Credit: Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority
- A code detective has discovered references to a device codenamed Merlot that is running WearOS.
- This is believed to be Samsung’s next WearOS watch.
A frequent informant noticed Last month, Samsung launched a new smartwatch in development, which will replace Tizen with WearOS. Now, it appears that evidence has emerged of a Samsung watch running on the Google platform.
XDA developer ivan_meler scoured the latest release of the Exynos Galaxy S20 kernel source code and found references to a device called “merlot” in the Wi-Fi driver. The name alone doesn’t tell us much, but the kick is that one of the Merlot references appears next to a “WearOS” reference. So it definitely suggests that the Merlot device is a smartwatch running WearOS.
There is not much more to know about the new device through the release of the source code, except for the name Merlot, also linked to the Broadcom BCM43013 Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip.
Related: Why Samsung should abandon Tizen for Wear OS (and why it shouldn’t)
However, this is the first real evidence that Samsung is working on a WearOS smartwatch. This does not necessarily mean that the Korean manufacturer is abandoning Tizen on its smartwatches, as it could theoretically just be launching a WearOS variant of an existing Tizen watch to give consumers more options. Therefore, we need to wait for more news and leaks in this regard to discover Samsung’s intentions.
However, there are benefits to using WearOS on watches instead of Tizen, such as seamless integration with the phone and more third-party applications. In saying that, WearOS is clearly neglected by Google, with the “ok, Google” voice activation interrupted for months and the platform without a YouTube Music client after Google ended Play Music. In fact, Google has already launched YouTube Music on the Apple Watch, further illustrating how the search giant neglected its own platform.