At the end of last week, Google effectively confirmed their plans to enter the smartwatch market, after filing to trademark the name “Pixel Watch” with the US Patent and Trademark Office. This week, the tech giant has played itself a second time, after a bartender discovered what is suspected to be a prototype of the Google Pixel Watch, presumably left behind at the restaurant accidentally by a Google employee.
The story was first reported by Android Central following contact from a reader. Said reader is friends with the bartender who found the strange-looking smartwatch. The watch was presumably discovered by the bartender while packing up after dinner service, and after keeping the watch at the restaurant for a couple of weeks just in case someone came to claim it, the bartender sent it to his tech-obsessed mate who then leaked it to AC.
The entire story might be dismissed as a fabrication, however, the shape and design of the watch are almost identical to renders that were publicly shared following an earlier series of leaks about Google’s plans for a smartwatch. It’s not uncommon for members of a product design team to set themselves up with a prototype as a part of the testing. A very similar tale was behind the discovery of the first iPhone 4, when the Gizmodo team found a prototype camouflaged to look like an iPhone 3GS at a bar in Redwood City.
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The alleged Google Pixel Watch measures approximately 40mm in diameter and 14mm thick, while it features a rubber strap that can be swapped out quickly. The face of the watch is entirely taken up by the screen, which actually appears to wrap around to the side of the watch, where there are two hidden buttons and a rotating crown.
As the watch wasn’t found with a charger, it’s difficult to know much about what features the Google Pixel Watch might offer. The back of the smartwatch boasts an array of sensors that 9 To 5 Google reports being near-identical to those of a Fitbit Charge 5, while the same publication believes the watch may be powered by the Samsung Exynos chip (complete with next-generation Google Assistant).
It’s very difficult to say much else at this stage, but with further rumours swirling that the Google Pixel Watch will be released before the end of May, we won’t have to wait long.
Check out the Reddit post by the original leaker below.
