Google still maintains Wear OS and even recently rebranded the smartwatch platform, but there's no Pixel Watch or other halo product that the company actually offers. If you want Wear OS, you have to buy from a third-party OEM that uses Google's software. That's how most users buy their Android phones, but at least the Pixel gives consumers an option to purchase directly from Google if they want.
That might change after Google's latest acquisition, which had the search engine company paying $40 million for some Wear OS IP and development staff from Fossil. Fossil is actually one of the most popular brands of Wear OS partners, offering over a dozen models behind a very well-known wearable brand. This won't have Fossil exiting the space, either, as they'll be keeping over 200 R&D employees.
Supposedly Fossil has some pretty unique innovation up their sleeve from their Misfit buyout a few years ago, and that's what Google really wants. That device is reportedly something that's still a wearable but is drastically different from anything that's on the market today, and now it's going to be in Google's house to refine and hopefully eventually release to other partners in the Wear OS ecosystem. Fossil will be deploying it into their lineup of smartwatches, too.
This at least shows that Google still invested in Wear OS as a platform, to the point that they're willing to drop millions just to keep devices up-to-date with new features and innovations. Hopefully they're seriously invested enough to make 2019 the year we finally see something about a Pixel Watch.
via: 9to5Google
