Batch of Android Wear smartwatches ready for IFA 2015

Despite quickly taking over the top spot for smartwatches, the Apple Watch has not been the roaring success some may have hoped for. Manufacturers of Android-based smartwatches have already discovered this truth, that the wearables market has not yet caught on fire, as shown by poor results for 2014 sales when only 4.6 million units were shipped. Nevertheless, several companies are preparing to introduce a new wave of smartwatches at the IFA 2015 show next week in Berlin, including ASUS, Huawei, LG and Motorola, with a heavy focus on the use of Android Wear for the operating system.

Google’s Android Wear has been on the market since 2014, but it is really only since the Apple Watch launch that the company had something to benchmark against in terms of delivering a superior user experience. The only other alternatives prior to that were solutions like Samsung’s Tizen that ran on their Gear devices or even the WebOS used by LG on the LG Watch Urbane, although these were very similar to what Android Wear was able to offer.

Strategy Analytics’ Neil Mawston has noted that “Apple Watch has clearly raised the bar for the global smartwatch industry. The ball is now in the court of rivals, like Samsung, to respond.”

Amongst the devices expected to be unveiled or put on greater display next week are the successor to the LG Watch Urbane, the new Huawei smartwatch, the ASUS ZenWatch 2, the next version of the Motorola Moto 360, and the Samsung Gear S2. Other companies will likely have something to offer for the wearables market as well.

source: CNET

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