Google's first in-house smartwatch could launch in 2022

Google is expected to launch its first in-house smartwatch next year.

According to Business Insider, the Google smartwatch is codenamed Rohan and is developed by the Pixel hardware team. Tipped to cost more than a Fitbit, the Google smartwatch will come with basic fitness tracking features such as step counting and a heart rate monitor. Google is also said to be working on a Fitbit integration into Wear OS.

Rumours of a Google smartwatch have been circulating for the past seven years. Tipster @evleaks claimed in March 2014 that the Google smartwatch has a 1.65-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 280 x 280 pixels, and could debut in June. Google confirmed in September 2018 that the company had no plans to release a smartwatch that year.

The following year, Google had job openings for a "Vice President of Hardware Engineering for Wearables" and a "Wearables Design Manager". Google also acquired Fossil for $40 million in the same year.

Earlier this year, tipster @jon_prosser and @RendersbyIan shared several purported renders of the Google smartwatch . The renders reveal a "round" and "bezel-less" design with a physical crown.

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.