Niantic may delay the Pokémon Go Apple Watch app to develop its own wearable

By Christian de Looper Published December 19, 2016

It looks like Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go, may soon enter the wearables business. According to a report from 9to5Mac, Niantic is developing a wearable for its games. Perhaps even more interesting is that this wearable is reportedly the reason that the Pokémon Go app for the Apple Watch hasn’t been released before the end of the year, as was promised by Niantic.

It’s important to note that 9to5Mac’s sources for Niantic news may not be the best, so this report could turn out to be false — the publication recently reported that the Pokémon Go app for the Apple Watch had been shelved, news that Niantic was quick to refute. Still, the renders for the first wearable, which will be branded for Ingress, another Niantic game, look pretty real.

Recommended Videos

The band looks quite similar to the Nex Band Evolution — a band that was available for pre-order through Kickstarter earlier this year. The campaign for that band quickly died, but the band itself appears to have resurfaced through a licensing deal with Niantic.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The wearable itself looks to be a lot more functional than the Pokémon Go wearable that was released shortly after the game itself. It has five touch-sensitive displays that will offer notifications and icons, and, according to the 9to5mac report, will last up to four days on a single charge. The band also appears to offer all the functionality that the Apple Watch Pokémon Go app would, so there would likely be no reason for someone to use both the Apple Watch app and the new wearable.

Only time will tell what Niantic ends up doing, but even if we do get this wearable, it may have to compete with the Apple Watch Pokémon Go app in the near future.

Christian de Looper

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…

Topics

Wearables

The wearable on your wrist can predict blood pressure crisis events days in advance

A hypertensive crisis can lead to acute organ damage, and the abrupt spikes in blood pressure are also linked to stroke, kidney damage, fluid backup in the lungs, and heart attack. Research says wearable devices can provide a warning 3 days in advance.

Huawei Watch D3 Blood Pressure (6)

In the domain of wearable devices, we have reached a stage where they are available in a variety of form factors. You can go with a smartwatch, something a little more subtle like a smart band without a screen, or even a smart ring. And as the form factors have continued to evolve, so have the capabilities and the sensing hardware. What started with basic light-based heart rate tracking has now reached a stage where smartwatches are capable of tracking multiple metrics, such as taking electrocardiogram readings, tracking sleep, looking for signs of sleep apnea, or even detecting spikes in blood pressure levels.

Now, fresh research courtesy of the American Heart Association claims that these mass-market wearable devices can help predict episodes of dangerously high blood pressure, or hypertensive crisis, up to three days in advance. The research was conducted over a period of 12 months and involved more than 4,000 participants living with stage 2 high blood pressure.

Wearables

Wear OS is borrowing your phone’s status bar so you never lose track of time

Your smartwatch is finally getting the one thing it was weirdly missing.

The Pixel Watch on a person's wrist.

If you have ever opened an app on your Wear OS smartwatch and had no idea what time it was, Google is working on a fix. In October, the company launched a Wear OS canary emulator inside Android Studio. It lets developers try out new features and design tweaks well before Google ships them to anyone’s wrist.

The biggest addition in this build is a status bar that never leaves. It lives at the top edge of your round watch face, floats above whatever app you have open, and keeps the clock and your watch’s status icons in view.

Wearables

Samsung’s first AI glasses could arrive in December, but only in two countries

Samsung's Gemini-powered glasses might be arriving a little later than expected, and most countries will have to wait even longer.

Samsung AI Glasses

Samsung's first AI-powered smart glasses are finally getting closer to store shelves. According to a new report from South Korea's ChosunBiz, the company is planning to launch its Intelligent Eyewear in mid-December, and if you're waiting to get your hands on them outside the US or South Korea, you might be disappointed.

For those catching up, we reported earlier in October that Samsung was planning a November launch. However, the latest report suggests the release has been pushed back by a few weeks. Samsung hasn't officially confirmed the new date, and there's still no word on how much the glasses will cost.