According to a new report from The Verge, Google is planning to launch two new smartwatches early next year. In an interview with Jeff Chang, product manager of Android Wear at Google, Chang said that the two devices will be the first to launch with Android Wear 2.0.
But if you were hoping that they would be called Pixel, Watch by Google, you"re out of luck. The devices will feature OEM branding, although Chang didn"t say who those OEMs might be, only that the company has released Android Wear devices before.
Fortunately, that leaves us with a rather slim selection, given how many companies have pulled out of Android Wear. Lenovo has said that it has no plans of introducing a new Moto 360, and Huawei will be going the Tizen route, which is what Samsung already uses. That leaves the only major partners as LG and Asus.
The Verge also has the full list of smartwatches that will be upgraded to Android Wear 2.0, which will include a number of new features, such as standalone apps and Android Pay, which will also work when paired with an iOS device.
Moto 360 Gen 2
Moto 360 Sport
LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE
LG Watch Urbane
LG G Watch R
Polar M600
Casio Smart Outdoor Watch
Nixon Mission
Tag Heuer Connected
Fossil Q Wander
Fossil Q Marshal
Fossil Q Founder
Michael Kors Access Bradshaw Smartwatch
Michael Kors Access Dylan Smartwatch
Huawei Watch
Huawei Watch Ladies
Asus ZenWatch 2
Asus ZenWatch 3
The fourth Developer Preview of the OS was released nine days ago, and it"s on a schedule for a new build every six weeks. With that in mind, we should see the fifth and final Preview in late January, and then a final build that will roll out.