Google teams with Samsung for wearables platform
Google and Samsung said these were teaming up on a joint software program for smartwatches and additional wearables in a move ramping up competition with industry leader Apple.
The approach, announced at the Google programmer conference in California, means Samsung use Google's Wear OS because of its upcoming Galaxy smartwatches instead of its Tizen platform.
"We're bringing the very best of Wear and Tizen into a single, unified platform," said Google Wear job director Bjorn Kilburn.
"By working together we've been able to take strengths of every and incorporate them into an event which has faster performance, longer battery life and more of the software you love designed for the watch."
The combination will allow all device market segments to utilize this platform, creating an ecosystem that could challenge Apple, the longtime leader in the smartwatch segment with about a third of the marketplace, as Google integrates its newly acquired wearables maker Fitbit.
Samsung vice president Janghyun Yoon said on another statement the South Korean strong "constantly pursues new methods to meet up with the ever-changing needs of consumers," adding, "That is why we determined to synergy with Google... to bring the best of our platforms along into one unified knowledge."
The announcement came at Google's gross annual programmer conference, held online for a second consecutive year as a result of coronavirus pandemic.
At the function, Google unveiled a series of updates and upgrades to its services including maps, search, browsing and photos, while supplying a preview of its ongoing research projects.
Google offered a glimpse of its planned AI search application which it aims to deploy more technical tasks across multiple languages.
With the so-called Multitask Unified Model, "we're in a position to better understand a lot more complex questions and needs," senior vice president Prabhakar Raghavan said, noting that is "trained across 75 different languages and several different tasks simultaneously, allowing it to create a more comprehensive knowledge of information and world knowledge than previous models."
Google released a test version of Android 12, updating the mobile program employed by some three billion products, with increased privacy controls and personalization.
The tech giant also unveiled its new Quantum AI campus in Santa Barbara, California that will carry out research in the emerging field of quantum computing and develop its quantum processor chips.
Chief executive Sundar Pichai declared a push on geothermal energy as part of Google's sustainability work. This includes a geothermal-powered data centre in Nevada and installing "the most significant geothermal pile system in North America" at its latest California campus.
"We need to exceed wind and solar and tap into sources of on-demand clear strength like geothermal," to meet up sustainability goals, Pichai explained.
Source: japantoday.com
