Smartwatch maker Mobvoi has come up with a new twist on the wearable battery dilemma, with the TicWatch Pro doubling the number of displays to cut power consumption. The new Wear OS smartwatch has a circular OLED touchscreen as we've seen from plenty of other wearables, but when that's idle a whole second panel comes into play.
Although they have never really disappeared, traditional smartphone manufacturers have more or less backed out of the smartwatch market. It has become the territory of accessory makers and luxury brands like Fossil or TAG Heuer. One OEM (aside from Apple) that has remained consistent is Samsung with its Gear line of smartwatches and fitness trackers. But while a new smartwatch is still expected to debut in a few months, change is reportedly afoot. Samsung might be switching back to Wear OS, formerly Android Wear, and it might actually start with this year's Gear S4.
Is Samsung really turning over a new leaf and becoming a better-behaved Android manufacturer? Once the biggest cause of fragmentation, Samsung has admittedly been trying to better conform with standards and expectations while still remaining uniquely Samsung. Now that might extend even to its wearables with rumors of a new "Galaxy Watch" looming over the horizon. This, according to some speculation could be Samsung's return to the smartwatch fold by being its first Wear OS, but second Android Wear, smartwatch.
Wear OS by Google, the wearable platform formerly known as Android Wear, is based on Android and, therefore, technically and legally open source. But just like Android itself, development doesn't exactly happen in the open completely and there are some parts that are proprietary to Google. That is especially frustrating for smartwatch believers, especially when their wearables get abandoned and outdated. Now they might have a choice with the first stable release of AsteroidOS, a completely open source operating system designed not just to run on Wear OS smartwatches but also to give the community a hand in its development.
Android P isn't the only one getting a second developer preview. Being based on the upcoming Android release, Wear OS by Google, formerly Android Wear also by Google, is similarly getting a sneak peek. While the list of new features isn't as long as its smartphone version, Wear OS ' Android P update is promising to address one of the biggest gripes smartwatch users have: a shorter than ideal battery life.
Smartwatches come in all shapes and sizes but most of them have one thing in common: woefully outdated hardware. This is specially true with wearables bearing Google's Wear OS, formerly known as Android Wear, which mostly run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100. Even when it launched way back in 2016, the chipset was already unremarkable. Fortunately for wearable fans, Qualcomm, unlike Intel, isn't yet quitting the market and is preparing a third gen wearable system-on-chip that could give Wear OS smartwatches an edge over their rivals, particularly the Apple Watch.
Smartwatches aren't dead. Sure, they're not the hot sellers they were hoped to be but, here and there, you will find someone wearing a wearable in one form or another. And while not as numerous as smartphones, there are still quite a good number of models available making the choice an equally difficult one. To help you make that decision, we take a look at some of the most notable smartwatches in the market and how they stack up in functionality, style, and, of course, price.
The future of Wear OS, formerly known as Android Wear, isn't going to come from traditional device makers. It will come from fashion brands who are learning how to perfectly mix technology and style. And one of the most prolific is the Fossil Group, which has put out almost dozens of smartwatches, both full ones and hybrids, under its name as well as under its subsidiaries. One of those is Skagen, and its new Falster Wear OS is one of the more fashionable ones around.
Google has just rebranded Android Wear, now formally “Wear OS by Google”, this month but nothing has really changed under the hood. It’s the same old, same old situation that might not inspire much confidence in Google’s smartwatch platform. Today, Google announced the first developer preview under the new Wear OS branding that points at the direction that the Android-based OS is going. And it might not all be good news for developers and users.
Android Wear has relaunched with a new name, with the smartwatch platform now called Wear OS by Google. The decision, Google says, was a fairly straightforward one: a growing percentage of Android Wear smartwatch owners were actually using it connected to an iPhone. Indeed, in 2017 the company claims, one in every three new Android Wear watches was paired up to an iPhone.
This is one of those pebbles that could send ripples in all directions. Or have no effect at all. It seems that Google is on the verge of giving its Android Wear smartwatch, technically wearable, platform a new name and a new logo. Most rebranding doesn’t exactly mean much, especially when you’re like Google who switches logos and names with no discernible pattern or pace. But considering what has been happening so far, or not happening rather, there might be some bigger changes in Android Wear, er Wear OS, afoot. And it’s probably high time that something did.
It has been years since the first smartwatches came to market and while that market is more or less stable, it hasn’t exactly grown. That’s especially true for Android Wear that remains a disappointment to many fans. So rather than waiting for Google to either step up or step down, some smartwatch enthusiasts are coming up with an alternative. Led by modular smartwatch maker BLOCKS, the Project OpenWatch offers smartwatch believers an alternative, one that is powered by Android as well.