Until now the Apple Watch vs Android Wear battle has been baseless, due to the platform exclusivity of both operating systems.
Indeed, an Android Wear watch is currently about as much use to an iPhone users as a chocolate teapot. However, judging by a nugget of information leaked on Friday, all that might be about to change.
According to a now-removed Amazon pre-order page for the soon-to-be-released Huawei Watch, Android Wear is about to begin supporting iOS devices.
The page (via Android Police) explained the watch is “Compatible with most devices with an iOS 8.2 or Android 4.3 or later operating system.”
While the listing could have been a mistake, the removal, rather than the correction lends us to believe it’s probably correct.
Google has long desired to expand Android Wear support to iOS devices as it looks to increase the potential audience for smartwatches.
Of course the expansion of compatibility would suddenly give iPhone owners a large range of smart watches to choose from, outside of the Apple Watch and Pebble’s iOS-friendly offerings.
See also: Apple Watch review
The Huawei Watch, first announced in March, will be available from $349, although the high-end models will cost as much as $800.
Amazon says it’ll be shipped to pre-order customers by September 2.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.