Google lastly broadcasts the Pixel Watch

After weeks of rumors and leaked pictures, Google lastly confirmed that the Pixel Watch is actual. Today’s announcement is extra of a tease than a full reveal, nevertheless, with the watch arriving later this fall alongside the Pixel 7.

Given that the Pixel Watch is the worst-kept wearable secret of 2022, there wasn’t something too shocking by way of design. As suspected, the Pixel Watch has a round, domed design and contains a “tactile” crown and aspect button. It’s made from recycled stainless-steel and has swappable proprietary bands. It’ll additionally run on an “improved” Wear OS 3 that contains a “refreshed UI” with higher navigation and good notifications. You’ll even have the choice to select a mobile model of the gadget for standalone connectivity.

Software-wise, Google says the Pixel Watch may have the native Google apps you’d count on, in addition to a shiny new Fitbit integration. That consists of staples like Google Maps and Assistant but additionally new-to-Wear-OS apps like Google Wallet and Google Home. Another characteristic coming to Wear OS is Emergency SOS. We’ve seen this characteristic on different smartwatches and the gist is you need to use your watch to contact a trusted buddy or member of the family, in addition to name emergency companies. As for the Fitbit integration, you’ll be capable of view insights for coronary heart charge, sleep monitoring, and Active Zone Minutes.

The Fitbit integration is probably the most important collaboration between the 2 firms we’ve seen since Google purchased Fitbit for $2.1 billion. (Technically, including Google Assistant onto the Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense was the primary.) According to Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vp of gadgets and companies, this Fitbit integration will transcend customizing watch faces and be “imbued throughout” the Pixel Watch expertise. Users will be capable of sync their information with a Fitbit account, which means they’ll be capable of view it inside the Fitbit app and on the net. The watch will use all of Fitbit’s newest algorithms for well being and health.

As for information privateness, Osterloh stated in a briefing that Fitbit and Google information will keep non-public and separate as a consequence of guarantees it made to regulators throughout the Fitbit acquisition, which means that any well being information collected on the Pixel Watch will stay below Fitbit’s purview, separate from Google. Osterloh additionally added that whereas the Fitbit workforce was deeply concerned with the Pixel Watch, Fitbit nonetheless has plans for its personal Wear OS watch and can proceed making its personal merchandise.

Screenshot: The Verge

And that’s about it by way of concrete particulars that we have now proper now. In phrases of how a lot it’ll value, Google says that it’ll be a “premium-priced product.” Another potential snag is that the Pixel Watch would require a cellphone operating Android 8.0 or later, and also you’ll want a Google Account. So, just like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, the Pixel Watch won’t be suitable with iPhones as earlier Wear OS watches had been. Otherwise, the corporate was tight-lipped in regards to the watch’s specs, together with what chip it’ll run on, if it is going to come in numerous sizes or colours, and so forth. Those particulars, the corporate says, will likely be shared within the coming months.

So whereas there’s quite a bit that we nonetheless don’t know, probably the most notable takeaway is Google’s attempting to push its Pixel ecosystem — a lot in the identical method that Apple makes use of the Apple Watch. Adding apps like Google Home and the Fitbit integration makes the Pixel Watch a gorgeous choice to longtime Fitbit customers and anybody who’s invested in Google’s good residence choices. Of course, plenty of this may rely on how the Pixel Watch performs in actual life, its specs, and whether or not it delivers on all of the hype. We’ll have to attend for the watch to launch later this fall to make any kind of judgment. But, a minimum of on paper, Google appears to have a sport plan in place — which is greater than we are able to say for its final try at making a smartwatch.