Google has already confirmed that it will be releasing two smartwatches running its latest Android Wear 2.0. Since the target rollout is first quarter of 2017, enthusiasts must already be aquiver with excitement to see and experience how the smartwatches would look and feel like.
Android Wear 2.0 Features
The overarching theme if you are interested about the upcoming Android Wear 2.0 is that it has undergone huge overhaul. There are, therefore, numerous changes particularly in the user interface as well as the way users interact with their devices.
The watch face is a case in point. The change is not merely superficial but also quite skin-deep so to speak. Google has tweaked the interface in such a way that app information now shows in any watch face. For example, if you want to track personal fitness data, you can configure the settings as part of what Google calls as glanceable experiences, accessible every time you turn the display on. This is similar to the Apple Watch feature called Complications.
Android Wear 2.0 is also powered by an AI that can assist in instances where the display could prove ineffective. This can be demonstrated in the way devices with smaller screens can employ the AI to pen a reply, which could be in the form of a canned missive or by way of dictation.
Google seems to have also perfected the scribble input wherein drawn texts are precisely transformed into proper texts, addressing the space constraints required in using a keyboard.
Independent Of Your Phone
Another critical update involves the support for third-party standalone apps. This means that Google smartwatches will no longer depend on a smartphone in order to be usable. This is further complemented by a capability to communicate not only through Bluetooth but also via Wi-Fi and cellular data. This should make the smartwatches compatible to iPhones, a great boon for its owners who were faced with the limited number of apps that support that pairing.
These new capabilities are further complemented by an upcoming Play Store for wearables wherein users can directly download apps straight to their smartwatches.
With Wear 2.0 and a pair of upcoming smartwatches, Google seemed unperturbed about the bleak prospects of the wearable products for next year.
One should, however, note that the updated wearable operating system seems geared toward weaning the smartwatch from the smartphone and the introduction of add-ons that specifically meet the needs of the smartwatch users. This is thought to address the weaknesses behind smartwatches, particularly with the argument that most of its features overlap with smartphone functions.
