By Alexei Oreskovic
SAN FRANCISCO, March 18 (Reuters) - Google Inc saidon Tuesday that smartwatches based on its Android mobilesoftware will be available later this year, enlisting a varietyof partners and signaling the Internet company's intent to playa leading role in what could be the next big computing market.
Google said it was partnering with several consumerelectronics and technology companies, including SamsungElectronics Co, LG Electronics and IntelCorp, as well as with fashion company Fossil Group todevelop the new line of watches.
The project to extend Android, the operating system used inmore than three out of four smartphones sold worldwide, towristwatches is called Android Wear, Google said.
A video posted on Google's blog showed people speaking intotheir watches to check sports scores, control music, sendreplies to text messages and even open their home garages.
By aligning itself with a broad spectrum of partners todevelop the smartwatches, Google is hoping to replicate thesuccess that helped make its free Android software the mostpopular smartphone operating system, analysts said.
The announcement comes as speculation swirls aroundiPhone-maker Apple Inc's plans on the wearable front. AppleChief Executive Tim Cook has promised new "product categories"later this year, and the company is said to be working on asecretive smartwatch of its own.
Many believe wearable computers represent the next big shiftin technology, just as smartphones evolved from personalcomputers, but efforts by various companies so far have been metwith mixed results.
Samsung was among the first to sell a smartwatch forconsumers, though its maiden effort, the Galaxy Gear, was widelypanned by reviewers.
Google's announcement "definitely gives wearables a statusthat it's a market in it's own right and it needs to be treatedwith the respect that a separate operating system branch givesit," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Kantar World Panel.
Google has also been developing Google Glass, a smallstamp-sized screen attached to a pair of eyeglass frames. GoogleGlass can record video, access email, provide turn-by-turndriving directions and retrieve info from the Web by connectingwirelessly to a user's cell phone, but it has also raisedconcerns ranging from privacy intrusions to distracted driving
"We've barely scratched the surface of what's possible withmobile technology," Google said in a post on its official blogon Tuesday. "That's why we're so excited about wearables-theyunderstand the context of the world around you, and you caninteract with them simply and efficiently, with just a glance ora spoken word."
Among the more than ten other companies that are partneringwith Google on Android watches are Motorola, HTC Corp,Asus, Qualcomm Inc, Broadcom Corp and Mediatek Inc.
Juniper Research expects more than 130 million smartwearable devices will ship by 2018. Moreover, global shipmentsof wearable "smart glasses" alone will reach 10 million eachyear by 2018, compared with an estimated 87,000 in 2013,according to the research firm.
Shares of Google were up 1 percent at $1204.66 in middaytrading on Tuesday.
