Tag Archives: Wear

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Google Just Revealed the Name of Their New Wearable Platform

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Nope, it is nothing revolutionary new. They call it the Wear OS 3, and nothing more. The name of the upcoming update to Google’s Wear OS is less revealing of the updates that is coming for Google’s wearable platform though.

Google Wear OS 3 can be seen as the biggest overhaul to the platform since its introduction. It started out, at least for us, when Google and Samsung announced their collaboration and commitment to smartwatches in the 2021 edition of Google I/O. The announcement from Samsung only means that the South Korean electronics giant is abandoning Tizen OS that they have developed and nursed over the years over Google’s Wear OS.

To be fair, while that is a huge commitment from Samsung, it is also a sensible move for them. It means that Samsung gets to merge their existing developer base to Google Wear OS’ larger developer base. It only means that they get more content and potentially more features for their Samsung Galaxy Watch platform too.

Source; Google

For Google, having a partner that is considered the best in the business with plenty more accolades than themselves means a lot more than just getting a helping hand. Sure, the extra hand in developing Wear OS is great. It is also a great way to understand how Samsung made the Galaxy Watch brand the brand that it is. Their partnership with Samsung is also quite natural in a lot of ways, since Samsung has been one of Google’s strongest partner brands in the Android smartphone world. Partly, it also means that Google have one less thing spend resources for development.

Samsung announced a few weeks ago that their upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, suspected to be launching in the August 11th Galaxy Unpacked event, will be the first in their line-up and the probably the world to be running this new mash up of Google’s Wear OS and Tizen OS. They called it their One UI; of course. But One UI is just an overlay of the Operating System (OS) that is the Wear OS. At that point, it was nameless.

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Source: Samsung

Google sort of announced Wear OS 3 about 15 hours ago. While it was not a revolutionary name, it is a significant update over the older Wear OS. They have started detailing which devices will get the update, for example. Most of the older generation hardware will not be getting Wear OS 3, unfortunately. In that case, if you are running a Wear device that has existed in the market for more than a year, you might want to consider retiring it and getting a new one. Of course, we will tell you to wait for the first Google Wear OS 3 devices to hit the market first before deciding.

One of Google’s biggest Wear OS device partners, Fossil has confirmed that they will be updating some of their latest generation smartwatches to Google Wear OS 3 in the coming months. They are also promising new generation wearables later on after the launch of Wear OS 3. While not officially available in Malaysia, you might want to consider looking at Mobvoi’s latest generation smartwatches if you want something that can be updated to Wear OS 3. Of course, if you can wait until September 2021, why not just get the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4?

The next big update to Wear OS, the Wear OS 3 is expected to come to watches launching in this half of the year onward. You can expect Samsung to also be among the first manufacturers to boast Google Wear OS 3, albeit in their own One UI skin. Updates to current generation smartwatches to Wear OS 3 is expected to come in in the mid of 2022 onward.

Android, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

Wear OS Gets New GBoard -Fresher, Faster, Better

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Google’s I/O is just around the corner and there are plenty of things to look forward to in Google I/O. One of them is improvements and updates to Wear OS. If you do not know what Wear OS is, it is basically Google’s perception of what a wearable interface should look like. The smartwatch OS can be found on plenty of smartwatches you can find on the market that is not a HUAWEI, or Samsung, or Fitbit, or Apple. In Malaysia, the most popular Wear OS smartwatch currently are still from Fossil.

While it is considered one of the major smartwatch interfaces you can find in the current market, contents for Wear OS can be limited. Of course, the app ecosystem for Wear OS is still growing and there are still room for improvements for the wearables that are equipped with Wear OS. Google also hardly updates or releases new apps on their own Wear OS, weirdly enough. Until now that is, with a certain GBoard.

GBoard is a keyboard, yes. In fact, it is one of the most popular and most loved keyboards in the world of Android. Some of the best and most popular Android smartphone sports GBoard as their default keyboard, that is how good it is. Wear OS also sports Google’s own default keyboard on the platform that has not been updated until now.

