Apple made quite a splash the other week when it revealed that its Apple Watch wearable will be getting a special version of Pokémon GO. Many assumed that this new app would be exclusive to Apple devices, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
John Hanke, CEO of Niantic, has revealed in an interview with TechCrunch Disrupt SF that it's "pretty likely" that the app will also come to Android Wear, Google's own wearable standard.
He said:
Our whole mission as a company is to evangelize this whole concept of playing games outside, real world games. Apple Watch we think is a great vehicle for that.
As other devices come on the market – if those are Android Wear devices or if they are devices from other quadrants that are interesting for gameplay and mobility, and being active – we'll look into supporting those, too.
When asked directly if Pokémon GO would come to Android Wear, Hanke replied:
I think it's pretty likely, yeah.
Apple Watch and Android Wear aren't the only wearable options for Pokémon GO fans - this week sees the long-awaited release of the Pokémon GO Plus, a device which can be worn on your wrist or clipped to your jacket and allows you to catch Pokémon and pillage Pokéstops without removing your phone from your pocket.
[source techcrunch.com]
Comments 13
Not surprising... the apple watch was probably the easiest to get a functioning version running on for public release, due to there being less variations of the hardware compared to android wear... they've probably been developing an android version alongside it already, but are still working on making it compatible with all devices.
@BensonUii Unfortunately, it does not count steps.
It is odd, as that would be the only reason I would even consider purchasing it.
It's essentially just a glorified notification system.
@BensonUii No, it doesn't appear to.
@BensonUii @Damo The distance travelled for eggs and buddy candy are both measured by GPS, which should remain active while using the GO Plus, so I don't see why it wouldn't count.
smart. these guys knew that it would taper off as mobile games tend to do. they knew to keep a second wave in reserve. nintendo will do the same for super mario run, but for all of android. they might also take a page out of blizzard's world of warcraft where they haven't made a sequel in over a decade and a half, but the expansions are huge deals.
Android Whatnow?
How about W10 Mobile first?
No? Oh, well.
First they should make the game work on all android 4.4 mobiles, and maybe later expand without halfassing.
Apple watch support looks like good move from apple - after all, this bombed incredibly hard and pokemon go could bring some sales... few months ago, because know, as I was saying and right yet again, the player base dropped significantly
@DragonEleven I assumed this too but Nintendo has officially stated that distance isn't taken into account:
"Pokémon GO does not track distance walked when running in the
background."
(Taken from a recent press release)
We'll be sure to test this properly when we have the device.
Of course: Niantic was owned by Google until last year. Google still own shares in Niantic.
@Damo Tracking the distance is basically the same as tracking the location, which will be needed for the Pokemon GO Plus to work, so I suspect using the Pokemon GO Plus may be categorised differently to simply 'running in the background'.
My Pokemon GO Plus should be arriving later today or tomorrow, so I'll probably give it a thorough test when it does as well.
Well, I had been thinking about getting an Android Watch (either that or a Pebble)...
@Dave24 ehh what? The Apple Watch is the best selling smart watch in the world. They have sold more Apple Watches total, than all smart watches combined from all other manufacturers!
It's only the luxury edition of 10.000 bucks that bombed, which isn't suprising, since not many are willing to shell out that kind of cash on a watch that will be obsolete in 2-3 years.
Those kind of people keep on buying Rolexes, since they hold their value for a long time.
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