It’s no secret that Google’s Wear OS (formerly called Android Wear) never really took off. Not for Google’s lack of trying though. After giving its smart wearable platform a major design (and branding) overhaul, Google is now buying Fossil’s smartwatch tech and a portion of its R&D team for $40 million in its fresh attempt to make Wear OS relevant again.
“Wearables, built for wellness, simplicity, personalization and helpfulness, have the opportunity to improve lives by bringing users the information and insights they need quickly, at a glance. The addition of Fossil Group’s technology and team to Google demonstrates our commitment to the wearables industry by enabling a diverse portfolio of smartwatches and supporting the ever-evolving needs of the vitality-seeking, on-the-go consumer,” Stacey Burr who is president of product management for Google’s Wear OS, said in a statement.
Fossil is known for its hybrid smartwatches that blend smart features with more traditional watch design. It is said to be the keeper of a “new product innovation that’s not yet hit the market,” possibly acquired from Misfit, and Google maybe looking to scale it for its own good and for the greater good of Android-powered wearable devices in the future.
Fossil has been a long-term partner on Wear OS since the time it was called Android Wear, but its slow adoption of new-age smart tech like GPS and heart-rate monitoring meant, Fossil smartwatches appealed largely to die-hard fans. While the rest of the lot – the bigger lot – moved to better and smarter solutions like the Apple Watch.
The acquisition makes more sense for Google though. Google is new to the hardware game, but it has shown intent to improve. Which is one of the reasons why it acquired a large chunk of HTC's hardware business last year to give its Pixel phones a boost. The Fossil acquisition, similarly, raises hope that a Pixel smartwatch might just be around the corner.
Google was rumoured to launch a Pixel watch alongside the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL last year. But it did not.
"To think of a one-size-fits-all watch, I don't think we're there yet. Our focus is on our partners for now," Google's director of engineering for Wear OS, Miles Barr, had said in an interview.
"Our Google Pixel line of phones is the best experience and Google's take on it, so I imagine we would focus heavily on the (Google) Assistant to integrate AI and machine learning into the device, which is Google's forte.”
A Pixel watch did not happen last year, but it is most certainly not dead. The Fossil acquisition breathes a fresh life into Google’s Wear OS platform, and hopefully, the company will have something to say about it soon enough.