More than 720,000 Android Wear devices were shipped in 2014, led by the Moto 360

Android Wear seems to be off to something of a slow start, with 720,000 in shipped units last year. The numbers come from Canalys, who notes that Android Wear devices accounted for around 15% of the 4.6 million "smart wearable bands" shipped in 2014.

It's little surprise to see the hotly-anticipated Moto 360 noted as the leading watch amongst Android Wear devices, with the also-round LG G Watch R handily outperforming the square original G Watch. The breakdown of sales for each Android Wear watch wasn't immediately available, but given the pricing and the "TiVo problem" explanation (it's hard to explain the benefits of a smartwatch over just a smartphone without really experiencing those benefits) it's not a shock to see more mundane fitness bands overwhelming the category.

The closest competition to Android Wear right now is Pebble, which has sold 1 million watches since launching in 2013. Of course, things will change dramatically in 2015 with new Android Wear devices and the heavily-hyped launch of the Apple Watch.

Source: Canalys

BBM on Android Wear is almost exactly what you'd expect

Today at CES 2015, BlackBerry announced that Android Wear support will soon be coming to BBM, and we went wrist-on to check out how it works. And, well, it works almost exactly like you'd expect. You get all the appropriate notifications on your connected Android Wear smartwatch (in this case it was demoed on a Moto 360), and the ability to reply.

BBM takes advantage of a lot of what's built in to the Android Wear SDK. When you get a new contact request, BBM doesn't show you the contact's photo (for security purposes). But once you're connected, that photo appears for any notifications you receive. When you get a message, swiping to the left gives you the option to reply, which you can do with canned replies or via Android Wear's really quite good voice dictation. It's easy and straight-forward, just as we would want BBM on Android Wear to be.

Audi/LG partnership yields mystery Android Wear smartwatch

At the Audi press conference at CES 2015 today, Audi hailed a series of partnerships with leading tech firms including LG, Samsung Display and NVIDIA as the carmaker unveiled new Android Wear-supported in-car systems. But the press conference wasn't call cars — Audi board member Ulrich Hackenberg kicked things off by summoning an Audi Prologue onto the stage using a mystery smartwatch.

The technology to integrate wearables with Audi's in-car systems was developed in partnership with LG, company execs revealed on-stage, however the model Hackenberg was wearing — a premium wearable with a leather strap — didn't match any design we're familiar with. The device appeared to be running an Android Wear-like interface, with an Audi watch face and additional options accessed by swiping right. The watch's three-button setup also differentiates it from current Android Wear offerings.

It's unclear at present whether this device is a future consumer LG smartwatch, or simply a one-off designed for this Audi demo. We're currently tracking down more info on this mystery wearable, and we'll update this story as more details become available.

Hyundai will show off its upcoming Android Wear app at CES 2015

If you own an Android Wear smartwatch, you might be able to start your car remotely sometime in 2015. Hyundai has just revealed it will show off an upcoming Android Wear app that will offer that kind of feature, among others, as part of its CES 2015 product lineup.

The app itself is called Blue Link and the car makes says that when it is released it will work with Hyundai models that have the first and second generation Blue Link technology installed. However, the Android Wear app must also be linked via Bluetooth to an Android smartphone in order to work. The company says:

The app is easy to use. The wearer simply taps an icon or uses voice commands to execute remote functions. The Blue Link smartwatch app allows Hyundai owners to remote start, lock and unlock doors as well as find their car in a crowded parking lot. Pushing the microphone icon on the watch activates the voice function, where the driver can execute commands such as "Start my car," "Lock my car" or "Find my car."

The Blue Link Android Wear app is scheduled to be released sometime in the first quarter of 2015.

Source: Hyundai