Google to launch 2 Android Wear Smartwatches running on Android Wear 2.0 in 2017
After the Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, search engine giant has been long-rumored to be launching its own branded smartwatches. Skipping the 2nd generation of Android Wear smartwatches this year, Google has now confirmed that it will bring in two flagship smartwatches in 2017. In an interview with The Verge, Jeff Chang who is the Android Wear’s product manager, at Google, claimed that both the new flagship smartwatches will be flagship Android Wear 2.0 devices and will be the first one to run on the new platform. Also, both the smartwatches are expected to launch sometime in Q1 2017.
Chang said Google is focusing on the hardware design and software integration for the forthcoming smartwatches. Looks like the new partnership will be on the lines of Google’s Nexus program in which the devices are made under Google’s supervision, but made by someone else.
The two flagship smartwatches will be powered by Android Wear 2.0, so they will fully take the advantage of the new OS that Google has delayed until next year. Google plans to release a fifth and final developer preview of the OS next January. This version, will reportedly, bring support for two core features, Android Pay and Google Assistant.
Moreover, as we expect, not all current Android Wear smartwatches will be updated but most of the recent ones like Moto 360 Gen 2,Moto 360 Sport,LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE, LG Watch Urbane, LG G Watch R; Polar M600,Casio Smart Outdoor Watch, Nixon Mission, Tag Heuer Connected, Fossil Q Wander, Fossil Q Marshal, Fossil Q Founder, Michael Kors Access Bradshaw Smartwatch, Huawei Watch, Huawei Watch Ladies, Asus ZenWatch 2 and Asus ZenWatch 3 will be updated to Android Wear 2.0 platform. As for the timeframe of the update, it is likely to happen post official launch of the new upcoming smartwatch devices from Google.
Briefing about the two flagship Android Wear Smartwatches, the larger of the two named Angelfish. The Angelfish will come with a diameter of 43.5mm with three physical buttons on the side, and features like GPS, LTE, and a heart-rate monitor.
On the other hand, the other flagship smartwatch named Swordfish is tipped to be a lot similar to Pebble Time Round and with a screen diameter of 42mm being 10.6 mm thick. Further, it is likely to come in Silver, Titanium and Rose Gold color variants.
