Google plans to release two Android Wear 2.0 flagship smartwatches in early 2017

As industry critics and tech media speculate whether the whole smartwatch market will last, Google isn’t ready to throw in the towel for its initiative. According to The Verge’s interview with Android Wear Product Manager Jeff Chang, there will be two flagship smartwatches coming out early next year and both will be the first to carry the Android Wear 2.0. These won’t be branded as Google smartwatches but will carry the names of the manufacturer who made them. Chang won’t give the name of the company they collaborated with for the new smartwatches but he says this manufacturer has produced Android Wear devices before. Chang also adds that the collaboration with this brand is much like the Google Nexus smartphone program of recent past. You can expect more announcements in 2017 of new Android Wear 2.0 devices starting from CES in a few weeks and Baselworld later in the year.

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Pokémon Go now works with Apple Watch

Apple Watch users who are also avid Pokémon Go players can now look forward to adding their wearable to their monster hunting arsenal. Announced back at Apple's 'Hello Again' event in September, developer Niantic says that the Apple Watch version of Pokémon Go is finally available. 

This isn't a full game on the Apple Watch, rather a way to collect items from pokéstops and see nearby monsters with a simple tap without whipping out their phone. This caps off Niantic's blockbuster year with Pokémon Go, which remains 2016's biggest app success story.

Asus teases upcoming event at CES

Even without giving too much away, the teaser video for Asus’s event at next year’s Consumer Electronics Show. The YouTube video is entitled “Explore the Unknown” and it shows two children taking on some adventures until it focuses on a kid playing in his room as he tries to recreate the solar system. Near the end of the video we see an outline of one or two devices but it was shown rather briefly. The rumour mill is relatively quiet for new Asus devices so we’ll have to wait and see on January 4 what the Taiwanese company plans to release. Asus is hosting a livestream on that date at 11:30 am Pacific and you can watch it from this link.

Source: Droid Life

Alphabet’s Waymo in talks with Honda regarding self-driving car tech

After Google recently spun out its self-driving car division into Waymo, it looks like the new Alphabet company is trying to strike a big deal. Honda announced it is entering talks with Waymo on integrating autonomous vehicle tech into its cars. The discussion is still in its very early stages but Honda is proposing to give Waymo modified vehicles to help speed the process along. The new announcement isn’t meant to derail Honda’s own automated driving plans, which it intends to have self-driving cars on the road by 2020, but will be considered a “different technological approach.” If it does push through though, this would help legitimize Waymo further as a viable option for manufacturers who just plan to integrate an established self-driving platform over creating their own version.

Source: Engadget