Wear OS

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.

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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.

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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 That is especially frustrating for smartwatch believers, especially when their wearables get abandoned and outdated.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.

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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.

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Smartwatches come in all shapes and sizes but most of them have one thing in common: woefully outdated hardware.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.

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Wear OS by Google is getting a supercharged Google Assistant experience, the company has announced today, with the rebranded smartwatch platform adding new voice control features. The new integrations were revealed ahead of Google I/O 2018, the company's annual developer event set to take place in San Jose, CA next week.

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LG is planning to launch a new "hybrid" smartwatch called the LG Watch Timepiece, according to a leak. The wearable will run Google's Wear OS, reportedly having the distinction of being the first watch to run the rebranded system off the shelf. Why the hybrid designation? In addition to its digital nature, the watch will supposedly also feature a mechanical clock.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Swiss watchmaker Hublot has unveiled a Wear OS smartwatch designed specifically for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and it's called the Big Bang Referee 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. "It was a specific need expressed by FIFA," the company says, "and Hublot brought it to life!" The wearable will be used by the game referees, though a limited number of units will also be made available to the public starting May 1.

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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.

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