automatically switches to desktop, just like when using the Type Cover. If it won't do it automatically, I will settle for manual. I need to learn more about Continuum to see if this is possible.
I begin the upgrade at 10:00 AM; the upgrade appears to be finished at 11:00 AM, taking one hour. I am currently at the welcome back screen, so at this point I assume that the upgrade itself is complete and all that is left is for me to explore.
The beginning
The Windows 10 task bar "bug" was displaying this morning, and when I clicked it I got a message saying that my free Windows 10 upgrade is here! I clicked Ok, let's continue.
I did a quick scan on Twitter, #Windows10 and didn't see any screams of pain, so I am guessing people are not finding the upgrade process horrific.
First, I got Microsoft's software license terms, Accept. More preparing for the upgrade. I can either schedule the upgrade to occur later, or start the upgrade now. I think I am going to get a cup of coffee before starting the upgrade.
Configuring update for Windows 10
Made sure the Surface 3 is plugged in to power
Started the upgrade at 9:56 AM
PC restarted.
Configuring update for Windows 10.
Seeing lots of "Brazillian Date" pics using the #Windows10 hashtag on Twitter. Somebodies are capitalizing on the fact that Brazil is one of Microsoft's "live" locations for the upgrade.
70% complete at 10:03 AM. This is going pretty quick. Helped by the fact that the install bits were downloaded either last night or during the week. Downloading the software can account for a good percent of the upgrade time with desktop OS upgrades. Pushing the upgrade bits prior to notification that the upgrade is ready is a page out of the smartphone OS upgrade playbook, and well done in this instance. It gets past the "busy server" issue of everyone downloading the software.
100% at 10:06 AM, and then a reboot.
Upgrading
Hmm... another upgrade progress window now appears, starting at 0%, and at the bottom of the screen it says Copying files 2%. So then, what does the "Configuring update" and percentages above mean? It feels a little bit like false advertising. The Upgrading Windows progress screen is telling me my PC will restart serveral times. Sit back and relax. OK.
22% at 10:25; Copy files 75% complete
10:28 AM, reboot, I assume because Copy files completed. Hmm... screen has just gone completely blank after showing the Surface boot. Now the Upgrading Windows screen re-appears at 30% (10:30 AM). It now says at the bottom that it is Installing features and drivers 6%.
Because I am upgrading a tablet, I expect installing features and drivers to go pretty quickly, it is not like there is a tone of cards in this computer. So far 30 minutes has elapsed during the upgrade, and comparing this upgrade in my mind to other tablet upgrades, it seems to me this upgrade is taking much longer. On the gripping hand, Windows 10 is a full computer operating system as opposed to an "optimized" operating system such as iOS and Android.
40% complete at 10:33 AM
Quick comparison, a #Windows10 search on Twitter does surface much useful information. A #Windows10 search on Google+ appears to have more useful info. I really hope that Google+ does end up in the dustbin like Reader and Wave, I think Google+ is a much more valuable community and has much more useful information than other social networks. I am not even sure what will replace Google+ if it goes away.
50% complete at 10:43 AM. Is this the real progress?
71% complete at 10:53 AM
10:55 AM reboot, 75% complete. Configuring settings
83% complete at 10:57 AM, one hour has elapsed.
99% complete at 11:03 AM.
Initial set up
At 11:03 AM I see a "Hi there, welcome back!" At this point I need to pause to finish some other stuff that I am working on.
11:49 AM, clicked Continue. See settings options, select Use Express settings. Problems getting screen recognize mouse clicks from touch keyboard, suddenly clicks are recognized and I click through several screens.
Now I see a screen with a blue background, time and date display, with what I think is a WiFi network indicator and battery level.
Swipe up, and I see a Password screen, my picture, and a "Window" with a light display. Do go towards the light?
Enter password... logs on, now Windows 10 says Hi, it's setting up my apps. This won't take long, or so says Windows 10. Will Cortana talk to me?
Now Windows 10 is taking care of a few things. Like setting up my apps, I think.
Finally, screen says Lets Start. I end up at the desktop, nice wallpaper that has someone running on a beach, beautiful blue sky, all should be well, it seems to say. Skype for Desktop starts up, it looks like I have a little bit of exploring to do.
At this point, I believe the upgrade is complete, now it's time for me to explore Windows 10 and I am going to start a new blog post about my initial experiences.
I just had the strangest experience with my Moto X. Last night I was not able to get to the passcode screen on my phone. I would slide the unlock button down and end up at a blank screen. Same thing happened when I pressed the power button, and there was nothing it seemed I could do to fix the problem.
