Google Also Makes Push for Cheap Smartphones in Developing Countries
At Google's annual developer conference, the mobile OS got a major facelift while versions of it for the watch, the car, the TV and more were shown off on stage. WSJ's Joanna Stern reports.
Google Inc. GOOGL +2.34% featured new software for watches, cars and homes Wednesday as the world's largest online search company tries to spread its influence from the web and mobile devices to new screens and more situations.
Google smartwatches from Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE -1.86% and LG Electronics Inc., 066570.SE -1.73% running its Android Wear operating system, will be available for sale on its website Wednesday. Another watch from Motorola MSI -0.27%will be available later this summer.
The Samsung watch hadn't been previously disclosed. LG and Motorola had previously said they were creating smartwatches for Android Wear.
Google didn't announce the price of the watches at the keynote presentation of its developer conference in San Francisco.
The Samsung watch is the latest sign of cooperation between the two companies, who have had a sometimes uneasy partnership in the past, as Samsung had sought to promote its own services instead of Google's on its Android smartphones. Google also said the two companies will collaborate on mobile-device security features for enterprises.
Samsung had previously introduced a smartwatch running its own mobile operating system, Tizen, in an effort to reduce its dependence on Android, which powers nearly all of the mobile devices it sells.
David Singleton, Android director of engineering, announced the smartwatches as he showed off new features for them.
A Samsung Gear Live watch on display during the Google I/O conference. Getty Images
Wearers of Android smartwatches will be able to unlock their Android smartphones without having to enter a password. The watches will respond to voice commands, so wearers can send texts, take notes and perform other tasks in concert with their smartphones.
Another sign of integration with smartphones: when users dismiss notifications on their smartwatch, the notifications will also disappear from their phones.
Google showed off apps highlighting how it hopes smartwatches can work as remote controls of sorts, to summon a car or order food, for example.
Also Wednesday, Google unveiled a new operating system for cars, called Android Auto.
More than three-fourths of smartphones shipped world-wide last year used Google's Android mobile operating system. Reuters
Google said 40 more auto makers have joined its Open Auto Alliance, an industry group it formed in January to promote connected car technology.
The first cars with Android Auto installed will be available this year, the company said.
For cars, Google redesigned its Android mobile operating system to make it easier for drivers to use applications and services safely by keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel.
The system appears on a dashboard screen in cars and highlights services that are most used in cars—navigation, communication and music. It works with smartphones that connect to the car.
Drivers can control the system with their voice or through controls on the steering wheel. For instance, when a text message comes in on the phone, a notification is sent to the dashboard screen and read aloud to the driver. The person can say "reply" and speak a response.
Google said other companies will create applications for Android Auto, including music apps Pandora Media, P +2.23% Songza and Spotify.
This is the latest example of Google expanding the reach of Android, which has become the dominant mobile operating system. On Wednesday, Google showed off versions of Android for the living room and wearable devices, in addition to the auto version.
Google additionally unveiled an initiative, called Android One, to get cheap smartphones into the hands of more people in developing countries, and it announced the availability of new smartwatches.
Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of Android, Chrome and Apps, said Google would share basic design building blocks of smartphones with manufacturers in developing countries. The goal, he said, is to help those companies keep pace with rapid changes in the industry, which requires hardware companies to release new models every nine months or so.
Google will also provide automatic software updates for the phones and is working with network providers in developing countries to craft "affordable" wireless plans, Mr. Pichai added.
Mr. Pichai displayed a new smartphone from Micromax India with a 4.5-inch screen, a dual SIM card that allows users to switch among wireless carriers and a removable SD storage card. He said Micromax, Karbonn and Spice will offer the phone in India for less than $100 later this year.
More than three-fourths of smartphones shipped world-wide last year used Google's Android mobile operating system; Mr. Pichai said there are more than one billion monthly active users on the platform.
But Mr. Pichai said Google wants to get these devices into the hands of the world's five billion other people, who don't have one.
As more people use smartphones, Google benefits from increased activity on the Internet, which boosts web searches and the usage of the company's services such as Maps and Gmail.
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