Why did Google demand the Com 1 Android Wear IndieGoGo campaign be taken down?
We reported on the Com 1, a smart watch that was advertised to run Android Wear, a while back. The watch wasn’t attractive, powerful or noteworthy in any way other than a relatively attractive price tag, though it did catch our eye for being the first crowd-funded smart watch with Android Wear. It looks like there could be a bit of an obstacle keeping that from becoming a reality.
Google issued a complaint for a takedown notice to IndieGoGo on grounds of the campaign using unauthorized intellectual property in its description. We imagine they’re referring to renders of the smart watch with Android Wear depicted. IndieGoGo complied, of course, and you’ll find that the campaign page is no longer viewable to the public.
It’s a strange move by a company who isn’t known to be too harsh to folks wanting to use their imagery, name and software. Well, Phandroid and AndroidForums certainly didn’t fall under that banner, but they’ve remained relatively cordial otherwise.
One has to wonder if Google has an ulterior motive here, with said motive being to protect Android Wear and its ecosystem.
Google made a statement by forcing Android Wear OEMs to conform to strict user experience practices and limit customization to pre-installed apps, likely in order to make sure the earliest Android Wear products could receive software updates as soon as they were available as it looks to grow from infancy to maturity.
You’ll notice that all of the current Android Wear smart watches share nearly identical user interfaces outside of the few apps made specially for each device. We can totally see Google wanting to make sure there are no rebel smart watches out there by companies who haven’t conformed to usage agreements for folks to worry about.
Android Wear is supposed to be headed to AOSP at some point down the line so they certainly won’t want to stifle platform adoption forever, but for now it seems Google would rather keep a tight grip on things until they’re ready to let everyone else come to bat.
Of course, we’re not sure what’s going to happen once it actually does make its way to AOSP. As you know, Android for smartphones and tablets is available as a free and open source platform for anyone to use, but if you wish to use it with just the public license then you won’t be entitled to bundle the Google Play Store or Google’s crop of apps with whatever distribution you decide to release. There’s a good chance something similar will happen for Android Wear’s release.
So, sorry Com 1 — you tried, but ultimately it looks like Google’s not willing to let anyone and everyone advertise Android Wear watches without proper authorization, and maybe that’s all for the better right now. Let’s hope things change as the platform continues to grow into its own.
[via Crowdfund Insider]