First, I tried rebooting the phone in safe mode, thinking the problem had to do with an IFTTT recipe I had created to change the wallpaper based on an Instagram hashtag. My theory was that there were so many notifications coming into my phone, it was giving Active Display fits.
The IFTTT rule may have been the problem, but I don't know for sure. What I do know is that rebooting in safe mode did no good. In fact, it was worse, all I got was a blank screen with the Safe Mode label shown at the bottom left.
My next step was to wipe the cache partition. Turns out that the instructions that Motorola provides for wiping the cache partition is incorrect for those with Lollipop installed on their Moto X. If you have Lollipop on your Moto X then step 5 in the instructions is wrong, instead press the Power button for 2-3 seconds and then press Volume Up.
Alas, wiping the cache partition also did not fix my problem last night. At this point I did not know what to do, so I posted a query on Motorola's forum (which still hasn't been responded to) charged up the phone and went to bed resolved that today I would have to completely wipe the phone with a factory reset.
To my surprise, it seems that what I needed to do was leave the phone alone for several hours. When I got up this morning and turned the phone on, it successfully booted up and provided the passcode screen so I could enter my PIN. I have not wiped the phone, but I have found that the cache partition wipe did happen as I have had to log back in to all the services I've been using on the phone. I've also managed to lose two home screens in the process, but in general the phone seems to be working as expected.
A full factory wipe may still be in the future for my Moto X, but for the moment I am just happy to have my phone operating.
In a previous article I wrote at length about what I like about my Moto 360. I said in that article that I am happy with my Moto 360 and wear it every day. While I am able to list several reasons for using the Moto 360, there are a few things I wish were better: battery life and apps.
Managing battery life
My biggest beef with the Moto 360 has been battery life, however some changes have recently lead to a significant improvement. The bottom line is that a smartwatch must have at least 16 hours of battery life to get one from when they wake up until they return to bed.
It is not as easy to recharge a smartwatch as a smartphone, you have to take the watch off and then plug it in or place it on a charger, rather than simply plug in a cable as you do with a smartphone. Consequently, there is less notion of "topping off" a smartwatch battery and that means it must get through an entire day.
My early experiences with the Moto 360 were wildly different battery life results. One day I had the battery drain in as fast as four hours, the very next day I would get 14 hours, without really doing anything more than restarting the watch.
I wrote earlier of how I like to change watch faces, and I have learned that some faces can significantly drain battery life. Faces that display multiple things like the weather, watch battery life, and phone battery life might drain the battery faster than a face that just displays the date and time.
I posted several messages on Google+ seeking advice about what to do and got many suggestions ranging from re-establishing the connection to the Moto X to not using certain features and sticking with the "stock" faces that Motorola provides. When you pay nearly two hundred dollars for a device you don't want to limit yourself by not using all its features simply to be able to use the watch throughout the day.
Bottom line is that Google and watch manufacturers have to make long battery life a primary objective for every new release of Android Wear and for every new watch. Fortunately, three recent changes have lead to significant improvement in battery life with my Moto 360, two of the changes came from something I did and one came from an upgrade to Android Wear.
What I Did To Improve Battery Life
The first thing I did was remove Google Fit, which is Google's fitness monitoring app for Android phones and watches. Google Fit does a decent job of determining whether you are walking, running, or climbing stairs. I really like how the smartphone app displays your steps and progress, and I really wanted to keep using it, but many people were reporting that Google Fit caused a huge watch battery life drain.
After I uninstalled Google Fit from my phone, which it seems you have to do to get Fit to stop running on the watch, there was a noticeable improvement in battery life on the Moto 360. My guess is that the watch app is constantly sending information back to the phone so that it isn't lost, and that may be causing the battery drain. Hopefully Google finds a way for Fit to not have such a huge hit on battery. In the mean time, I am using Moto Body to track steps on the Moto 360.
The next improvement came courtesy of Motorola when they finally pushed version 5.1.1. of Android Wear to my Moto 360. I don't have any hard evidence that the upgrade to Android Wear has provided a big improvement, but it feels to me that it has and therefore I choose to give Motorola some credit with improving battery life.
Finally, due to issues I was having with my Moto X, I completely wiped and re-built both my smartphone and the watch. In this case I think the issue had to do with how Bluetooth functions as for now I see bluetooth connections being much more stable between the Moto X and a variety of devices, including the Moto 360.
Lack of apps
Smartwatch apps are challenging to develop. You are limited by very tiny screens and a few forms of input, so developers have a challenge in creating something useful. Consequently, there are few Android Wear apps available and many them have little value to me, but fortunately I find the built-in features of Android Wear provide enough value that I continue wearing my Moto 360.
