Glide app brings Jetsons vibe to Android smart watches

Glide, an Israeli-developed video messaging app that is one of the most popular of its type in the world, is coming to Android Wear watches – with users now able to see and hear video messages on their watches almost in real time.

It’s like science fiction – the TV version, at least – come to life, said Glide CEO Ari Roisman. “For decades, television shows and movies like ‘The Jetsons,’ ‘Dick Tracy,” James Bond and ‘Inspector Gadget’ have promised the arrival of real-time video communication from the wrist. Today, Glide is making it a reality by delivering live video messaging to Android Wear.”

Android Wear is a Google-devised device that hopes to conquer the smart watch market, stealing away market share from Apple, which was first with its watch offering. As with Android phones and iPhones, both watches have their fans and detractors. The Apple Watch is currently the clear market leader, but the new Glide release evens out the playing field, giving Android Wear a tool that the iPhone has sported for nearly a year.

Glide users wearing the Huawei Watch or the 49mm ASUS ZenWatch 2 – both of which have built-in speakers – can view and listen to video messages directly on their wrists (for the other 15 models of Android Wear watches without speakers, the video will be visible on the watch, while the audio will be directed to the phone). All Glide users with Android Wear can now watch videos live or later, and send dictated text, emojis, or live voice messages directly from their watches.

While not live (like Apple’s Facetime), Glide’s video transfer tech is the next best thing – enabling a recipient to view a message in near real-time, with video showing up on a recipient’s watch with as little as a one-second delay from the recording source. Users can also store the messages on Glide’s cloud for free, the company added.