Google’s developer-centric annual meet, I/O is to be held in June and one of the reported devices that will be showcased is a smartwatch. We don’t know much about the smartwatch but perennial leaker @evleaks seems to have an idea of what to expect. It might not turn out to be true but this is the very first time that we’re getting something on a smartwatch made by Google and not some fancy concept images fronted by enthusiasts.
As per the leak, Google will stick with LG in this venture, the makers of its current Android smartphone showcase, the Nexus 5. The smartwatch is rumoured to pack:
- A 1.65 inch (280×280 pixels resultimng in 243ppi) IPS LCD
- 512 MB RAM
- 4 GB internal storage
There’s no word on the battery life or the version of Android it will run on but it isn’t that hard to make assumptions. Like that the smartwatch will ship with the most recent version of Android (Android 4.5 or Android 5.0) and will have considerable battery life. It is battery life woes that plagued users of the Samsung Galaxy Gear while making the monochrome display totting Pebble smartwatch (a mere Kickstarter project with no access to deep pockets for marketing) a fan favourite. Pricing is also an issue for current smartwatches as many don’t see any sense in spending $199 or thereabout on just a smartwatch. Besides, there’s hardly any need for one until they can be truly independent gadgets and not constantly tied to smartphones. We can only hope that if the smartwatch indeed exists then it will be priced favourably.
Google recently announced that it will be releasing an SDK for wearables and this solidifies rumours of a pending smartwatch release. Hopefully that SDK and Google’s entry into the smartwatch market will translate to great app support when it is announced. Of course we expect it to be able to work with other Android devices and not be as locked down as Samsung’s Gear smartwatches are. Whether the smartwatch will be a standalone gadget or an accompanying device of a smartphone is something we’ll have to wait and see. Also, if this is real, imagine if Google let LG incorporate KnockON code in there? Double tap to wake watch 🙂
