While major players like Motorola, LG, Asus and Sony have already announced their Android-Wear powered smartwatches, it looks like China-focussed players aren’t very interested in the over-glorified Wearables OS. As a result, a set of China-based vendors and some high-profile players like HTC and Samsung are looking to launch their self-platformed smartwatches soon.
A report from the generally reliable DigiTimes suggests that lack of Chinese language based interface in Google’s Wearables-OS is the biggest reason why China-focussed vendors are opting for their own platforms, rather than Android-Wear. However, it isn’t just the language barrier, sources further said that the overall ecosystem provided by Android-Wear isn’t very suited for the Chinese audience.
In fact, HTC is in the final stages of completing its work on an upcoming smart-device. The wearable will be launched in MWC this year, and will reportedly support smartphones with Android 4.4 or above, and iDevices with iOS 7 or above. This smart-device will feature an illuminative 1.8-inch flexible PMOLED display.
In addition to having basics including alarm, timer, calendar, SMS notification, music player, sleep and exercise management, HTC’s to-be-launched smart device is also expected to link with Under Armour’s fitness service.
As for Samsung, it has its derailed Tizen OS to work with. While Tizen has literally failed to gain any sort of traction in major or emerging markets, it recently received some signs of relief when reports suggested that Russia is planning to reward devs who migrate from Android and iOS to Sailfish or Tizen.
Anyhow, we’ll have to wait for March 2nd, to see whats exactly is in store for us. Till then, Stay Tuned as we bring you India’s most comprehensive coverage on MWC, including our famous Live Blog (claps !!!).
