Google will make a fresh foray into the smartwatch market by releasing two new devices in early 2017, a company product manager said in a report published Thursday. Google, which has lagged behind smartwatch rivals Apple and Samsung, will begin selling Android Wear 2.0 watches in next year’s first quarter, Jeff Chiang told The Verge. “We are working with a partner OEM on flagship watches for Android Wear 2.0,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. The devices will be known by the partner’s name, rather than Google’s. New features in the Wear 2.0 platform include apps that wearers can run without a phone, and support for Android Pay and the voice-operated Google Assistant, The Verge reported. Many customers with existing Android Wear watches will get an update to the 2.0 platform. Tech blogs such as Android Police have been covering leaks about the watches for months. The devices had been nicknamed Angelfish and Swordfish in those early reports, and they may wind up looking like this, according to Android Police. The Android Wear watches face competition from several established companies and uncertain consumer demand. Reports this fall were divided over whether smartwatch shipments plummeted or surged in the past year. Despite beating Apple into the smartwatch market in 2014, Android Wear hasn’t kept up with its rival, according to Wearable. Samsung Gear rolled out its latest wearable, the S3, in August, well ahead of the holiday shopping season. Fitness device maker Fitbit, meanwhile, acquired watchmaker Pebble this month. Check out The Verge’s article for more hardcore specs about Google’s latest gadgets. This article has been updated with Google’s comment.
