Why is NotificationCompat needed?

Question

Specifically, I think anything done with NotificationCompat can be done using the default API (level 8). What am I missing here? What does NotificationCompat introduce that

Answer 1

Though its old question, now NotificationCompat can also be used to create wearable specific notifications. More information on this google's developer guide.

http://developer.android.com/training/wearables/notifications/creating.html