There is a rumor going around in the tech industry news that Google is secretly working on a Pixel Smartwatch. VentureBeat mobile reporter Evan Blass of Winfuture, citing a “reliable source,” said Google plans to launch up to 3 Pixel-branded smartwatches this fall.
Google, for long, has left the smart technology to the big players. When Google bought Android from Andy Rubin in 2005, it didn’t produce its own phones, but left the Nexus and Pixel lines to LG, HTC, and Huawei.
But, if the rumor turns out to be true, the devices will be the first wearable Androids made by Google.
The devices would probably be powered by Google’s Wear OS and incorporate Qualcomm’s forthcoming wearable-dedicated chip, which the company designed in close collaboration with Google. It vows to slim down watch designs, boost battery life and have built-in features like a Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, LTE, and a heart-rate sensor, according to Pankaj Kedia, Qualcomm’s senior director of wearables.
According to German tech website Winfuture, there will be not 1, not 2, but 3 Google Pixel watches released at the same time. The website claims to have found 3 codenames for the three watches presently in production: Ling, Triton and Sardine.
Google is also in the process of developing a new set of Pixel earbuds called the Pixel Buds 2. The company reportedly will release the new devices all at the same time along with the next-gen Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL smartphones. The new Buds would probably keep the excellent battery life, but improve the Google Assistant integration, touch controls, and ambient noise blocking – the features with many complaints in the old ones.
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Apple Watch has a solid foothold on the fitness wearables market. According to a recent IDC estimate, in the fourth quarter, Apple became the single biggest vendor for the first time, shipping 8 million wearables and gaining 21% market share. At the same time, numerous other consumer technology companies haven’t released new smartwatches for a long time, and for the past 2 months Wear OS has been largely limited to fashion brands.
An excellent and affordable Pixel watch could help bring Google’s OS back into the consumer fitness circle and may challenge the dominance of the Apple Watch.
