Android Wear

Google has actually been at the forefront of the relatively young smartwatch market at the start. Samsung's first-ever Galaxy Gear ran a modified version of Android back in 2013, three years before the Apple Watch launched. Since then, Android for wearables has undergone at least two major branding changes. Despite that, however, a Google-branded smartwatch is still nowhere to be seen and insiders now reveal how a stillborn Google Watch in 2016 is indicative of the company's ambiguity towards that market as a whole.

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A little more than a year after it launched the TicWatch Express and Sport with the help of Kickstarter, Mobvoi is heading to CES 2019 with successors to both devices. Dubbed the TicWatch E2 and TicWatch S2, these new wearables are again running Android Wear, and they’re joining the TicWatch Pro and C2 to comprise Mobvoi’s smartwatch lineup for 2019.

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When it comes to smartwatches, Louis Vuitton isn't the first name that comes to mind, but the luxury designer has produced its Wear OS-powered Tambour Horizon wearable since 2017. Now it's announced that the timepiece is being upgraded for 2019 with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor, which was built in collaboration with Google.

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Today Google Fit was updated for Android. This update included a new set of home screen widgets - a feature Android's been good at for several generations. This update also includes improvements to features already released as well as a new feature that'll assist the user with breathing - guided breathing, that is to say.

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Days before its big Pixel event, Google released its latest version of its wearable spin on Android. Not Android Wear, of course, but Wear OS, this time version 2.0. The release was met with generally positive response, praising the more streamlined UI that finally makes it more convenient to use navigate through the smartwatch. It didn’t take long, however, for the initial excitement over Wear OS 2.0 to die down, for one reason or another. It is, unfortunately, indicative of the problem that threatens to ultimately make Android smartwatches obsolete and irrelevant.

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Huawei will undoubtedly put the focus of its October 16th even on the Mate 20 and especially the Mate 20 Pro. Those, however, are unlikely to be its only star. Thanks to some last minute leaks, we're getting a dose of Huawei wearables, including a much-anticipated successor to the Huawei Watch 2. And that smartwatch, allegedly codenamed "Fortuna", might promise something very few touch-enabled smartwatches can promise: week-long battery life.

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Today Wear OS was updated for all Android devices able to run the software. With this newest version of Wear OS, the wearable (mostly watch-based) software becomes more proactive - quite literally with a feature Google calls "proactive and personalized help". It's also the most health-conscious version of Wear OS, as it provides insight into your activities with Google Fit.

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Time waits for no-one, and in smartwatch terms that means the Qualcomm Snapdragon 3100 is long overdue. The latest chipset for Wear OS by Google wearables, it picks up where its predecessor left off, only with the promise of better performance, more flexible displays, and significantly longer battery life. Read on for five things you need to know.

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Montblanc has revealed its newest smartwatch, the Summit 2, powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset. Announced in San Francisco, CA today, the Summit 2 follows the original Summit luxury smartwatch, launched back in early 2017.

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Qualcomm promised some big news in smartwatch chips, and the Snapdragon Wear 3100 is just that. Bringing a long-awaited update to the company's wearable-focused silicon, the new platform promises to be more powerful and more power-efficient, with a number of big names in smartwatches already signed on.

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If you were hoping Huawei had something more to show off at IFA last week, you might have come away very disappointed. That said, the Chinese OEM did tease its upcoming October event where it will showcase the power of the Kirin 980 processor in the Huawei Mate 20 series. That event, however, will still lack one Huawei annual staple: a smartwatch. Smartwatch and Huawei fans need not worry, though. The company’s still invested in the wearable device. It’s just taking its time to develop a better one.

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The hopes of smartwatch fans, especially those from the Android Wear/Wear OS crowd, might have just been dashed. Google has allegedly confirmed there will be no such things as a Pixel Watch this year. Truth be told, there was never really assurance there’d be one. But Google also didn’t actually discount the possibility of having its own Pixel-branded Wear OS smartwatch in the future, maybe even next year. Google, however, shouldn’t dillydally too long on making that wearable device. Because right now, the smartwatch market needs a Pixel miracle.

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