Google I/O will finally give us so much more to talk about this week, especially if the Google smartwatch is really a part of the week’s agenda.
The device has apparently been shown at Google offices in Berlin, Manchester, and Mountain View.
Android Authority reports that they have a source very close to Google saying that the watch is in “physical form.”
“Functionality will be very much like Glass,” the anonymous source said.
Much like the Google Glass, the watch will still need to be tethered to a smartphone, however, leaving Apple customers in the dust.
The source did say that Motorola would be manufacturing the watch.
Considering the MotoACTV from two years ago, one of the pioneer devices in wearable technology, this comes as no surprise.
With Apple supposedly developing the currently named iWatch, Google could jump the gun on their competitors by unveiling the smartwatch at I/O this week.
Even if the technology has yet to be finished, Google was hardly shy at last year’s I/O when they gave their first look at Google Glass.
This all comes shortly after the news that Google submitted another patent for a smartwatch that was published earlier this month. The new design is very reminiscent of Glass, seemingly displaying the same type of cards.
The patent was originally introduced in October 2011, around the same time as the MotoACTV. It was also filed at a similar time as the original Google Glass patent.
If the patent has any influence on the finale design, the smartwatch will have a wristband, a base, and two touchpads.
Some other tidbits from the patent suggest that the watch will enter a sleep mode the second it is removed from the user’s wrist, and that it will have a mini USB plug and port at opposite sides of the device.
But there is no way to find out until I/O later this week, if the watch is even revealed there.
Google I/O will run from May 15-17, in San Francisco. Other rumors surrounding the conference include a Maps and Gmail update exclusively for Android users.
