After years of speculation, we finally know what Google’s first in-house smartwatch will be called. Absolutely no one is surprised that a new trademark filed with the USPTO shows it’s… Pixel Watch.
filing (via 9to5 Google) is almost barebones. The description states that the Pixel Watch name “is intended to cover the category of smartwatches; cases suitable for storing smartwatches; wearable computers of a smartwatch nature; smartwatch straps; smartwatch straps.” Pixel Watch name, but with the intent to use it. Not to mention, Google recently changed its store to feature watches more prominently. Clearly, Google has smartwatches in the brain.
The name suggests Google intends to make wearables a companion to its Pixel phones
pixel watch logoImage: USPTO
Of course, the name is completely to be expected, even if it’s a bit anticlimactic. For years, the tech press has dubbed the concept of a Google-made smartwatch as the Pixel Watch. This also makes sense when you consider that Big Tech is already using smartwatches to further grow their ecosystem. By naming it the Pixel Watch, Google is signaling its intention to make the wearable a companion to its Pixel phones. If this gets more people into Google’s network of gadgets and services…well, that’s always been the plan.
We already know what to expect. News that Google would finally actually make the Pixel Watch a reality broke in December, along with several renders and watch face leaks. Google has long been expected to tease the Pixel Watch at Google I/O next month — and the timing of the trademark filing is well supported. The Pixel Watch is also expected to integrate Fitbit with Wear OS 3 to some extent. The smartwatch is also expected to cost more than Fitbit and serve as a direct competitor to the Apple Watch.
2022 is the year stars finally align themselves for the Pixel Watch, and there are many reasons for that. But despite false starts and never-before-seen rumors, Google has been laying the groundwork for an Android-first smartwatch for years. Not only was it Android Wear that first launched wearable gaming in 2014, it was later renamed Wear OS. It was revealed that the 2019 Pixel Watch debuted almost a few years ago. The only reason it didn’t was that those early attempts “didn’t look like something that belonged to the Pixel family.” To be fair, it’s the right choice, because the LG Watch Style and LG Watch Sport are just amazing.
This does imply that this new watch is Google’s Yes Proudly put its name on it. We’ll have to see what happens at Google I/O, but it looks like the long wait is finally over.
