A Google-branded smartwatch has been in the news for quite some time now. Reports in the past have detailed everything from design to a timeline of launch. Now, new reports shed light on some of the key features that the upcoming Pixel Watch is tipped to come with.
9To5 Google reports that it has found mention of a feature tag called ‘PIXEL_EXPERIENCE_WATCH’ in its Pixel series of smartphones. In the past, Google has used this tag for Pixel exclusive features. For instance, it used “PIXEL_EXPERIENCE_2021” for the Pixel 6 series and “PIXEL_EXPERIENCE_2020_MIDYEAR” for the Pixel 5a. Now, this new tag suggests that Google’s own smartwatch will carry ‘Pixel’ branding and that the Pixel Watch should ship with exclusive features on launch as is the case with the company’s Pixel series of smartphones.
Additionally, the team also found references in Android code, which indicate that the upcoming Pixel Watch will feature the next-generation Google Assistant, which debuted with the launch of Pixel 4 series smartphones back in 2019. For the uninitiated, the next-gen Google Assistant is different from the one present on most Android phones in a way that it processes speech directly on the users’ device rather than Google’s servers. This speeds up the response time of Google Assistant dramatically. It is also more secure than the conventional Google Assistant as all the processing happens in real-time on the users’ devices.
Furthermore, references of codename ‘Rohan’ in the Wear OS 3 emulator suggest that the device may be powered by Samsung’s Exynos chipset. Though, it remains unclear which Exynos chipset would end up powering Google’s upcoming Pixel Watch.
The Wear OS 3 emulator also includes assets that give us a glimpse of how the next-gen Google Assistant would look like on a Pixel Watch. The image shared by the publication shows that the Pixel Watch will get a four-colour light bar at the bottom of the screen, which will serve as the look for the next-gen Assistant on smartwatches. The image shared by the publication also has a second button on the right side, functionality of which remains unknown for now.
Separately, Front Page Tech recently shared marketing images of the upcoming smartwatch, which indicated that the device will have a bezel-less design with the crown serving as the only hardware button. The same report revealed that the Pixel Watch is tipped to arrive sometime in the first quarter of 2022. That said, Google hasn’t exactly confirmed any of these reports so we will have to wait and watch what surprises the company has in store for its users.
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