Smartwatch Craze: Google is preparing Gear & potential iWatch Competitor

Pebble just launched a new smartwatch; Samsung just announced a new Gear watch and Apple reportedly has one in the oven. Now Google is believed to be working on a smart watch and according to insiders, it's almost finished. TechCrunch is reporting this weekend that the search giant is putting the finishing touches on a watch that runs Android and houses a full-color display. 

Google Smartwatch: Samsung Gear's Rival

According to Sarah Perez and Darrel Etherington's report : 

“The smartwatch prototypes are currently on lockdown in a Google building, under high security, and they’re not able to be taken out for fear that news will leak. (Oops.)

According to people familiar with the matter, an early prototype of the watch had a Pebble Steel-like metal band, square face, and a colorful digital display featuring a gradient background where colors gently fade from one to the next. It also seemed to have a more masculine vibe, also like the Pebble Steel.”

The report goes on to say that Google seems to have decided on a plastic watchband—similar to that of the original Pebble watch. Development for the watch is said to be being led by a team inside Google that includes designers from the Android team.

“The whole idea behind the watch’s concept is that you shouldn’t have to take out your phone for various ambient alerts, like finding out who’s calling you or who just texted, for example.

The watch’s software supports notifications made possible through Bluetooth LE pairing with Android smartphones. It doesn’t sound like it’s yet capable of enabling a range of apps like Pebble’s watch does today. Third-party developers may be able to build for the watch at a later point following future updates.

Interactions with the watch are very gesture-driven. That is, swiping alerts and tapping to select.”

So when can we expect it? Well the report says that the watch is " officially " slated to begin shipping in mid-late March but take note that some members of the team believe that the date will either be pushed back to June, or the watch will ship with few new features. Stay tuned. 


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