The often-rumored Pixel Watch could finally have a release date, with a new report instructing Google to launch its first in-house Wear OS smartwatch sometime in 2022.
So says Insider (via The Verge), who quotes a person familiar with the matter who reveals that such a device will hit the market next year and will be developed under the code name “Rohan.”
The report doesn’t shed much more light on the Pixel Watch than it claims to confirm its existence, though additional sources speaking to The Verge said the wearable would be positioned as a rival to the Apple Watch.
It’s apparently being developed by Google’s Pixel hardware division, separate from the company’s new Fitbit arm – Google bought Fitbit for $ 2.1 billion earlier this year.
Therefore, we can only speculate on a more precise release date for the Pixel Watch, with the annual Google I / O developer conference scheduled for May 2022 being the first potential phase for an official product launch.
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Other Pixel Watch details that are being discussed are that it will have a heart rate monitor and basic step tracking, but that’s pretty simple and no less than expected.
Realistically, we can expect a lot more, especially on the software side. The purpose of a Pixel Watch would essentially be to showcase the full potential of Google’s Wear OS platform, much like devices like the Pixel 6 Pro smartphone set the benchmark for Android devices.
In many ways, it’s a surprise that a Pixel smartwatch doesn’t exist yet, as Wear OS hit the market back in 2014. It is believed that Google has worked on such a product in the past but stopped it at the last minute, with the company currently trying to further develop the idea of Wear OS with its partners.
Wear OS 3, for example, is currently only available on the latest Samsung Galaxy Watch devices – but with a good effect, as our Galaxy Watch 4 Classic review highlights.
