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Google to Release Android SDK for Wearable Devices in Two Weeks

Sunday March 9, 2014 8:56 pm PDT by Richard Padilla
google_android_2014 Speaking at this year's South by Southwest conference, Google executive Sundar Pichai announced today that the company will be releasing an Android software development kit (SDK) for wearable devices in two weeks, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The news comes ahead of Google's I/O developer's conference in June, where the company is likely to unveil its own smart watch developed in collaboration with electronics manufacturer LG.
Google executive Sundar Pichai told the South by Southwest conference Sunday that the company plans to release in two weeks a software development kit based on Android for makers of wearable devices, such as smartwatches.
Pichai stated that Google is releasing its Android SDK for wearables ahead of actual devices in order to gather "plenty of feedback," as the company's smartwatch will likely be the first device to run its new software. The Wall Street Journal also reported in February that the new mobile operating system will integrate the company's Google Now voice assistant and search feature.

Apple is widely rumored to be working on its own "iWatch" smart watch that could be revealed in the fall, which is said to carry a "full" version of iOS that emphasizes biometrics and integration with other iOS devices. According to the most recent reports, the device will include advanced sensors to track a variety of health metrics such as a user's blood pressure, hydration, heart rate and more. Other rumors have suggested that Apple is developing "Healthbook", an iOS 8 app that would help the iWatch monitor and track health statistics like weight, heart rate, calories and step counts in conjunction with the iPhone.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 5
Tag: wsj.com
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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AustinIllini
65 months ago
"We're not convinced anyone wants this, but if someone did, here's the software for it. Thanks."
Rating: 22 Votes
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jctevere
65 months ago
It's crazy to see so many brands put out products in a never before thought of market segment solely based on the rumor that Apple is planning on creating a product in that market...
Rating: 18 Votes
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mistasopz
65 months ago

It's crazy to see so many brands put out products in a never before thought of market segment solely based on the rumor that Apple is planning on creating a product in that market...


Except that Google has been in development of Google Glass before the iWatch was even rumored. So perhaps it is Apple following the leader again. The iWatch hasn't even been unveiled so how can Google be reacting to something that doesn't even exist and wasn't even rumored at the time they created their product? I'm sure the fanboys though will try to rewrite history again like usual.
Rating: 15 Votes
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lilo777
65 months ago

It's crazy to see so many brands put out products in a never before thought of market segment solely based on the rumor that Apple is planning on creating a product in that market...


What makes you think that other companies do it because Apple might do it too? There are so many products in this world that other companies sell and Apple does not. You probably think that other companies started producing MP3 players only because they knew that Apple would soon release iPod, right? Have you ever though that maybe it's Apple that copies other company products?
Rating: 13 Votes
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Plutonius
65 months ago

Do you happen to be familiar with Google Glass (http://google.com/glass)?


I think that's why he was laughing :D.
Rating: 12 Votes
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ethanlee
65 months ago

You mean, Google has wearable devices. Hahahahahahahaha.... Hahahahahahahahah.... Hahahahahahahahaha.... Hahahahahahahahah.


Do you happen to be familiar with Google Glass (http://google.com/glass)?
Rating: 10 Votes
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Vanilla35
65 months ago

It's crazy to see so many brands put out products in a never before thought of market segment solely based on the rumor that Apple is planning on creating a product in that market...


Yeah because I'm sure Apple is the only company in Silicon Valley that does a market analysis :rolleyes:
Rating: 9 Votes
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ethanlee
65 months ago

It's crazy to see so many brands put out products in a never before thought of market segment solely based on the rumor that Apple is planning on creating a product in that market...


I wouldn't say that everyone in the industry is scrambling to make wearables simply on anticipation that Apple is releasing one...in general, (or what I've noticed at least) there's been a trend towards devices that accommodate your lifestyle (i.e. most of the things at CES) and the logical step forward is a "smart watch."

And this market wasn't "never-before-thought-of," as there were things like Pebble and such before rumors of iWatch. I think Samsung pushed the bill though when they released Galaxy Gear, because it seemed like they were trying a preemptive entry into watches to "beat" Apple to it (as evident by the reviews of the actual product and ugh...their terrible ads (//www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8nJKWJTsUg)).
Rating: 9 Votes
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Millah
65 months ago

Hey, don't hurt the poor things mind with all that thinking :D


You're lying to yourself if you don't think the sudden obsession and rush for "smartwatches" isn't fueled just a tad by the "iWatch" rumors. No, no one is saying Apple invented the concept or was the only person to ever think of entering. But the sudden obsession to rush products into this nonexistent market coincidentally timed itself just after rumors of iwatch started heating up.

Same thing happened with tablets. Throughout 2009, rumors for an Apple tablet reached fever pitch. Come CES 2010, and the show floor was flooded with Windows 7 tablets. All of a sudden in just one year every OEM all of a sudden seemed obsessed with rushing a tablet into the market, and made garbage products running unoptimized software in attempts to beat Apple to market. A few weeks later Apple announced iPad and took a completely different direction, leaving all the OEMs scrambling to figure out what to do.

This sudden smart watch craze seems very reminiscent. Smart watches are nothing new, they'd been made years before. But now that Apple is supposedly entering the space, now EVERYONE wants to get in before they do.
Rating: 9 Votes
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petsounds
65 months ago

Except that Google has been in development of Google Glass before the iWatch was even rumored. So perhaps it is Apple following the leader again. [...] I'm sure the fanboys though will try to rewrite history again like usual.


Apple is really not a first-to-market company. Never has been. Even with the original Apple I/II, or the Lisa and Macintosh, they entered an already-existing computer scene and introduced products that were better designed and more intuitive. iPod? There were already many mp3 players on the market. iPhone? The Treo and Blackberry smartphones had been out for years already. iPad? Bill Gates had already tried his best to launch the tablet market, and failed. So from history's perspective you seem to be the one trying to rewrite it.

What Apple does is disrupt existing markets. They don't care to be first, they want to be the best. And by "best" I mean products that take technology and humanize them. Treat hardware and software as a holistic, unified product. Ask questions that no one else is asking, and then figure out ways to answer them with elegant solutions. They don't always succeed in that goal, but their track record is pretty damn good.
Rating: 7 Votes

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