Smartwatches today features top-notch hardware. However, the physical aspect is only half the story.
Like most smart products, software plays a key role in keeping the user experience up. But despite how fancy and durable your smartwatch is, it may feel obsolete over time without software updates.
Even a smartwatch as fancy as a Fossil-branded one can experience this. This is why many were wary when the renowned watch brand confirmed that their existing smartwatches would not get the upcoming Wear OS major updates.
Many speculated that this could be a software limitation. But apparently, that’s not the case. Qualcomm chipsets power these Fossil watches. The chipmaker said that Snapdragon Wear 3100 and 4100/4100+ chipsets could run the next Wear OS 3.0 after all.
That means that hardware support is not an issue, it’s the software itself.
After the news broke out, Google gave a statement by essentially saying that current Wear OS devices may or may not get the next big update. You can read the statement below.
User experience is a top priority for us. We have not confirmed eligibility or timeline on whether any Wear OS smartwatch will update to the new unified platform. There are many technical requirements in order to run the unified platform that ensures all components of the user experience are optimized.
Google Spokesperson
You can take that statement the way you want to, but it looks like Google doesn’t want current-gen watch owners to be optimistic about getting an update. For now, let’s just wait and see. What we’re sure of is, the end result of this can sway people’s view about getting an Android-based smartwatch.
Source: Android Police