Wear OS

LG has been around the Android Wear scene since the beginning. First we saw the original G Watch, then came the G Watch R, but this year LG is raising the bar in a big way. For 2015, LG has two new offerings. One of which is a stylistic upgrade over the G Watch R and another that takes its wearable mission outside of the Android Wear space altogether. Today we’re taking a quick look at LG’s Watch Urbane and Urbane LTE. How do these watches compare to previous releases from LG? Well, let’s go ahead and find out…

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Hyundai’s previously announced Blue Link app for smartwatches arrives today to let owners of its vehicles lock, unlock, and remote start their cars. The app was previously available for smartphones, but today arrives for Android Wear devices via a new Blue Link companion app on Google Play.
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As many of you know already, when it comes to Android Wear smart watches, style is the defining factor. The software experience will be the same on any Android Wear smartwatch, but the mobile market is still trying to prove it can deliver on something that’s not only functional, but stylish as well. This year at MWC 2015, Huawei became a serious competitor in the smart watch space. Meet Huawei Watch. I think you’ll like it…

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Last month a developer managed to hack together a solution that enabled iPhone users to see their notifications on Google’s Android-powered wearable operating system, but at the moment there is no official way to use the two competing platforms together. That could change at Google’s annual I/O conference later this year, if new rumors are to be believed.

According to French tech blog 01Net, Google is developing an update to Android Wear that would enable it work with Apple’s iOS devices…

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The HTC smartwatch—specifically one running Android Wear—has been rumored for a long time now. In fact, many were expecting the Taiwanese company to introduce it at the company’s press event a couple days ago. Obviously that didn’t happen, and the company instead told us about another wearable—its GRIP fitness tracker. Don’t be too worried, though, because HTC has told CNET that they’re still working on their smartwatch; they just want to be careful to get it right.

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As was expected (thanks to an advertisement spotted in the Barcelona Airport), Huawei came out this year at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain to announce its first entry into the Android Wear race: the Huawei Watch.

A first impression of the device might quickly lead you to believe that this is one of the most—if not the most—attractive Android Wear devices to launch, and based on what Huawei’s shown us, this thing might just be worthy of such a judgment…

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AT&T has announced this morning that it will soon carry LG’s all-metal Watch Urbane. Revealed last month, the Watch Urbane is nearly identical to LG’s Watch R, only much more sleek with all-metal designs in either gold or silver trims.

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If you’ve ever purchased a Moto X from Motorola’s website, you probably know a lot about the company’s Moto Maker customization tool. You can build your phone any way you want it, and there are an almost endless number of combinations to choose from. Now, Motorola is preparing to launch its Moto Maker interface for the Moto 360, allowing you to customize your smartwatch much the same way (via Wired).

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LG today unveiled the world’s first LTE-equipped smartwatch, dubbed the LG Watch Urbane LTE. Unlike other recent smartwatches, the Urbane LTE doesn’t run Google’s Android Wear operating system, with the maker opting to install its own proprietary software that, according to CNET, is based on the defunct WebOS. The non-LTE Urbane, revealed earlier this month, still runs Google’s OS.

The metal watch features three buttons to control the interface and sports what LG says is the “world’s first NFC-based Wallet,” allowing users to make payments with the Urbane LTE at NFC-compatible retailers. A heart rate monitor is also built-in, along with a barometer, compass, gyroscope, and GPS. Voice recognition software provides a handy auto-translation feature.

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Android Wear is great, but if you’re an iOS user, it looks like the Apple Watch is going to be your only option for a while. Google has yet to make any of Android Wear’s functionality compatible with Apple’s operating system, and it doesn’t look like they plan to do so any time soon. But that’s not stopping one developer, Mohammad Abu-Garbeyyeh, from hacking Android Wear to at least support notifications from iOS devices.

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ASUS ZenWatch, the company’s current Android Wear offering

Leaked details last week of a purported HTC smartwatch in the works suggested that the Taiwanese company would be ditching Android Wear in at least one future device, and now it appears that ASUS—another Taiwanese company—is doing the same. According to a report this morning from Focus Taiwan, ASUS is working a wrist-worn device with much better battery life—and they’re going to achieve that by leaving behind Google’s operating system.
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The stainless steel version of Sony’s SmartWatch 3 will go on sale around the world “from this week,”says Sony in a blog post.

The new model has the same innards as the original silicon-cased version launched last September, with the same 1.6-inch 320×320 display, 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor and 512MB of RAM. The steel model will also retain the same IP68-standard waterproofing, making it safe even against complete immersion in water for up to 30 minutes … 
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The latest numbers from Canalys suggest that Android Wear is definitely not taking off as fast as many would have hoped, and that devices running Google’s smartwatch operating system haven’t exactly sold like hotcakes. Over the entirety of 2014, somewhere in the realm of just over 720,000 Android Wear device were grabbed up by consumers, making up almost 1/6 of the total 4.6 million smart wearable bands shipped.

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A new leak from Upleaks indicates that HTC’s upcoming smartwatch, which was previously rumored to be coming in early 2015, is codenamed “PETRA” and will sport a 3-day battery along with support for both Android and iOS devices.

The device will reportedly feature a custom operating system built by HTC, not Google’s wearable-focused version its own mobile OS, Android Wear. The software will allow the watch to operate with both Android and iOS devices, targeting a broader market than most Android-only smartwatches.

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Late Swatch co-founder Nicolas Hayek

While Swatch certainly won’t be partnering with Apple on the iPhone maker’s upcoming Watch despite an ill-fated rumor that surfaced last year, the watchmaker does plan to go toe-to-toe with Apple promising its own version of a smartwatch due out soon. Bloomberg reports that Swatch plans to bring its answer to the Apple Watch to market in the next 90 days, and unlike the Apple Watch, it will work with Android phones.

The device will communicate via the Internet “without having to be charged,” Chief Executive Officer Nick Hayek said in an interview. The Swatch smartwatch will also let consumers make mobile payments and work with Windows and Android software, he said.

It’s unclear if Swatch intends for its own smartwatch to also be compatible with iPhones like the Apple Watch or if the company is only targeting competing platforms, but Swatch CEO Nick Hayek’s claim that its Internet-connected watch won’t need to be charged will be interesting if the company does indeed deliver with functionality that competes with an Apple Watch or even Android Wear smartwatch.
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Rumors have been swirling for a long time about what HTC might have planned for us this year, and while the Taiwanese company isn’t telling us just yet, they’re at least giving us some kind of idea of when exactly they’ll be making some big announcements. To no one’s surprise, HTC is today sending out invites for a press event being held at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this upcoming March.

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A little more than a year ago, Hyundai told the world that it was working on a Google Glass counterpart for its Blue Link platform. The app was supposed to launch with the 2015 Hyundai Genesis, but the car’s first availability came and went without any mention of Google’s head-worn computer. And while Hyundai did recently announce that it plans to release an app compatible with Android Wear devices very soon, it’s now official that the company’s Google Glass app won’t likely be getting the same treatment.

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