For years, Google worked on Android, but left the actual phones that run it to others. That half-changed with the HTC, LG and Huawei-built Nexus phones, and took a step further with the Google’s purchase of HTC’s mobile division, which will likely be building the Pixel phones of the future.
It now appears that Google is taking a similar approach with wearables. After leaving Android Wear-based watches to the likes of Samsung (before it switched to its own Tizen OS), LG and Motorola, Google is now reportedly planning on taking the plunge with a Pixel-branded smartwatch.
Word of this comes from the extraordinarily reliable leaker Evan Blass, who tweeted the news via “a reliable source” with “high confidence”, and that the watch will launch alongside the upcoming Pixel 3 smartphones, expected towards the tail end of the year.
There could be more than one Pixel Watch, if German tech blog Winfuture is to be believed. The site claims that there are three wearables in production with codenames that give very little away: “Ling,” “Triton” and “Sardine.” The blog reports that these all benefit from new Qualcomm processor technology that’s capable of conserving battery while listening out for voice commands.
Even if this is true, it doesn’t mean that all three will see the light of day. Before the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL launched, there were three smartphone codenames doing the rounds, but only two emerged. One theory is the the missing handset – Muskie – went on to become the HTC U11 Plus.
Still, any Google-made Android Wear watch is an exciting prospect. If the Pixel and (to a lesser extent) Pixel Buds design is anything to go by, the company has a track record of coming up with stylish, minimalist designs with uncluttered but useful functionality. If that can give Android Wear an Apple Watch style shot in the arm, then I’m all for it.
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