Most of the watch apps that are available act as an extension to an app you have on your smartphone. For example, the Google Keep watch app displays all the notes you have in Google Keep on your smartphone. If you create a checklist, such as a shopping list, you can display and check off the items on that list on the watch, and that gets updated on the phone.
Google recently added the ability for apps to remain on the display, similar to how watch faces display. In previous versions of Android Wear all apps "closed" and were replaced by the watch face after a period of time, which made it cumbersome working with checklists in Keep. Now Keep stays on the display until you swipe it off, making it possible for you to continually see your shopping list as you are in the grocery store.
Most of the apps, like Foursquare and Glympse, that are on my watch came as part of the app on my phone, I didn't seek them out. One app that I did specifically install is designed specifically for watches and is called Wear Battery Stats.
You can always see the percent of battery life left on your watch by swiping down on the watch face, however it can be challenging to translate a percentage into how many hours of battery life is left.
Wear Battery Stats displays a graph on your watch showing how fast the battery is being drained and will tell you in how many hours the battery will be empty. The information is also sent to your phone, where you can see a history of how the watch battery has drained over the last five days, which can be helpful in troubleshooting battery life issues. I recommend that everyone with an Android Wear watch install this free app.
The other app I use is IF, which is the app version of the Internet service IFTTT.com. I use the IFTTT.com service to integrate a number of different Internet services. You can create recipes that work with Android Wear, for example, I have recipes to turn the Phillips Hue lights in my house on and off, and I can trigger those recipes by tapping a button on my watch. I've also created recipes to quickly send "canned" text messages to my wife, like telling her I am on my way home.
Aside from Wear Battery Stats and IF, I don't use the other apps on my watch very much. I do keep my eye out for new apps, for example, I really hope a version of MLB At Bat that will provide "near real time" updates of baseball scores will become available. Google Now only updates baseball scores after a few innings, but fortunately I can see scoring notifications from MLB At Bat on the watch.
Right now, one has to hunt to find truly useful watch apps, but fortunately, I think most people will be happy with just a few really good ones. All you might need is one really good reason to keep wearing a smartwatch. I see smartwatches as an accessory to my phone, therefore I find having quick access to notifications, text messages and email pretty useful.
Battery technology is a challenge for every mobile platform, we all desire devices that can go for days before having to be plugged in. One way that smartphone manufacturers have improved battery life is buy selling larger phones that can have larger batteries, but this won't be an option for watches.
I am not going to wear a watch that is larger than the Moto 360, in fact if anything I want my watch to be smaller. Consequently, battery life is always going to be the great challenge for all smartwatch makers. I am looking forward to seeing how Google and companies like Motorola improve the battery life of smartwatches in the future.
I've been wearing a Moto 360 for a little over six months, so I thought now would be a good time to share some of my experience with using this Android Wear smartwatch. I'll be writing about the Moto 360 because it is the watch that I own, but what I am writing about applies to all Android Wear watches. Android Wear is very much a work in progress, and as you will see, my experience reinforces this fact.
I started to write one article about what I like and dislike about the Moto 360, but that quickly grew too large so I decided to break the article into two parts, one about what I like and the other about what I dislike. In this first article I will explain six things that I like most about the Moto 360.
Voice support
Compared to smartphones, smartwatches have small screens that will only get smaller over time. The ability to precisely touch buttons or icons on the screen is only going to get more difficult, and therefore voice support is important. My ability to speak commands to my watch is one thing I like most about the Moto 360.
To set a timer I say, "Ok Google, set timer for 10 minutes" and a timer is set on the watch for 10 minutes and begins running. To set an alarm I say, "Ok Google, set an alarm for 3 PM." To find out the the outside temperature I say, "Ok Google, what is the temperature outside?" and a card displays with the current outside temperature.
When someone sends me a text message or email, I can browse the message and dictate a reply that is translated to text and sent as a reply. Speech to text does require an Internet connection, provided either via phone or a WiFi network, but I find it works pretty well.
One surprising aspect of the Moto 360 is that it does not have a speaker, so you will not hear the Google Android speak back the answer to my question about the temperature like you do with Android smartphones. Consequently, you cannot use an Android Wear smartwatch as a phone, such as you might have seen in those old Dick Tracy comics. Some may find the lack of audio as a deficiency, but I could take it or leave it.
Glance-able information
My first experience with notifications, now common on all smartphones, is with the Fossil Abacus SPOT (Smart Personal Object Technology) watch back in 2004. SPOT was a data protocol developed by Microsoft that used the FM radio band for wireless communication. Microsoft pushed snippets of information, things like sports scores, stock quotes, and news headlines, from the MSN service to the watch.
