Following the release of Android Oreo for Android Wear devices at the end of last year, several platform users eagerly await the arrival of the new operating system on their smart watches.
The bad news is that, depending on the model you have, it may be that it is never updated officially. Currently, the models that are receiving updates are the Fossil Q Venture, LG Sports Watch, Louis Vuitton Tambour, Michael Kors Sofie and Montblanc Summit.
The ASUS ZenWatch 2 and 3, original Fossil Q Founder, LG G Watch R / Urbane / Urbane LTE, Moto 360 second-generation and 360 Sport, and the original Huawei Watch will continue to receive system patches but will remain ‘stuck’ in the Nougat.
The list of upcoming Android Wear smartwatches to be covered with Oreo includes the following models:
- Casio PRO TREK Smart WSD-F20
- Casio WSD-F10 Smart Outdoor Watch
- Diesel Full Guard
- Emporio Armani Connected
- Fossil Q Control
- Fossil Q Explorist
- Fossil Q Founder 2.0
- Fossil Q Marshal
- Fossil Q Wander
- Gc Connect
- Guess Connect
- Huawei Watch 2
- Hugo BOSS BOSS Touch
- LG Watch Style
- Michael Kors Access Bradshaw
- Michael Kors Access Dylan
- Michael Kors Access Grayson
- Misfit Steam
- Mobvoi Ticwatch S & E
- Movado Connect
- Nixon Mission
- Polar M600
- TAG Heuer Tag Connected Modular 45
- Tommy Hilfiger 24/7 You
- ZTE Quartz
After launching Snapdragon Wear 2100 about two years ago, Qualcomm introduced the world one of the top platforms used by wearables with Android Wear.
The problem is that since then, the chipmaker has not presented any other solution to this niche product. Because of this, she has been harshly criticized online, being accused of ‘preventing the growth of Android Wear.’
The criticism comes due to its outdated hardware, which allied to the supposed ‘monopoly in the wearable segment’ ends up limiting the development of the platform.
For information, the processor developed by Qualcomm was manufactured in 28 nanometers, technology used since 2013.
Because of this, the Android Wear ecosystem continues with the same issues, which include a poor battery life, and limitations on system resources.
Defenders of the chip maker claimed that the company’s lack of interest in this product niche is a result of Google ‘s little investment in the development of the platform, something that makes it unpopular compared to the solution used by Apple.
They claim that even if Qualcomm introduced more modern hardware, the user experience would continue to be non-intuitive and buggy.
With so much fear without presenting anything new to wearables, it may be that Qualcomm has given up investing in this platform, at least for now.
If the negotiations with Broadcom take off, and the companies ‘merge’, it is quite unlikely to re-develop something for smartwatches, leaving their focus only to 5G modems (a segment which already has agreements with several manufacturers ) and smartphones.
