UPDATED 15:55 EDT / MARCH 21 2014

Google to take developers help to create armada of Android wearables with Android Wear

Android1Confirming the rumors in recent weeks and after having monopolized the smartphones and tablets sectors, Google is planning to conquer the market for wearable devices such as smartwatches and smartbands.

Ahead of the release of Apple’s much rumored “iWatch” wearable product, Google has now officially announced Android’s entrance into wearables with project “Android Wear.” It is expected that Google will introduce its own smartwatch at developer conference I/O end of June. Google plans no single “Nexus-clock”, instead the search giant wants to see an armada of Google Watches.

The first devices to benefit from Android Wear are going to be the watches. Their primary role remains to be notification devices, but Google would like to add an efficient voice command system in which the watch would be the primary input.

“Most of us are rarely without our smartphones in hand. These powerful supercomputers keep us connected to the world and the people we love. But we’re only at the beginning; we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible with mobile technology. That’s why we’re so excited about wearables—they understand the context of the world around you, and you can interact with them simply and efficiently, with just a glance or a spoken word,” said Sundar Pichai, SVP, Android, Chrome & Apps, in a blog post.

Google said that it’s working with partners to bring Android Wear powered wearables to market by later this year. It says Asus, HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung; chip makers Broadcom, Imagination, Intel, Mediatek and Qualcomm; and fashion brands like the Fossil Group to bring you watches powered by Android Wear later this year. In addition, Motorola and LG have already revealed their first Android Wear smartwatches at GDC.

Android Wear SDK

What can developers do with the Android Wear? According to Google, Android Wear goes well beyond the mere act of just telling you the time. It will also include useful information when you need it most.

Android Wear is designed to communicate with your favorite fitness apps and some work will be required from the app developers. At the moment Android Wear is at the Developer Preview stage, so app developers and device makers can contact Google to have an early access. Google is already working on a fitness API that will help Android smartphones automatically detect motion and exercise routines—that API could extend to smartwatches, too.

With the Android Wear Developer Preview, developers can run the Android Wear platform in the Android emulator, connect Android device to the emulator and view notifications from the device as cards on Android Wear, and try new APIs in the preview support library that enhance app’s notifications with features such as voice replies and notification pages.

The Android Wear SDK allows developers to integrate a number of features into Android powered wearables and relies heavily on Google Now functionality. Google is also allowing Android Wear devices to talk with other devices like your phone or Chrome device through voice commands

Tools available in the SDK include:

Straight answers to spoken questions. Just say “Ok Google” to ask questions, like how many calories are in an avocado, what time your flight leaves, and the score of the game. Or say “Ok Google” to get stuff done, like calling a taxi, sending a text, making a restaurant reservation or setting an alarm.

The ability to better monitor your health and fitness. Hit your exercise goals with reminders and fitness summaries from Android Wear. Your favorite fitness apps can give you real-time speed, distance and time information on your wrist for your run, cycle or walk.

Your key to a multiscreen world. Android Wear lets developers to access and control other devices from wrist. Just say “Ok Google” to fire up a music playlist on your phone, or cast your favorite movie to your TV. There’s a lot of possibilities here for developers to build.

Google says it will deliver a full Android Wear SDK, which will include a more complete set of APIs, later this year, possibly at the company’s Google I/O developer conference in June. The developer preview can be downloaded from developer.android.com/wear site. Also join the Android Wear Developers community on Google+ to discuss the Preview and ask questions.


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