Out of all the first-gen Android Wear devices, I like the Moto 360 the best because it actually looks like a watch (albeit a big, masculine watch that looks good on big guys like me but not for most mainstream consumers). But what I find interesting about Motorola's two ads is how they're promoting the not-so-silent vibration mode as a marketable feature.

I think a vibration sound is annoying. Just ask my puppy who freaks out every time he hears my Pebble vibrate.

Apple Watch's "Taptic Engine" is completely silent and according to bloggers with first-hand experience, it literally feels like someone is tapping you.

In the next decade or so, I believe the smartwatch will replace the smartphone (and even the PC) for most of our everyday tasks. This vision, however, will require a total reimagination of the user interface; specifically, inputting data.

Samsung understands the vision. Unfortunately, they have no idea how to get there.

What they've done here with the Gear S is taken a smartphone and shrank it down to the size of a wristwatch. Who cares if a wrist-size keyboard won't work in the real world. A smartphone on a wrist sounds pretty cool, right? Keyboards worked on smartphones so obviously they'll work on the wrist, right? The Apple Watch won't have a keyboard but the Gear S does, so that makes the Gear S superior, right?

This is a perfect example of what happens when companies just say "yes" without understanding "why".

Patrick Salyer:

Consumers have been longing to get rid of passwords for years. Ad nauseam, we’ve heard the clamors for the end of passwords because of the deluge of usernames and passwords we have amassed and the inherent security issues and frustration they create. Imagine never needing to create another user name or password again for any site or app by using your Apple ID. That’s what Touch ID promises.

Ultimately, Touch ID and Apple Pay are proxies for Apple ID, which is becoming paramount to what is sure to be a strategy to overtake other identity providers.

Consumers will love using Apple ID for authentication on sites and apps because of the seamless experience – imagine being able to authenticate quickly not only at point-of-sale systems and mobile apps using your thumbprint but also on third-party sites just by having your phone in close proximity to your computer.

Businesses, or relying parties, will love it because they’ll get more registrations, identify more customers across devices, and have lower shopping cart abandonment. Apple, in turn, will establish more permanence with users, further entrenching them into the Apple ecosystem.

I've believed the exact same thing since TouchID was announced.

I've also been bullish on the Apple Watch being key to killing passwords.

TorrentFreak:

While it’s been fun and games for a while, makers of some of the world’s most expensive and well known watches are now targeting sites offering ‘pirate’ smartwatch faces in order to have digital likenesses of their products removed from the market.

TorrentFreak has learned that IWC, Panerai, Omega, Fossil, Armani, Michael Kors, Tissot, Certina, Swatch, Flik Flak and Mondaine are sending cease and desist notices to sites and individuals thought to be offering faces without permission.

I'd love to see the day these luxury watchmakers design official smartwatch faces and sell them online (at a premium). Hell, they could even design limited edition watchfaces and sell a fixed number of them. I'd personally throw down money for an official Panerai face.

If people are willing to spend on trivial things such as stickers for chat apps or epic beasts in World of Warcraft, why not embrace the digital marketplace?

Martin:

Apple built a generic, almost foolproof device-level identity security system around TouchID, Secure Enclave, and custom secure element hardware at the lowest level of iOS that can be opened up to pretty much anyone Apple wants to let in. This is unique, and I don't see anyone else who can replicate this. Apple is merely renting this security service out to the banks for the price of a percentage of the transaction. They don't need to build a proprietary payment network, or even be a link in the payment chain.

And this system can work equally as well for health providers securing user identity to exchange HIPAA covered health data for Healthkit (for a modest fee, naturally). They can rent it to employers to secure their employee identity - not just for getting into corporate applications but add HomeKit into the mix and a company can put an NFC lock on a door, issue tokens to the iPhones of the 10 employees allowed into that room, and that gives them the ability to unlock the door with their iPhone following a positive fingerprint check. The employer can remotely revoke those tokens as needed.

This is effectively a way to replace username and passwords for anything from your iPhone or Apple Watch, if Apple builds it out to its full potential. It relieves the burden of choosing good passwords, remembering them, securing them, and puts all of the control on the agency that needs to control the security, rather than on the one being secured.

The recent partnership with IBM might make more sense now.

Shout-out to the people who said TouchID is boring, not innovative, and no different than any other fingerprint scanner out there.

MG Siegler:

I like that Apple is seemingly being thoughtful, measured, and realistic in this roll out. This SDK makes it clear that Apple will not be promising the world with the v1 of Apple Watch. Instead, we’re likely to get something much more akin to the first version of the iPhone. As you’ll recall, that initial device, while magical, only ran apps produced by Apple. Third party developers were required to use the web to reach users on the device. Apple is clearly being more lenient here — but not that much more lenient. The only apps that will run natively on Apple Watch to start will be made by Apple.

Slow and steady is the way to go. We've seen Apple do this time and time again, with the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

In a decade we'll see the Apple Watch will grow into the most important device for mainstream consumers, akin to what the smartphone is for people today. Until then, Apple will take their time to do it right, adding the right features as the necessary technology becomes technically and financially feasible.

In the meantime, Samsung has rushed out their sixth version of their smartwatch line in one year, all of which have been flops. Because apparently, at Samsung, quantity and doing things first is more important than doing it right.

I've already said my piece about how much I hate the 16GB model of the iPhone from the user experience perspective. But here's a great look at what keeping this model does for Apple's bottom line.

Bank Innovation:

Sources tell Bank Innovation that it will probably utilize Apple’s iBeacon program, which is why Apple started selling — and possibly giving away free to select merchants — the iBeacons a while ago. It can also pass richer data than an NFC connection, according to experts who asked to remain anonymous due to the secrecy of the development behind Apple Pay.

Here’s how a source described it back in August 2014:

One way they’ve [Apple] thought up is, say you’re in a Duane Reade, hypothetically. You get a push notification from Pepsi that they’ve worked out a deal with Duane Reade that you can get a free case of Pepsi. Just pick it up and use Apple Pay at the counter.

This is plausible and could be great for bringing consumers and retailers together. It will drive user adoption to Apple Pay while also paving the way for other NFC-based solutions, like Google Wallet. (Sources say that Apple initially pitched a BLE-based solution, but financial institutions shut that down quickly because it wasn’t precise or ubiquitous enough.)

2011: Bluetooth LE = "Bluetooth? That's nothing new."
2012: Passbook = "wtf is this?"
2013: TouchID, iBeacons = "A fingerprint scanner? Whoopty fucking doo."
2014: Apple Pay = “Kinda cool but it won't catch on.”
2015: Apple Pay Loyalty Programs = $$$$$$$ = "Yeah well, Google Wallet was first..."

Gigaom:

One of the arguably best features of Android is getting friendly with third-party apps. Simply by adding a few lines of code, Android apps can take advantage of the “OK Google” voice command that’s become prevalent on Android devices and Android Wear smartwatches. Once apps are updated, users can use specific apps in their voice commands. For example, you could speak “Ok Google, search for hotels in Maui on TripAdvisor” to have the voice search use the TripAdvisor app instead of returning a generic Google search, boosting app engagement. Google says the new support is only available on English locale devices running Android Jelly Bean or higher.

This is a big deal for the future of mobile, wearable devices, and any non-traditional computing device that will be connected to the internet.

I've been hoping Apple would offer this with Siri 2.0 but Google is the only company in the world that can truly pioneer this right now.

Thanks, Samsung! Welcome to 2014.