Google Smartwatch Reportedly Just “Months” Away

Google’s long-rumored smartwatch is close to entering production and could be “ready within months,” according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. Anonymous sources told WSJ that the smartwatch will “be able to communicate with other devices such as a smartphone,” which means that it probably won’t be any different than Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, and the watch will most likely rely on your smartphone for web access.

Furthermore, a big focus for Google is said to be reducing power consumption on its smartwatch in order to get the best battery life possible, which has been the biggest issue for the Galaxy Gear, seeing only 25 hours of battery life, which doesn’t seem bad from the face of it (almost triple that of smartphones), but that’s over just a day’s worth of battery life before you’ll have to recharge it.

However, while the Gear is only compatible with a handful of Samsung devices, it’s possible that Google’s smartwatch could be Android wide, but we also wouldn’t be surprised if the company kept it exclusive for Nexus devices only — just one more reason that users should consider getting a Nexus device, other than having the ability to get the latest Android updates first.

As for what the Google smartwatch will do, that’s still up in the air, obviously, but it will most likely run Android with the company’s Google Now personal assistant being a big focus. If you’re not familiar with Google Now, it’s a service that provides users with information such as the weather, sports scores, travel info and stocks (if you’re into that stuff).

Samsung was the first company to launch a true smartwatch, with Pebble being the first to release a smartwatch in general. The Pebble can be considered a smartwatch, but it’s severely limited as far as what it can do. Samsung proved that smartwatches can be so much more, with the Galaxy Gear. It includes a color touchscreen and even a camera built into the wriststrap. Plus, it comes with a speaker and a microphone so that you can make and receive calls right from the watch.

A release timeline is still up in the air, even though the smartwatch may be just a few months away. It’s possible that Google may wait a bit before launching it, and it’s possible we may not see it until next year’s Google I/O conference, but you never know.