Android wear 2.0 Smartwatches To Be Launched Early Next Year By Google

Google's first Android Wear 2.0 smartwatches will be launched in early 2017, confirmed Jeff Chang, Product Manager of Android Wear at Google. The upcoming watches will be the first ones to run on Android Wear 2.0 which is the next-generation of Android Wear. However, there will be no Google or Pixel branding on them rather they will be branded by the manufacturer behind them.

In an interview with The Verge, Chang said "a larger effort is to convince consumers that wearables - smartwatches specifically - are still in demand." He also pointed out that manufacturers are working on new Wear devices which will be released next year and they could be probably unveiled at CES 2017 which will take place at Las Vegas from January 5 - January 8.

It is also worth noting that Android 2.0 update will be provided to the wearables running on original Android Wear OS once these watches are out in the market. However, not every watch and wearable will be updated, but recently launched will be updates. The Android Wear 2.0 update will also include support for both Google Assistant and Android Pay (on supported devices), reports Google. Chang also confirmed that there will be differences in Android Wear 2.0 on iOS and Android devices but Android Pay will be functional on both the platforms.

Android Wear 2.0 update will also bring a number of new features such as support for standalone applications which do not require mobile phone to work. The user interface is also said get a new overhaul in the next update. The expanded notifications will be supported which will provide additional content and actions for each notification. It will be an app-like experience for the end-users.

One of the major changes in the Android Wear 2.0 update will be the inclusion of Navigation Drawer and Action Drawer. Navigation drawer will let users switch between views of the apps similar to that in Android phones and Action drawer will let you provide easy access to common actions for the apps.