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While we didn’t overreact to early reports that movement on the Android Wear front would be a little stale in the final moments of 2016, this piece of news may be a bit more startling. Korea Herald is reporting that local media heard of plans by Huawei to collaborate with Samsung on using Tizen for wearables.
The report went as far as contributing a specific line to a Samsung rep noting Huawei had gotten in contact with the South Korean company due to Google not being very collaborative with Android Wear. That likely stems from the long-known mandate that manufacturers stay mostly hands-off when it comes to customizing Android Wear, with the only customization allowed typically being pre-loaded apps and watch faces.
But Samsung is apparently denying it in follow-up reports. “Samsung has not officially received any request for such collaboration from Huawei yet,” said spokesperson Lee Won-ho.
Of course, that “yet” leaves open much interpretation. Huawei could have inquired about using Tizen and not necessarily be collaborating with Samsung to use it. After all, like Android, Tizen is open source and Huawei is free to do with it whatever they will.
Losing Huawei watches to Tizen would be a pretty big blow for Android Wear. The Huawei Watch was one of the few watches which challenged the smartwatch industry to step their style game up. There are plenty of other options left without them, but if they find success with a move to Tizen like Samsung has will that urge others to follow suit?
We don’t want to think about that sort of future just yet, especially when these early reports are already conflicting and unclear. For now, let’s just wait and see what 2017 will have in store for us and continue enjoying the many devices available for your wrist today.
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