The newest smartwatch from Casio carries the same Casio Pro Trek nomenclature of the 2017 device from the same brand. This version of the watch brings updated specifications throughout the hardware, including a new heart rate monitor/optical sensor and new abilities using Google's Wear OS. This device is extremely similar to its predecessor - almost shockingly similar.
ASICS developed the activity tracker app Runkeeper, and Runkeeper was able to faithfully connect with Wear OS devices until this week. Users were sent a message this week by the folks that develop ASICS Runkeeper. This message suggested that as of app version 9.13, ASICS Runkeeper would no longer connect with any "Wear OS by Google device" whatsoever.
Your options for a Wear OS smartwatch running the latest chipset just got bigger today, with the new Misfit Vapor X joining the Snapdragon Wear 3100 team. The newest smartwatch from the company runs Google's wearable platform on Qualcomm's latest-generation silicon, and includes integrated GPS as well as Spotify preloaded.
Fossil isn't giving up on Google's Wear OS, and its fifth-generation smartwatches promise to give iPhone users the attention they may have felt their Android counterparts were enjoying. The Fossil Gen 5 watches will allow iPhone users to not only see that a call is incoming, but answer it and hold a conversation through a speaker built into the smartwatch, too.
Smartwatches are still pretty much seen as extensions of smartphones but, little by little, they are becoming independent smart devices in their own right. The first and most crucial requirement to make that happen is the ability to connect directly to the Internet without a smartphone. That comes via a 4G LTE connection which is exactly what the new Mobvoi TicWatch 4G/LTE brings to the table one year after the original launched.
Due to the low number of users who were controlling their smart thermostats using smartwatches, Google has ended Nest app support for Wear OS and Apple Watch. Google confirmed that the removal was due to only a 'small number' of smart thermostat users taking advantage of the support, saying that its team will instead focus their time on voice interactions and the mobile apps.
Google hasn't exactly been the most consistent when it comes to its wearable platform. It rebranded Android Wear to Wear OS and changed the way the OS looked and behave. But after a brief period of activity, it let things slide again. Last month it attempted to revive interest in the platform with its new Tiles UI. Unfortunately, the initial rollout was incomplete and it's only now that a feature enabling Tiles to be moved, added, and removed from your phone is rolling out little by little.
Just when you thought Google has mostly forgotten about the other incarnations of Android, it revealed a few updates related to those just before Google I/O next week. Wear OS, formerly known as Android Wear, isn't getting a major overhaul again but it is getting a new major feature called Tiles. And more than just the advanced announcement, it seems that Google is also pushing the feature to users in advance as well.
Now that non-iPad tablets are practically gone, the next tech market that is being eyed with uncertainty is the smartwatch segment. Straddling the fine line between fitness tracker and smartphone, many aren't able to make heads or tails of what smartwatches should really be. The good news for players in this field is that a recent study shows that the market grew by 48% since last year. The bad news for Google is that it is barely part of that growth.
Following a leak detailing as much, Google has announced a new Wear OS UI feature called Tiles that enables users to quickly toggle between information using simple, natural swipes. Tiles cover a variety of content, enabling users to arrange and rapidly access everything from the weather to their fitness goals. Tiles can be rearranged from the smartwatch or using the Wear OS smartphone app.
There are dozens of smartwatches available in the market today and they mostly differ in design and available functionality. Two things that most of them have in common, though, are location tracking and poor battery life. Now the Google Fit for Wear OS by Google is being updated to include a special low power GPS mode but its power-saving benefits only really kick in under very specific circumstances.
The Google Pixel 3 Lite is set to launch later this year and undercut the iPhone XR, a new report claims, bringing the long-anticipated Google smartwatch and other hardware with it. It's said to be part of Google's attempt to expand its audience with Pixel smartphones, offering a more affordable version as it scales up its hardware ambitions with a number of new devices and form-factors.