What you need to know
- Samsung may be giving us our first look at the new Wear OS this month.
- The company is hosting an event showing off its "reimagining" of smartwatches at virtual MWC on June 28th.
- The company announced its combined smartwatch OS efforts with Google.
Samsung might show off the new Wear OS watch operating system later this month at virtual the MWC 2021 conference. The company has hinted at this in its MWC session description, spotted by 9to5Google. The session will take place on June 28.
The description reads:
The Galaxy ecosystem of connected devices, services, and partnerships provides people with choice, freedom, and possibility. We're reimagining smartwatches, creating new opportunities for both developers and consumers. And we're enhancing security, giving people the protection they need in an open and connected world.
Samsung's Tizen smartwatch operating system may be a known quantity that leads to some of the best smartwatches, but the company has opted to align more closely with Google in recent weeks. The next entry into Samsung's Galaxy Watch will run an operating system that's heavily influenced by Google.
While we haven't seen much of what this operating system will offer yet, at least we know Samsung will introduce it to the world in early summer. The company will also show off how it plans to skin the smartwatch OS, creating a cohesive design with its existing slate of devices.
One mistake Google made was allowing Android OEMs to build their own custom versions of Android while not allowing them to do the same for wearables. It was seen as a good thing, and many may see it that way from a consumer level; users were guaranteed a consistent experience no matter which manufacturer they purchased from.
As a manufacturer hoping to capture an Apple-like experience with its own slate of devices, Wear OS may not have been appealing since it took a strictly Google approach. There has been a small level of customization with devices like the OPPO Watch, but generally, all Wear OS smartwatches offered the same experience. Google adopting this new, more open path is likely to lure more OEMs back to their side. Some may think it's too little and too late, but if Samsung leads, others will certainly follow.
We'll get our first look at this new operating system in the coming weeks.
