Google’s partnership with Samsung smartwatch!

Once again reset button is being hit by Google, for a new wearable OS combining with Samsung’s Tizen wearable operating system. It is tentatively called “Wear.” On Wear OS the company is throwing in the towel. It’s trying yet again, with Samsung’s Tizen OS. For Android owners interested in a decent smartwatch it is theoretically good news.

In the year since the company first introduced Wear OS, there’s never been a truly good Android-powered smartwatch. For years Samsung’s Tizen-powered watches have been the best option, but ultimately Samsung watches. With Samsung phones, they work best, and with other Android devices they also work best but helper apps have to be installed to get them to work.

Google would want the benefits of performance, app support, and battery life, that Samsung has built for years. But it is difficult to understand why Google hasn’t managed to build any of this itself. Google is the creator of Android. It is one of the best software companies development companies of the modern era, the main creator of the common component for over three billion smartphones around the world. Its resources are practically limitless, and it’s made some serious investments in wearables computing and smartwatch over the years.

Yet, despite all that engineering prowess, software, and hardware Google has utterly failed to get its smartwatch platform. Part it can be because of the poor silicon support. In the past years, Google’s software updates to Wear OS have been tiny and lackluster features. It reportedly had a Pixel watch in the works at one point but canceled the concept over fears of bringing down its burgeoning software and hardware ecosystem issues.

For the past few years, there is no clear vision for Wear OS as far as Google is concerned. With the recent Samsung partnership, it is handing off the business of imagining the future of Android wearables to one of its partners instead. An Android Watch Samsung used to offer until it jumped for its own Tizen platform. OnePlus resent smartwatch also skips Wear OS entirely.