Google already has two smartphones, a tablet, a virtual reality headset, a media streaming dongle, a Wi-Fi router and a smart speaker under its name [list]. What’s still missing? More of the wearables? A smartwatch perhaps?
Google is, according to serial leaker Evan Blass, working on not just one but two smartwatches which it is likely to release in the first quarter of the new year.
Google's two smartwatches will be released with Android Wear 2.0 in Q1 2017 [image courtesy of: https://t.co/so8uJyEZCy] pic.twitter.com/ruejqXSNSy
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 13, 2016
This is not the first time we are hearing of Google’s plans to release its own smartwatches.
Back in July, Android Police reported that Google was working on a similar number of smartwatches which will have Google Assistant front and centre. With Assistant released and already the biggest draw to Google’s new phones, it is not hard to see why Google wouldn’t want its Artificial Intelligence-driven personal assistant on every user’s wrist. In fact, it is more natural there since it’s quite a hassle trying to type on a tiny screen.
Could this be why the company pushed the release of Android Wear 2.0 to next year?
If this comes to pass then it is not so hard to assume that they will likely be under the Pixel brand umbrella.
Truth be told, things haven’t been looking up for Android Wear recently despite the slow but steady arrival of luxury Swiss watchmakers to the platform. One of its biggest Android smartphone partners, Samsung, has all but abandoned the platform in favour of its own Tizen while the third largest smartphone maker, Huawei, which released a gorgeous Android Wear smartwatch last year, is said to be pulling away from the platform and may be headed Samsung’s way. So, there’s definitely need for direction on the platform. However, just as is the case with the Pixel phones, that may make matters worse as Google’s own smartwatches provide competition to smartwatches from Google’s other Android Wear partners who are already not doing well on their own. This one will be interesting to watch unfold if at all it comes to pass.
