Google and Samsung announced Tuesday the development of a common platform for watches and other connected objects to wear, an initiative intended to better stand up to the leader in this market, Apple.
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Announced at Google's annual developer conference in California, the partnership means Samsung will use Google's operating software, Wear OS, for its upcoming Galaxy watches, instead of its own Tizen system.
“We combine the best of Wear and Tizen in a single platform,”
said Bjorn Kilburn, project manager for Google Wear.
“By working together, we've been able to leverage each other's strengths and combine them into a solution that delivers faster performance, longer battery life and more apps,”
he added.
The new platform will thus create an ecosystem that will be able to compete more directly with that of Apple, for a long time number one in the connected watch segment with a third of the market, shortly after the acquisition by Google of Fitbit, a specialist in connected objects for the sport.
In a separate statement, Samsung vice president Janghyun Yoon justified the partnership with Google by stressing that the South Korean company was
"constantly looking for new ways to meet consumer needs
.
"
What's new at Google
At its developer conference, which was held online for the second year in a row due to the pandemic, Google also unveiled a series of improvements and updates to several systems, Google Maps, its mapping application, to its search engine or its photo management service. The company thus presented a test version of Android 12, its operating system which operates some three billion mobile phones worldwide, equipped with new privacy control and personalization tools. The tech giant also unveiled its new campus dedicated to artificial intelligence in Santa Barbara, California, where research on quantum computing will be carried out.
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The boss of the company, Sundar Pichai, also highlighted the group's initiatives related to the fight against the climate crisis, with in particular a data center running on geothermal energy in Nevada.
“We need to go beyond wind and solar”
and use geothermal energy to achieve sustainable development goals, said Sundar Pichai.
