Luxury Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer has joined hands with tech giants Google and Intel to develop and launch an Android Wear-powered smartwatch before the end of this autumn. The announcement was made on Thursday at the Baselworld Watch and Jewelry Show in Basel, Switzerland.
Tag Heuer is set to work on watch design and manufacturing, Intel will handle the SoC platform and Google will provide its Android Wear capabilities and help with the software development.
Announcing the deal, CEO TAG Heuer , Jean-Claude Biver , said this was his “biggest announcement ever” in his 40 years of working in the industry.
“Swiss watch making and Silicon Valley is a marriage of technological innovation with watch making credibility. Our collaboration provides a rich host of synergies, forming a win-win partnership, and the potential for our three companies is enormous,” Biver said.
Biver estimated that the Android smartwatch, described as the “greatest connected watch,” will roll out any time in between October and December.
David Singleton, the head of Android Wear development for Google, added “When I think about the watch, it’s always been a marriage of beauty and utility. We’re going to do that with our partnership.”
Commenting on the partnership, Michael Bell, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s New Devices Group, said “As we work to enable technology experiences that provide greater utility and value to people, Intel is confident that a collective approach will inspire new innovation in wearable technology. The collaboration with TAG Heuer and Google brings us closer to realizing the vision of wearable technology with a distinctive smartwatch that elevates the category.”
Details regarding pricing, functionality or design of the upcoming Android smartwatch weren’t disclosed by the three companies. However they promised to announce more details on the smartwatch by the end of the year.
