The Galaxy Gear – Samsung's "smart" watch – ran a version of Android, but due to concerns about its interface and battery life, Tizen was chosen for the Gear 2.
Google is preparing Android's entry into the wearable electronic device space, through the release of a special software development kit.
Specifically, this kit will allow developers to develop devices such as "smart" watches and fitness trackers with Android operating system.
The kit will be available in about two weeks, according to Sundar Pichai, vice president of Android, Chrome and apps. As Pichai said at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas on Monday, developers will now have a “guide” to develop wearable technology with Android.
"When we think about wearables, we think about them as a platform. We see a world of sensors. Sensors can be small and powerful, and collect a lot of information that is useful to users. We want to build the right APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for this world of sensors," he said, according to a report by the Guardian.
He added that while smartwatches and fitness trackers are the two obvious categories of wearables, Google hopes the launch of the kit will be a catalyst for the start of development of many new devices. "I think we're just scratching the surface," he noted.
The Galaxy Gear – Samsung's "smart" watch – ran a version of Android, but due to concerns about its interface and battery life, Tizen was chosen for the Gear 2. It is noted that in the wearables space, Google's "strongest card" will obviously be Google Glass, which is still in the testing stage.
"Google is taking wearables seriously, and they want everyone else to do the same," John Delaney, vice president of wearables research at analyst firm IDC, told the BBC. Similarly, there are reports that Apple is also working on a "smartwatch" that would run iOS.
Source: naftemporiki.gr
