Wear OS

LG announced today that its new G Watch R is going to be launching during the beginning of November in select markets, including France, Italy, Spain and the UK. The company plans to introduce its new round smartwatch to additional territories like Asia and North America soon after, but it didn’t give an exact time. After much speculation, LG unveiled the G Watch R last month during IFA in Berlin, allowing us to get a little time with its new smartwatch.

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Last month, Google announced its future plans for Android Wear, including an update with offline music support and GPS functionality. Earlier this week, an update started rolling out to select Android Wear devices, bringing the beginnings of those features, but now Google has officially announced the update in a post on the official Android blog.

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A new version of the Android Wear firmware is rolling out to the LG G Watch today, and with it comes what appears to be the first parts of some intriguing new features. These new features, including support for on-board GPS and offline music playback via Bluetooth, have long been promised to Android Wear users. And today, it appears that the LG G Watch is the first device to start showing signs that these features are coming in full.

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As Google continues to push Android to new platforms like wearables, TVs and automobiles, developers have been concerned that the company may lock down the fairly flexible operating system, however the company is saying that this isn’t the case. In a recent interview with Re/Code, Google’s VP of engineering for Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer shed some light on the search giant’s plans for its popular software as it makes its way to a new batch of hardware.

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq1wl5jQO8s]

Google has announced that Glass owners will soon be able to immediately view any notification from their Android phone using a new feature, Notification Sync.

Max sent you a WhatsApp message, marycam81 tagged you in a photo, your Lyft has arrived… these are just some of the reasons for pulling out your phone. You want to know about the things that matter to you, but you don’t want to be distracted by your phone when you could be enjoying the moment.

Today we’re launching Notification Sync on Glass, which means you can see your Android phone app notifications at a glance … 

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Last week we got a peek at an old Windows operating system running on Android Wear, but the guy behind that all-too useless piece of software has now used his skill to make something markedly more interesting. As of now, it looks like owners of Android Wear devices can play some of the favorite Game Boy Color classics on Google’s wearable computer.

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iHeartRadio today announced that it plans to release an Android Wear app on October 15th. The company, which recently rebranded from Clear Channel to iHeartMedia, says that the app will support all current Android Wear devices.

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If you recently purchased an Android Wear-powered device and you’re not exactly sure where to start, Google has launched an official forum where people can discuss the platform freely and answers to a variety of questions. While the internet is loaded with a vast number of resources, the idea behind Mountain View’s new Android Wear Help Forum is to keep the focus on wearables, so there’s no need to sift pages through unrelated content.

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After a proper pilot program, Dubai police detectives will soon receive Google Glass as standard issued gear. The idea is to pair Mountain View’s wearable computer with facial recognition software developed by the wealthy Arab emirate’s law enforcement to help cops spot bad guys when out in the field. In addition to equipping its gumshoes with high-tech eyewear, Dubai traffic officers will use Glass to track vehicles involved in moving violations.

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Basis, a company backed by Intel, has announced a new smart watch compatible with iOS devices that places a focus on health and fitness applications. The device is capable of keeping track of several health-related data points, such as steps, calories, heart rate, prespiration, the temperature of your skin, and in-depth information about your sleep habits.

The Peak doesn’t yet support basic smart watch features like email and text notifications, but Basis says those functions will come in a future software update.

The company says that the device will be available by the holidays. Pricing information hasn’t been revealed yet. You can see photos and the full press release for the Peak below:

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The Moto 360 is one of the most attractive Android Wear devices on the market, however owners of Motorola’s new smartwatch have had mixed feelings about its battery life. Last week the company pushed out a new software update that focused on Bluetooth connectivity and bug fixes, with the latter possibly improving the device’s power management.

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Google appears to be aiming for tight control over its Android Wear smartwatch platform as it asked crowdfunding site IndieGoGo to take down a campaign for a budget smartwatch, Com1, reports Android Police.

Com1 used stock images of Android Wear and the Android Wear trademark in its campaign page, which was taken down by IGG under the premise of an intellectual property infringement complaint by Google shortly after the campaign launched.

Since Google is known to have a relaxed attitude to use of its imagery, the motivation here appears to be control which companies are able to launch Android Wear devices … 
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When the Moto 360 was released, it was very disappointing to find out that the steel band version would be launching at a later date. Unfortunately, we’re still without this mysterious steel version. Motorola has hyped the steel band version since the Moto 360’s announcement, but until its officially released your only option is to buy one that comes with a leather strap.

The gray and black Horween leather straps that come along with the Moto 360 are pretty good, but for myself, nothing is better than a nice steel band. The problem is, Motorola has somewhat of a proprietary design with the straps that ship with the Moto 360 and if you want to pickup an official steel band when it’s released, be ready to pay $79.99. Luckily, there’s one steel strap in the wild that just happens to fit it perfectly…

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Wether it be Android Wear or Tizen calling the shots, Samsung already has a lot of smartwatches on the market and it’s rumored that the South Korean electronics maker is currently working on a new high-tech timepiece that can process mobile payments. According to Business Korea, this unannounced smartwatch will reportedly rely on a fingerprint scanner to verify its wearer’s identity, and will use a payment processing platform developed by PayPal.

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