Skip to main content

Google smartwatch reportedly coming ‘sooner rather than later’

google smartwatch sooner rather than later watch
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Pebble seems to be doing OK in the smartwatch space considering its humble beginnings, though we’re not so sure about the recently released Galaxy Gear. It’s pretty pricey, after all, and only pairs with a couple of Samsung devices. There’s Sony’s offering too, though you don’t seem to hear much about that.

What we really want to see is a device so stunning it blows the market wide open, a watch that leaves us reaching down to the ground to pick up our jaw so that we can fit it back in place to verbally express our glee and happiness that an awesome wrist-based gadget has finally made it to market.

Could Google’s smartwatch be the one? According to a 9to5Google report Monday, we may be about to find out.

An unnamed source told the site the watch would be coming “sooner rather than later” – admittedly a vague forecast, certainly unspecific, and definitely not that useful. But it could mean we see something before the holiday season, rather than next year. Or next week rather than the week after. Or today instead of tomorrow. Sure, it really depends on how you look at it, although one date mentioned in the report is October 31.

The source also told the site that Google Now would be very much at the center of the Mountain View company’s high-tech watch – which is apparently going with the codename ‘Gem’ – with users able to ask a question and receive a response on its interface, as well as receive lots of contextual information via Google Now’s info-laden cards.

The company is also said to be working on ways to extend the battery life of its smartwatch – a major challenge for makers of a little device like this – as well as focusing heavily on Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity.

The Google Now integration could certainly work to loosen those jaw joints a little, though what’ll really send it groundward will be an awesomely cool design the likes of which we’ve never seen. Can Google come up with the goods? Hopefully all will be revealed sooner rather than later.

[Image: Geekshavelanded]

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
These are the 5 smartwatches you should look forward to in 2024
An Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch 5, and Garmin Forerunner 265 lying on a desk next to each other.

The new year is here, and that means a lot of tech to look forward to in the coming months, especially with wearables like smartwatches. And there’s going to be an exciting slate of smartwatches to come, which will pair especially well with the most anticipated smartphones of 2024.

So, what’s coming? Here are 5 smartwatches coming out in 2024 that you need to pay close attention to.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 (left) and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (right) Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends

Read more
Google and Qualcomm are changing Wear OS smartwatches forever
Notifications shown on the Google Pixel Watch 2's screen.

Thanks to a new partnership between Google and Qualcomm, the landscape of Wear OS smartwatches is going to change dramatically -- in the next few years, that is. The two companies have inked a deal to develop “a RISC-V-based wearables solution” for smartwatches powered by Google’s wearable operating system.

To put it in the simplest of terms, expect a new wave of custom-designed processors based on an entirely different coding architecture. The major objective, however, is to produce wearable silicon that sucks up less power, but offers higher performance. “This expanded framework will help reduce time to market for [manufacturers] when launching smartwatches with advanced features,” Qualcomm adds in a press release.

Read more
Don’t listen to Google. The Pixel Watch 2 isn’t a smartwatch at all
Promotional image from Google showing a person wearing the Google Pixel Watch 2.

I don’t think the Google Pixel Watch 2 is a smartwatch. I think it’s merely being passed off as one, as once more, Google hasn’t treated the design like a smartwatch at all.

Why? Because it has only made it in a single case size, which is the same mistake it made with the first Google Pixel Watch, and it’s shocking to see it has done so again. Due to this, it's time we stopped calling it a smartwatch, as it has more in common with another popular type of wearable: a fitness band.

Read more