cronologics
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The Blocks modular smartwatch will always be a concept
It's been several years since Blocks had its initial 15 minutes of fame, capturing the internet's attention with the idea of a modular smartwatch. The first prototypes were about as rough and ready as they could feasibly get, but the public's appetite for the ambitious product hadn't waned by the time the crowdfunding campaign started over a year later. More than $1.6 million in pledges and another few years of development, and the Blocks smartwatch is kinda, finally here. But so much has changed in the interim. Project Ara is dead, modularity isn't the buzzword it once was and we've gone from not knowing if we really need a smartphone accessory on our wrist to a saturated smartwatch market. But the founding fathers of Blocks still believe they have something unique to offer.
Google bought the firm behind that Amazon Alexa smartwatch
Cronologics, the company that developed what it hoped would be an alternative smartwatch OS to Android Wear, has been acquired by Google for an unknown sum. The startup was founded by former Google employees, ironically enough, and developed the software behind recently launched the Alexa-powered and Amazon-blessed CoWatch from Imco. The Cronologics OS that powers it is based on Android Lollipop, and can supposedly run almost any Android app, assuming the CoWatch could sideload them (it can't).
The CoWatch brings Amazon's Alexa to your wrist starting today
Amazon hasn't dared to make a smartwatch of its own yet, but it might not have to when companies like iMCO have shoehorned Alexa into a wearable themselves. See, iMCO and the ex-Googlers working on the Cronologics OS have successfully turned what could've been another bit of crowdfunded vaporware into an actual product -- the CoWatch -- complete with blessings from Amazon. At last, you'll be able to order multiple pairs of shoes straight from your wrist. Isn't the future grand? The CoWatch goes on sale on Amazon today with prices starting at $279, but I got to put a near-final model through its paces ahead of the company's big day. Spoiler alert: Having Alexa with you everywhere you go can be very cool, but the CoWatch definitely isn't for everyone.
