Do you own an Android Wear smartwatch and seethe with jealousy when you see your Apple Watch-touting compatriot answer a call from his or her wrist? Fret not. Starting now, Google is rolling out a big update — 1.4 Marshmallow — to Android Wear devices that’ll let you channel your inner Dick Tracy by making and listening-to calls on supported smartwatches. But that’s not the only feature in tow. The new firmware adds voice dictation for-third-party messaging apps such as WhatsApp, plus wacky new gestures with which to perform the various functions of your watch. Phone call support is the undoubted highlight, and works exactly as you’d-expect. If you’re the lucky owner of an Android Wear watch with a built-in speaker — i.e., the Huawei Watch or Asus ZenWatch 2 — you-can initiate or receive calls from your wristwatch instead of your phone. The update lets you put that speaker to good use in other ways, too. You can listen to voicemails and-audio from apps such as Glide. Related: Watchphones are coming: Google updates Android Wear with cellular connectivity Luckily for the many folks-whose Android Wear watch lacks the aforementioned speaker, calling isn’t the only new luxury that the-update affords. Third-party messaging services-such as Telegram, WhatsApp, and Viber now sport wrist-based dictation via a new contextual command-— saying-“OK Google, Send a WhatsApp message” will, for example, send a WhatsApp message. And last but not least, new gestures-make-it easier to expand and scroll through notifications one-handed … in theory. The new gestures require a bit of explanation. To expand an Android Wear card, you hold your arm away from your body and push quickly downward, as if depressing a bicycle-pump. Repeating that motion-moves through the selected-card’s actions (e.g., “Open on phone” or “Block app”). To go back to a previous screen, you hold your arm out and do the reverse: pivot upward. To return to the-watch’s face, you shake your wrist in any direction. Finally,-to open the settings menu from the watch face, you turn your wrist away from you and then quickly flick it quickly — quickly! —-back toward you. Got it? Good. Related: Android Wear 5.1.1 update news: Moto 360 joins the list of watches with the update Convoluted new gestures (to put it mildly) aside, update 1.4 Marshmallow-is the latest in a series of significant, recent-upgrades to-Android Wear. In November, Google introduced cellular support for watches with the requisite radios, and in June, it added emoji drawing and Wi-Fi connectivity.-With the successor to the Apple Watch rumored to be unveiled in Fall alongside the iPhone 7, the improvements can’t come soon enough. Waiting frantically for the update? Google says it’ll roll out to all Android Wear watches over the next few weeks.



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