Asus is planning a budget Android Wear smartwatch of its own
David Nield
Asus may not be the first manufacturer to market with an Android Wear smartwatch, but it wants to undercut the competition when its own device finally does arrive. Leaks from the company suggest that an Asus watch is indeed on the way at a wallet-friendly price - the Taiwanese firm was one of those mentioned as a Google hardware partner when Android Wear was first unveiled, along with HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung.
That would mean the rumored Asus Android Wear device would cost less than the $199 Gear Live from Samsung. According to TechCrunch, the smartwatch will arrive in September and cost between $99 and $149. Asus chairman Jonney Shih went on record back in March to say that the company would eventually invest in the world wearables, and at that time the manufacturer was said to be working on advanced voice and gesture controls.
The LG G Watch, Samsung Gear Live and Moto 360 were the smartwatches shown off at the Google I/O Keynote last week, where we also got a sneak preview look at the next version of Android. No mention was made of an equivalent Asus device, but when it does finally arrive it may have to take on the Apple iWatch as well as several Android Wear-toting devices.
TechCrunch's inside source says the Asus smartwatch will have an AMOLED display but otherwise there's little in the way of specs at this stage. It would seem that Asus is taking its time with the launch of its own product to avoid rushing something to market that isn't fully finished - LG has conceded that it dropped the idea of a heart rate monitor for its own G Watch in order to meet the I/O conference deadline set by Google.
When Asus does launch a device of its own, HTC will be the only manufacturer left from Google's initial list of hardware partners without an Android Wear smartwatch, but it's unlikely that this will be the case for long. With the Android Wear SDK now available to developers, apps such as Pinterest, PayPal and Google Maps are being updated to make use of the new generation of wearables, and the hardware manufacturers will be looking to cash in. At the moment, however, it appears that the Nexus 9 will be HTC's next Android device.
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