Wearables are in this year, and it wouldn’t be a party without Google jumping in the fray. With companies like Sony, Samsung and Pebble currently shipping smartwatches with varying feature sets, and we’ve been hearing rumors of Google developing a wearable device of their own.
A report from 9to5Google claims that the Google Watch could take on the name Google Gem, and could be released alongside the Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 KitKat later this month.
The device is rumored to rely heavily on Google Now integration, which will defiantly give Google an edge with their smartwatch. Google Now has come into its own, providing up to the minute updates based on a users searches and other personal information. We could be seeing the device activate with the magic words, “Ok, Google” much in the way that the Moto X speech recognition works. The device will also use Bluetooth 4.0 to communicate with other devices.
Google’s other wearable device, Google Glass has certainly developed some interesting apps over its short lifespan, many of which could also show up on the Google Gem. Google Glass is expected to make its commercial launch early next year, so we’ll see how connectivity plays out then.
All pretty big rumors, but entertaining nonetheless. While we’ve been hearing rumors of a Google watch for some time, I’m not so sure it will arrive with the Nexus 5 and Android KitKat release. But I could be wrong.
Are you looking forward to the Google Gem smartwatch?
[Via: 9to5Google]