Major manufacturers like Moto Huawei may be rethinking their wearable strategies, but isn’t biding its time while they figure it out. In an exclusive interview with The Verge, Android ar product manager ff Chang revealed that the company will release a pair of new flagship smartwatches in the new year, designed to take full advantage of Android ar 2.0’s new features.
Rumors have swirled for several months about a xel-bred smartwatch, but these devices won’t bear ’s name. ke the Nexus phones of years past, the company that manufactures them gets the bring, though Chang declined to name the partner. He said the two companies worked closely together on production of the devices, but didn’t reveal any specifics about the size or design of the two models.
plans to release a fifth final developer preview of the OS in nuary, which will reportedly bring support for two main features, Android y Assistant. The fourth version of the preview led last week, adding a single-click sign-in a new system for on-device in-app purchases.
Since its unveiling at I/O in May, Android ar 2.0 has seen delays that have pushed its release into 2017. ile most major manufacturers opted to hold off on the release of new watches this year, Chang revealed numerous models that are primed to receive the new update, including:
- Asus Zentch 2
- Asus Zentch 3
- Casio Smart Outdoor tch
- Fossil Q Founder
- Fossil Q Marshal
- Fossil Q r
- Huawei tch
- Huawei tch dies
- G tch R
- tch Urbane
- tch Urbane 2nd ition E
- Kors Access shaw
- Kors Access Dylan
- Moto 360 Gen 2
- Moto 360 Sport
- Nixon Mission
- lar M600
- Tag Heuer Connected
Chang told The Verge that remains “quite optimistic” about the future of Android ar said that other partners will be releasing new watches in the coming months. “This is a marathon, not a sprint,” he said. “This category of product is here with us to stay.”
y this matters: th delays to Android ar no new flagship releases to speak of in 2016, it was starting to seem like was going to cede to Samsung Apple in the smartwatch race. However, Chang’s comments inject a little excitement back into the Android wearables scene, now we have something solid to look forward to in the new year.
