Last week we were graced with pictures of a smartwatch running Android Wear made by HTC and Under Armor and codenamed “halfbeak”. We had speculated that the watch might probably be launched at MWC 2017 which is after Android Wear 2.0 must have been announced. Sadly that won’t be happening.

Yesterday, an interview with HTC’s President of Smartphones and Connected Device Chialin Chang was published online. In that interview, Mr. Chang had said “I can tell you that we’re not going to have an Android watch”.  The team at Android Police decided to reach out to HTC to confirm the statement and they replied that the statement is accurate. Which means that HTC is not preparing to release an Android Wear watch soon.

READ MORE: Huawei Watch 2 with Cellular Connectivity Pegged to Unleash at MWC 2017

So what’s up with the “halfbeak“ pictures? According to an undisclosed source, the images circulating online is of an old prototype and not a new project. So chances are that an employee who has a sample decided to cause a little bit of racket or maybe wanted us to know HTC once had plans to release an Android Wear watch.

(Sources: 1 & 2)

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There have been rumors of HTC releasing a smartwatch for a while now. Back in September, we saw leaked images of a smartwatch by the Taiwanese company. While the news back then mentioned HTC likely shelving the project, it seems we might be getting it on our wrists soon.

More images of the smartwatch codenamed “Halfbeak” have been leaked online. The watch appears to be a collaboration between HTC and Under Armour, an American sports clothing and accessories company.The new images which were posted on Weibo do not necessarily reveal new info but are just a way of fueling the hype.

The smartwatch has a round display with a 360 x 360 resolution and a shiny bezel around it. There is a red and a white triangle on the bezel that points to two hardware buttons on the watch The underside is where you have the heart rate scanner and charging connector pins. The rubber straps are actually black on the outside but has a red inner band with a grate-like design. The band is probably where Under Armour comes in.

HTC’s Halfbeak is seen to be running Android Wear 1.3. Android Wear 2.0 is set for a an early February launch, so if HTC unveils Halfbeak during MWC 2017 or later, it should be running the new version.

READ MORE: HTC 11 Cancelled? Company to Release 6 to 7 Smartphones in 2017

HTC itself has not made any comments about the watch as they are still busy pushing their newly released HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play, but most people hope they will take advantage of the upcoming tech event and launch their first Android Wear Watch. If they do, they might have to brace up to face competition from other companies who didn’t release an Android Wear watch last year like Huawei and Motorola/Lenovo.

Do you think HTC will be able to win in the smartwatch market? Let’s know what you think in the comment box.

(Source)

The post More Photos of HTC Smartwatch Codenamed Halfbeak Leaks appeared first on Gizmochina.