It appears we have entered the dawn of the smartwatch age. Not only is the Pebble Smartwatch now available, and rumors of an Apple smartwatch in development, we also now have word that Google is tossing their hat into the smartwatch game.
According to the report, the Android team is developing the upcoming smartwatch, and this device will be separate from Samsung’s rumored smartwatch (leading to more steam behind the rumored Samsung/Google rift).
Similar to the upcoming Google Glass, smartwatches (as of now, at least) do not operate as an autonomous device, instead requiring a tether to your smartphone. The theory behind that lies in the fact that phones spend so much time in pockets and bags that something wearable could ferry the information to you even quicker than digging around and whipping your phone out. Or as Google puts it:
A variety of portable user devices provide wireless network connectivity. Various features of a device often require a user to access the device at inconvenient times to perform a desired function. As a result, a user may simply not employ the device to its full capabilities.
Even though this all sounds great, one thing does come into play: battery life. Other than the Droid Razr Maxx HD, most smartphones struggle to maintain a full day’s worth of moderate to heavy use. Add to that a constant tether to an external device (like a smartwatch or Glass), and you could potentially drain that battery even faster than normal. There’s also no word on how the battery will perform on the watch itself.
source | financial times
