More signs point to Google wanting to release a new smartwatch, and recent evidence suggests that the so-called Pixel Watch 2 won’t look too different from the original Pixel Watch. Codenames have also been revealed.
A teardown of a recent Google app update has revealed some interesting tidbits about the company’s upcoming smartwatch (via 9to5Google). Internally, Google apparently calls the Pixel Watch 2 by two codenames: Eos and Aurora.
Is Google preparing more Pixel Watches to compete with Samsung?
Although it is tempting to believe that Google might release two new Pixel Watches to compete with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series more directly, it’s more reasonable to assume that Google plans to release one Pixel Watch 2, with the Eos and Aurora codenames corresponding to the Bluetooth-only and LTE variants.
Eos and Aurora are essentially the same mythological character representing the goddess of dawn. The difference consists of the fact that the name “Eos” was used by the ancient Greeks, whereas “Aurora” was the label ancient Romans gave the same deity.
Aside from these codenames, the recent Google app teardown also reveals an animation. Although it is already used by Google Assistant on the Pixel Watch, the APK teardown reveals that it is now also referencing the Pixel Watch 2. And needless to say, the animated Pixel Watch looks unchanged (screenshot above).
This could mean one of two things. Either Google hasn’t had time to change the animation to match the design of the Pixel Watch 2, or the upcoming smartwatch looks so similar to the original Watch that changing the design of the smartwatch in this animation would be pointless.
Similarly, Samsung is said to rehash some of its designs for the upcoming Galaxy Watch 6 series. The standard model might look very similar to the Watch 5, while the Classic version could bring back the physical rotating bezel of the Watch 5 Classic.
