On the perfect smartwatch

We all know that the first generation of most technologies isn't something everyone should buy since it mostly is a glorified prototype or an experiment by companies to throw stuff around and see what sticks. It has been true for smartphones, tablets, VR headsets and also smartwatches which have got a reputation for being mostly useless and really geeky looking. The first one is something I disagree with and the later one is no longer true.

Last IFA, Samsung released the Gear S2. It was unlike anything else we had seen before. It was reasonably sized, looked good and ditched android wear in favour of Tizen, Samsungs own user interface and this demonstrated a lot of great ideas for the functioning of a smart watch which till that point was mostly controlled by touch. The rotating bezel was, and still is the best way to navigate the UI of a smart watch. However, Samsungs software which was snappy and zippy lacked third party support which made it very hard for me to like the watch.

A few days after I reached the conclusion that Samsung's newest smart watch was not that smart after all, I saw a video which demonstrates Aria, a custom piece of hardware that used gestures to control the android wear user interface which is currently not open to third party skinning. While it's probably a good idea that android wear doesn't allow skinning, it also means that it is too restrictive in many aspects. After seeing the video I realised that android wear does after all accept inputs from external devices. It also made me think that the bezel can in fact be used as an input device for android wear.

Yes, this a complete hypothesis and it is very probable that this makes no sense to an actual developer(which I am not). It also made me think that it is possible for Samsung to develop another app launcher like wear mini launcher that actually works with the bezel and that would make an extremely compelling smart watch.

Now, for the two of you (except my family and friends) who are reading this article and thinking that this is a 14 year old  fantasizing about his dream smart watch, that is because it is. And it is very probable that I am totally off even thinking about this well, idea. But if you can actually answer me, the geek inside of me will really  appreciate it.