On Wednesday, August 11th Samsung is expected to announce a couple new smartwatches: the widely rumored Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. The company that has the most to gain — or lose — from the success of these watches isn’t Samsung, however, it’s Google.
For many years now, I have decried the lack of good smartwatch options for Android phones. There’s nothing in the Android ecosystem that matches the quality and utility of the Apple Watch. As the pace of development in phones seems to slow, the pace of development on wearables still has a chance of growing. And without a viable alternative for Android users, it’s ever more likely that Apple will peel off users (or keep iPhone owners from ever trying Android).
At long last,…