Seems like Louis Vuitton is planning to launch one other smartwatch

It seems that Louis Vuitton is launching yet one more model of its Tambour Horizon Linked Watches. In response to Devices and Wearables, this one lights up due to 24 LED lights. It’s not dissimilar to Louis Vuitton’s weird $2,890 light-up speaker that appears prefer it belongs in an area opera. There’s lots that might be written about this factor, from its ostentatious design to its easy function set. However the large factor to notice right here is the watch might purportedly forgo Put on OS in favor of a proprietary working system.

A number of different retailers initially ran the announcement, together with HypeBeast, HypeBae, and Wareable, however have since been taken down or now redirect to different pages. Particulars on the precise {hardware} and software program had been obscure, and The Verge reached out to Louis Vuitton and its mother or father firm LVMH, which confirmed the watch existed however didn’t present additional particulars.

Up to now, there’s no title for this custom-built OS. All that’s been reported is that it’s obtained a touchscreen and a swipe-based UI. Swiping in numerous instructions supposedly brings up notifications, metrics, settings, and, in an attention-grabbing twist, a “My Journey” display screen that shops plans and boarding passes. On condition that this may be an high fashion smartwatch, there would even be customizable watch face choices and pretty fundamental well being monitoring. The opposite odd, however maybe telling, tidbit is that the proprietary OS was “made for iPhone” but in addition described as Android and HarmonyOS suitable.

If true, this wouldn’t be the primary time a historically Put on OS smartwatch line quietly pivoted away from the platform. The just lately introduced Moto Watch 100 additionally determined to run proprietary software program referred to as Moto OS — regardless that Motorola-branded smartwatches have traditionally run on Put on OS. Earlier this yr, the Huawei Watch 3 and the OnePlus Watch additionally determined to gamble on their very own RTOS-based software program. It’s too early to say whether or not this development will final, nevertheless it hints that Put on OS’s rising pains may be starting.

It was monumental information when Google introduced it was partnering with Samsung to create a brand new unified platform that mashed collectively one of the best of Put on OS and Tizen OS. However whereas it was a possibility to unify the fragmented Android wearable house, there have been a number of caveats, too. For starters, Put on OS 3 received’t arrive for eligible smartwatches till mid-2022 on the earliest. Key phrase: Eligible. Based mostly on Google’s official steerage and bulletins from companions like Fossil, it’s fairly clear that Android smartwatches powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon Put on 3100 chips received’t make the lower. That’s an enormous {hardware} dilemma, as solely a handful use the present Snapdragon Put on 4100 platform. It’s additionally troubling, contemplating it wasn’t till this previous summer time that Qualcomm seemingly realized it’d dropped the ball and introduced it was engaged on a brand new wearable chipset. Principally, Put on OS nonetheless has a {hardware} drawback.

Picture: Louis Vuitton

Working example: Put on OS 3 labored nicely on Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch 4 lineup. These smartwatches run on Samsung’s in-house Exynos W920 chip, which runs circles round each Snapdragon Put on 3100 and 4100. So, for those who’re a non-Apple smartwatch maker, you’ve obtained two choices. You possibly can take Fossil’s route and construct a 4100-powered watch that can ultimately run Put on OS 3, although not in addition to Samsung’s watches. You’d additionally should hope that Qualcomm manages to shortly launch a wearables chipset that isn’t primarily based on extremely outdated expertise. Or, you could possibly simply bypass the headache altogether with a proprietary OS, on the expense of extra superior options.

The fact is, proper now, Android customers are left in a lurch with few interesting choices. Switching to Put on OS 3 was all the time going to be messy, however there’s a number of potential from what we’ve seen of Put on OS 3 on Samsung’s watches. Nonetheless, Samsung is like Apple. Its merchandise work greatest for those who’re knee-deep in its ecosystem. Barring a Pixel or Fitbit Put on OS watch run by a robust Google chip (which may very well occur), non-Samsung customers are probably going to have to attend some time for an equal smartwatch.

Within the interim, it seems to be more and more probably we’ll see extra Android-friendly smartwatches operating proprietary software program. That’s not essentially dangerous. The Fitbit Sense, Amazfit GTR 3 Professional, and Huawei Watch 3 are all examples of serviceable smartwatches that selected this route. Then once more, so did the OnePlus Watch, and that was a bug-ridden nightmare at launch.

Basically, it’s all up within the air. We received’t be capable to affirm whether or not Put on OS will likely be lacking from the brand new Louis Vuitton smartwatch till it formally launches. We additionally received’t understand how Put on OS 3 will fare in the long term for fairly a while. The one factor we will say with utmost certainty is don’t purchase a brand new 3100-powered smartwatch.