I really liked having this information pushed to me throughout the day, and bear in mind this was several years before the smartphone notifications we are familiar with today were first introduced.
All notifications that appear on my smartphone can appear on my Moto 360, which allows me glance at that information without having to take out my phone. I can specify which notifications I want to see so that I am not constantly feeling a buzzing on my wrist. To close a notification, I simply swipe it away to the right and it is removed from my Moto 360 and my smartphone.
Watch faces
What I like most about Android is how I can personalize it with wallpapers, widgets, icons, and folders. It is no surprise then, that I really like the ability to change watch faces on my phone.
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The Moto 360 ships with several different watch faces, each which you can customize either by changing backgrounds or adding items like the date. One Moto 360 face has two little clocks that you can set to different time zones, which I find helpful when working with colleagues outside the United States. I've customized another face with a picture of the Wrigley Field scoreboard, and I like to switch to that face while watching the Chicago Cubs.
An ever growing number of watch faces are available on Google Play either for free or for a small amount. I use an app called Watchmaker that one can use to create a watch face, and there is a huge library of free faces at Facerepro.com. Every week or so I browse the Facerepro site for new faces that I download to my Moto X and then transfer to the Moto 360 as I wish.
Wireless charging
The Moto 360 is the first device I have ever owned that charges wirelessly, and it is wonderful. Each night I simply place the Moto 360 in its charging cradle, with no fiddling to open a cover on the watch and attach a cable.
It may be a factor of how small the battery is in the Moto 360, but it recharges pretty quickly. In a little over an hour my Moto 360 is completely recharged. Motorola had the good sense to use the Qi charging standard, so you can place it on all sorts of charging pads.
If only the Moto X supported Qi charging.
IFTTT
By now you may have noticed that I have yet to write anything about apps. I think it is fair so say that Android Wear lags in apps, not too unlike how Android initially did in comparison to iOS.
Part of the problem may be that it takes effort to design a useful smartwatch app. You can't simply port a smartphone app to the watch, it takes some thought to design an app that has functions you actually will use on a watch.
An app that I think does this well, is IF, which is the app version of the If This Then That (IFTTT) Internet service. You can use IFTTT to integrate different Internet services, apps, and devices. Think of it as, IF something happens THEN do something, for example IF the time is 9 AM THEN turn on the Hue light in my home office.
For Android Wear the trigger, or the "IF" part of the equation is pretty simple, it's basically if you tap a button on the screen. In my case I have options for turning the Philips Hue lights in my house on or off. I also have a simple IF trigger on my watch to send a text message to my wife to tell her I am on my way home.
The best thing about IFTTT is that it provides a way to add functionality to your watch or phone without having to wait for a developer to write an app. IF is by far the most used app on my Moto 360.
Integration with Moto X
The final item is the integration between the Moto 360 and my smartphone, a Moto X. I configure all my smartphones with a password to provide a level of security should it be lost or stolen, however if I am frequently accessing my phone having to constantly enter the password can be a pain. The Moto 360's ability to be a trusted device alleviates having to constantly enter the password on my phone.
Trusted devices is a feature first introduced by Motorola and unique to the Moto X and Verizon Droids, but Google has since incorporated it into Android 5.0 (Lollipop) so that this feature can be available with all Android phones and tablets.
Whenever you bluetooth pair a device with an Android phone you will be asked whether you want to set up that device as a trusted device, meaning that as long as the device is connected to the phone you will not have to enter the password. Using a watch to provide this type of authentication makes a lot of sense.
Another way that the Moto 360 integrates with my phone is with notifications, when I swipe a notification away on the watch it is also cleared away from my phone, which only makes sense since I don't need to see it twice.
I see integration, not just with phones, but with tablets, computers, and more, as key to answering the question of why would one want to buy a smartwatch. Size limitations are going to limit how much functionality a smartwatch is going to provide on its own, but if the watch can communicate with objects around me, that is a whole additional level of functionality that I think many may find appealing.
For example, today I have to use the IF app and select an option on the watch's screen in order to use my Moto 360 to turn on my Hue lights. What if, instead, the Moto 360 were able to communicate directly with the lights so that when I came within range of the room the lights automatically turn on?
The key to this type of integration lies in the services that a device communicates with, and this is an area where I see Google having an advantage they have yet to fully exploit. Perhaps the best reason for owning an Android Wear watch is to experience the leading edge of wearable technology being developed by one of the world's leading services companies. I look forward to seeing where Google takes Android Wear in the future.