Google is getting into smartwatches in a rather large way. By officially getting into wearables, the company is moving aggressively in making itself the key name in the field by announcing Android Wear, a version of the operating system designed for wearable devices.
Beside fitness feature as a key component, there are other several features that have been announced. Google said that users will be able to to get real-time speed, distance and time information on their wrists for their run, cycle or walk.
The company will also be using Google Now in the watches. This will enable users to say "Ok Google" to perform voice searches. The watches will also connect with Android smartphones so that users willl be able to get all the notifications that they want from apps they have installed on their smartphone.
Tthe company is also teasing multi-screen functionality from the smartwatches that use the operating system. As an example for this feature, Google says that users can use a voice command to cast a video to their Chromecast or get music to play from their smartphone.
The company is working closely with its Android smartphone partners such as ASUS, HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung, to make this happen.
Android and Chrome's Chief Sundar Pichai confirmed that the company was working on offering tools for developers and manufacturers to make Android better suited for smartwatches. This opens the ability for developers to extend their applications.
The company has released two videos that show off what the watch interface will look like. In addition, Motorola and LG have already revealed their first Android Wear smartwatches.
Google's Next Step Towards Wearable Industry
Computers are now becoming smaller and smarter. Computers are not just a device you put at home anymore, they are starting to enter the fashion industry by giving a computers that are wearable.
Google is extending its Android platform to more wearables than just Google Glass. Android Wear that was first announced In Google's blog post, has a similar interface used by the controversial Google Glass. It's essentially a way for the company to extend its mobile OS to a new category of devices while offering a lower cost for developers and users.
Smartwatches are just the beginning, Google acknowledged that there's plenty more to come, but it was "starting with the most familiar wearable."
To make things better for users, Google is working to make sure that these watches are aesthetic and stylish. And as something that you wear on your wrist, it must be durable and power efficient to make it become a fancy piece of digital jewelry. To make that happen, the search giant is willing to make these smartwatches' exterior more sustainable to tear and wear than smartphones, and work with other fashion brands.
It's not hard to imagine more exciting uses for this technology as Google works to get Android into more hardware around the world.