Google is thought to be working on a smart watch, joining Apple and Samsung, who have both indicated they are working on similar products.
The smart watch market is currently dominated by small-time tech players, including Kickstarter success-story Pebble.
Google is already in the wearable tech market with its Glass spectacles, and the smart watch would link to these and/or phones running Google’s Android. Citing a person briefed on the project, the Financial Times reported the smart watch is being developed by the Android team at Google.
It is believed the watch will supplement phones running the Android – but there was no information on when the device would be launched.
A patent application from last year indicated the tech giant is eager to get involved in the smart watch game. It includes claims of a device whose “tactile user interface includes a touchpad covering at least 75 percent of a lateral surface area of the base”.
It also details a “flip-up” feature, allowing for two separate screens. In gruesomely mangled patent-speak, the application reads: “The top display displays a first set of information for viewing and the inside display displays a second set of information for viewing different from the first set of information, the first set of information being considered acceptable for public viewing by a user,” the filing reads.
The application also describes an onboard camera.
Samsung confirmed it was producing a smart watch earlier this week, with Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile division, saying a device was on the way. No further details were released.
Apple has not offered any such confirmation yet, but a patent filing indicated the company had something in the pipeline. Rumours have suggested, rather unimaginatively, it will be called the iWatch.
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Google is going at break neck speed. Sometimes thought-provoking, but it sometimes fails measurably. Let's see what happens to this...
They should spend a little time fixing the crap they already have before trying for new stuff. One day they're going to push out the greatest invention ever and no one will notice.