Google Commits To Developer Support For Broad Range Of Wearable Devices With Upcoming SDK

Google is looking to gain a huge chunk of the wearables market with an SDK--no not, the Google Glass GDK, which is still in the offing as a Developer Preview, but a more general SDK that could be used for just about anything that you can wear as a garment or accessory and has some sort of “smart” capabilities.

The news was revealed by Google Senior VP Sundar Pichai at an event at SXSW. He told a crowd that the SDK will be available in about two weeks and will be based on Android, according to Re/code. “When we say wearables we think about it much more broadly,” he said. “It’s for partners and developers to figure out. It could be a jacket … with sensors. I don’t know.”

Google Senior VP Sundar Pichai
Google Senior VP Sundar Pichai

Most imagine that it could be used for a Google-made smartwatch, although Pichai did not address whether or not that particular device is going to happen.

It’s perhaps an obvious move for Google to release an SDK like this that could be used for any number and variety of applications, but it’s also a wise one. The wearables market is starting to take off in a big way, and this will help Google in its effort to become one of the biggest players.