Google Updates Pixel Watch 4 with Enhanced Gesture Controls and Smart Replies
In a significant enhancement for Pixel Watch 4 users, Google announced this week a comprehensive update. The new features allow users to engage with the watch in ways that rival those found on Apple’s smartwatches.
This update introduces a wide array of functionalities that can be executed without needing to physically tap the screen. Users can now scroll through notifications, dismiss them, snooze alarms, manage timers and stopwatches, pause music, and select smart replies— all using convenient one-handed gestures. "You can now use various features without ever touching your screen: scroll through notifications, dismiss notifications, snooze your alarm effortlessly, manage a timer or stopwatch, pause your music, select a smart reply to respond, answer and end a phone call…the list of what you can do with one-handed gestures goes on and on," stated Munjal Shah, Senior Product Manager for Pixel Watch.
Moreover, users will experience enhanced smart replies. The Pixel Watch 3 and its newer counterparts will leverage a cutting-edge on-device Gemma-based language model. This technology enables the watches to generate Smart Replies for Google Messages and more, even when not connected to a smartphone. "In a first for smartwatches, Pixel Watch 3 and newer watches will now use our on-device Gemma-based language model to generate Smart Replies for Google Messages and more even when you aren't tethered to your phone," Shah added. He emphasized that this new model is "twice as fast and nearly three times more efficient in terms of memory usage compared to our previous generation."