TECH

Pixel Watch will be Google's smartwatch

Google is ready to launch a new product category under its own brand. According to Business Insider, the search giant is working on a smartwatch called Pixel Watch, which it plans to launch next year. According to internal Google documents, the device, code-named Rohan, like the Pixel smartphones, will showcase the search giant's cutting-edge software and hardware solutions to the company's customers and partners.

As of today, Google provides third-party smartwatch software, but has not yet released its own device in this category. Google-branded smartwatches will allow the search giant to compete with the company Apple, which has had tremendous success with the Apple Watch, which has been on the market so far in its seventh generation.

It is reported that, unlike the Apple Watch, Google's smartwatches will be round and devoid of bezels around the screen. Like Apple's device, they will have advanced user health monitoring features. This year, work on the Rohan project has accelerated. Google even allowed people outside the smartwatch development team to test the device and share feedback about it. One of these sessions took place in November, according to company documents. It is important to note that it is not yet known which name the smartwatch will eventually use. In Google's internal documents, the names of Pixel Watch and Android Watch appear.

Google has big plans for wearable devices. In January, the company closed the acquisition of Fitbit for $2.1 billion, and Fitbit said it intends to build devices that run Google's operating system. However, it is known that Google will sell the Rohan under its own brand and not the Fitbit brand.

The Rohan watch is supposedly equipped with a heart rate monitor and offers basic health monitoring features such as step counting. In one of the documents, Google describes a device that would be convenient for 90% of the population. Google is known for offering patented replacement watch straps. In addition, there is information that the device will be available in different sizes.

Senior executives at Google's internal meetings said the watch would be released next year. If the last round of testing is successful, the new product will hit the market in spring.

The first Google-branded watches were supposed to be launched in 2016, but the search giant “killed” the project shortly before the device's planned announcement. Instead, the company decided to focus on licensing smartwatch software to third parties.

Image source: Jon Prosser