Previously known as Google Keyboard, GBoard gets a new update that borderlines a makeover of the app on Wear OS. The new Wear OS still retains the full QWERTY layout but with a more streamlined and cleaner design compared to the clunky Google Keyboard of old. Of course, GBoard also retains gestures and voice input functions. They are much easier to access now though.

Source: Google

The new GBoard also still has word suggestions, except that it is now scrollable instead of a drop-down menu. That makes word suggestion a lot more accessible and much more intuitive to work with. The word suggestion bar is also your quick access to input methods now. To allow for a bit more space and accessibility on the keyboard, the language toggle is now moved to the spacebar instead of a dedicated language button.

The update for Gboard for WearOS should be a huge welcome for the platform and its users. The platform, since its 2.0 release five years ago, have stagnated a little. Its last update was a minor update to version 2.23 with minute changes to improve its connectivity support and battery life mostly. Wear OS is expected to receive a major update in the upcoming Google I/O.  

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Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 Platform Unveiled

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Wearables are the rage these days. Well, they have been for the past few years. Of course they would be; they offer unparalleled flexibility and function to something as simple as a wrist watch. Your wrist watch is now your smartphone companion, your fitness tracker, your notification bell, your personal assistant, and your alarm.

The introduction of the new Apple WatchOS just about a week ago also marks a sort of new age for wearables. The same cannot be said, however to the aging platform that is Wear OS. Not that there is nothing new with Wear OS.

The latest Wear OS is technically still in its second generation (2.18 as launched in May 2020). You are already seeing the fourth generation of Wear OS devices in the market currently. The ones that has been pushing for Wear OS plenty is Fossil these days. They do have some pretty good-looking Wear OS devices on offer right now too, for not very much money.

There is another problem, however. The platform that they have been sitting on, the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear System on a Chip (SoC) that Wear OS rides on is also aging. To be fair, nothing much is really wrong with them. At the same time, they do leave a little bit to be desired.

Source: XDA Developers

2020 sees the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 platform. In this new line-up there are two processors unveiled. The top performing being the Qualcomm Snapdragon War 4100+ platform, and then there is the regular 4100 platform.

The headlines are pretty much expected. It is more powerful than the two year-old Qualcomm Snapdragon 3100. It is a lot more energy efficient too, making energy-efficient mode more colourful and functional. There is a whole slew of improvements in managing other features too, including a promised better GPS support. Oh, apparently there is better camera support too for whatever reason.

Of course, all these things are quite expected. To put them into perspective though, you have to look at numbers. Keep in mind that Wearable tech is still in its infancy and is still growing at an exponential rate.

The new 4100 platform is clocked 85% faster than the 3100 platform. Its memory clock is also that much faster while GPU performance is claimed to be more than twice faster than before. No, you might not want to use it for gaming still in a display no bigger than your webcam.

But that allows developers and Google more room for fancy animations, better looking interfaces, and generally plenty more functions to be loaded on top of Wear OS. Heck, it could even mean that you get different variants of Wear OS that fits form and function distinctly.

Source: XDA Developers

Apparently also the new 12nm Snapdragon Wear 4100 platform offers 25% more battery life compared to the outgoing 3100 platform. While that is still nothing to shout about, it is an improvement. Now you can have a Wear OS device that lasts to bedtime, rather than one that has to be charged when you get home after work. Or not, depending on what the watchmaker feels like fitting into their hardware.

There is a new 4G modem too in case you want the device to be an eSIM device. That also means you might be able to leave your smartphone behind during a jog in favour of a more secure, lighter package you wear on your wrist. Of course, new improved antenna also means better GPS coverage and tracking.

Currently nothing in Fossil’s line-up will feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100 platform. The first Wear OS device with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100 platform will be the Mobvoi TicWatch line up. We can expect to see Fossil to follow suit later in the year. The Wear OS platform now might be worth a look.