Samsung smartwatch with Google’s wearOS hinted in Galaxy S20’s kernel source code

Just last month a tipster noted that Samsung might be moving away from its Tizen OS and can be working on Google's wearOS-based smartwatch. However, it looks like some new evidence has emerged, doubling down on this speculation. According to a XDA developer ivan_meler, the Exynos version Galaxy S20’s latest kernel source code release has a reference to a device called ‘merlot’ in the Wi-Fi driver. Although the name doesn't reveal a lot about the device or if it will run wearOS software or not, what's interesting is that one of the ‘merlot’ references is appearing next to ‘wearOS’ reference, indicating that the device might be a smartwatch running Google's wearOS platform.

For now, there is no other information about the wearable product. While this might be counted as evidence indicating that Samsung is working on a wearOS smartwatch, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Korean tech giant is ditching its in-house Tizen OS completely.

Also read: New Moto-branded smartwatches to arrive in 2021

But nonetheless, users may find some benefits wearOS over the TizenOS. This may bring a seamless phone integration with more third party apps and more timely OS updates.

However, Google might not be having wearOS as its focus. This was seen recently when the company confirmed that it will be fixing one of the most annoying issues in the wearOS platform - the broken ‘Hey Google’ hotword. This confirmation comes months after this bug was discovered by users. The first issue showed up in November last year, but rather went unnoticed, suggesting that wearOS is not on high priority for the firm. Although the bug doesn't really affect how you use the Google Assistant or the wearOS, it does make it difficult for people to access the assistant by long pressing the power button.