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Earlier this week, we saw a notification posted on Reddit that suggested that Google could be rebranding Android Wear. This rebrand would come in the form of ‘Wear OS’ and it seems that the rumors are in fact, true.
https://twitter.com/hallstephenj/status/974305524798885888
Thanks to Stephen Hall (of 9to5Google), a new Twitter account was discovered with the name of ‘Wear OS by Google’. In the bio of the new account, a new URL from Google has been listed, which is actually live (at the time of this writing), so it seems that everything is legitimate.
The landing page for Wear OS shows off some of the different things that you can do with smartwatches, including Google Assistant integration, work out applications, and more. There is even a section which lists all of the compatible smartwatches, which includes the following:
- Skagen Flaster
- TAG Heuer Modular 41
- Fossil Q Control
- Hugo Boss Touch
- Michael Kors Access Sofie
- Misfit Vapor
- Movado Connect
- Fossil Q Explorist
- Ticwatch S & E
- Huawei Watch 2
This rebranding, as expected, brings a new logo, which is shown above. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly when the official announcement will be made, but with the website already being live, we could hear something in just days.
It’s unlikely that Google will wait until I/O 2018 to bring Wear OS to the forefront, although we could see Google introduce some new integrations and features at its conference. We’re likely to learn more about Wear OS in the coming days, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more information.
Let us know what you think about this rebranding, and if you think this could spark a new push from various OEM’s for smartwatches.
UPDATE:
Google has made the move official in a blog post. The company didn’t share the reasoning behind the rebranding, although did state that the move comes ahead of Baselworld 2018. We will see appropriate updates coming to smartwatches and mobile apps in the coming weeks.
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