Android Wear is failing, and Google is getting rid of the Android Wear brand this week. The company is introducing a new name and look for its smartwatch software platform, simply called Wear OS.
The new brand will be available with a new software update on the companion apps for Android and iOS, as well as on your watches in the coming days. Google isn’t really saying the reason behind the changed, though it’s pretty clear: the company doesn’t want to tie the platform to Android, as it works with iPhones, and so the change will help address the problem. “As our technology and partnerships have evolved, so have our users. In 2017, one out of three new Android Wear watch owners also used an iPhone. We’re now Wear OS by Google, a wearables operating system for everyone,” the company said in a blog post.
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It’s possible the company is gearing up for more of a consumer-approached strategy with Wear OS as it’s failed to keep up with Apple which has been aggressively pushing Watch as a fashion product.
Stooks
<p>Android powered smartwatches have started to dry up. No new products because they all depend on a now 2-3 year old Qualcomm chip with no updates in site.</p><p><br></p><p>Smartest move Apple ever made was to design their own chips.</p>
Bats
<p>Oh people….of the Thurrott.com community. (lol)</p><p>The reason for the re-branding is simple. If people ever paid attention to the company (not firm…because a firm is defined as a "partnership"), Google is emphasing it's AI, aka Artificial Intelligence aka The Google Assistant. </p><p>Not just that, but it appears that Google is readying a world without Android and Chrome as they are preparing for a convergence of everything with it's central figure being The Google Assistant. </p><p>Google has said that it's all about the Google Assistant. </p><p>Plus, Android Wear was never all about smartwatches. It was also about smartclothes, like the Levis jacket.</p><p>Whether you like WearOS or not, it's not going anywhere. Google has always been about integrating it's services into people's lives and maximizing their revenue by trying to sell products of their own to go with it. It makes sense and do you now why? Think "Star Trek."</p>