Today smart watches and wearable devices made their first mainstream step forward. Google announced the Android Wear platform and the release of the accompanying software development kit earlier today. Based on Android Mobile OS, the new platform is designed to make it easier and less costly for hardware developers to launch wearable technology. The software is designed to work with Android phones and allow app developers to push content to the device. It offers features such as always active voice recognition (“OK, Google.”) and Google Now’s preemptive search.
Along with Google’s announcement, several device makers discussed their plans to support the new platform. HTC, LG, Motorola, Qualcomm, and Fossil are among the companies with forthcoming Android Wear smart watches. At this point, Motorola has shown off what is easily the best looking smart device yet. Their Moto 360 watch is more similar to a watch than a computer screen (see the above photo). With the launch of Android Wear, we are still waiting to see what the other major mobile operating system maker has up it’s sleeves.
