Google has for the most part kept its distance from China, a market that has perhaps one of the largest user base of Android running devices. Government censorship and strict crackdowns mean that Google had to opt out from providing the Play Store and accompanying services in the country. This also meant that Android Wear watches that are heavily dependent on said services just wouldn’t work in China and so were never sold. This is about to change.
Motorola is all set to launch the Moto 360 in China and in collaboration with Google, it has managed to un-couple the Android Wear platform from the latter’s Play services framework. Local search provider Mobvoi will be providing search and voice recognition on the wearable while mapping and navigation will be handled by Sogou. While we’re not sure if it signals an about face, it certainly looks that Google has had to bend the knee as they just can’t afford to lose out on China and the massive market share it brings with it. Recent reports have suggested that Google is considering opening up the Play Store to the Chinese market by adopting a means of app censorship but hasn’t reached a consensus on this.
As more and more core services from Android and its accompanying wearable platforms move into the Play Services framework for easier updates, it is only a matter of time before the search giant has to succumb to the Chinese Democracy. Meanwhile, it looks like our Chinese brethren will finally be able to get their hands on one of the striking Android Wear watches out there. Check out our hands on with the new Moto 360.
[Via – The Verge]