Google just made its expected Android Wear rebranding official, changing the name of the platform to be more neutral.
The new name for Android on smartwatches is ‘Wear OS by Google’ and includes a new logo and app. Since the platform works with both Android and iOS devices, the company didn’t want to limit itself and mislead consumers. Wear OS obviously sounds friendlier across both Google and Apple’s respective mobile operating systems.
Rebranding the platform comes as year-over-year activations improved by more than 60 percent during the holidays. Despite what many of us thought about Android Wear, smartwatches with Android at their core are selling on an okay level.
Another surprising statistic from Google is that one out of three new Android Wear device owners in 2017 also used an iPhone. So maybe the platform isn’t as dead as we believed.
Here’s part of what Google’s Dennis Troper, Director of Product Management for Wear OS, had to say about the decision:
“Android Wear was founded on the belief that wearable technology should be for everyone, no matter what style you wear on your wrist or what phone you have in your pocket.
We’re introducing a new name that reflects our technology, vision, and most important of all–the people who wear our watches.”
More smartwatches are on the way, too. Google plans on attending Baselworld next week where new watches and jewelry debut every year. Last year the company and its partners had a solid presence at the trade show, and 2018 will be no different. Any new hardware will be pushing Wear OS.
On top of it all, it’s likely Wear OS undergoes a reboot on the software side at I/O 2018 in May.
