All Android Wear smartwatches will receive Marshmallow update; Will next Android smartwatches have Intel x86 chips, speaker support, cellular connectivity?

By Staff Writer

Nov 20 2015, 01:58 AM EST

All Android Wear smartwatches are set to receive Android 6.0 Marshmallow in the next months. Future Android smartwatches will have Intel x86 processors, speaker support, and cellular connectivity.

Google's latest OS update will be coming to all Android Wear smartwatches in "coming months". The API 23 SDK which is Marshmallow-based already began to launch on Android Wear devices. Google said that Android Wear smartwatches will receive the API 23 via an over-the-air (OTA) update. Currently, Android Wear watches are running API 22.

NDTV Gadgets reported that the new API 23 SDK for Android Wear packs new features like new emulators, permission check support, external speakers, Intel x86 processor, and round-notround resource qualifiers.

Developer Advocate Wayne Piekarski said that the Marshmallow-based API 23 creates easier ways to build apps for round and square Android smartwatches. It will allow developers to upload exact-sized layouts for both watch types.

"I am particularly excited about the -round and -notround resource qualifier, so you can express your layouts for all watch types in a much simpler way," said Piekarski in a post in Google+. International Business Times added that Android Wear developers need to make their apps compatible with both API 22 and API 23 watches.

Previous reports have revealed that the Tag Heuer Connected smartwach launched with Intel x86 processors. It is also believed that future Android smartwatches will have Intel x86 chips.

Google began adding cellular connectivity to Android Wear, starting with the LG Watch Urbane 2^nd Edition LTE. Phone Arena reported that the LG Watch Urbane 2^nd Edition is the first Android Wear with Android 6.0 Marshmallow (API 23) on board. It is also the first smartwatch to have built-in speaker support.

Having cellular support does not mean that the Android Wear smartwatch can function independently from the smartphone, though. However, the watch can be used to send and receive phone calls if it is integrated with a speaker and microphone or if it is connected to a Bluetooth headset.