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.
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.
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.
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.
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.