Google Announces 'Android Wear,' A Platform For Wearables, Starting With Smartwatches

After months of rumors, Google has officially announced that it plans to extend Android to other wearable devices beyond Google Glass, and it's starting with smart watches.

The effort is called "Android Wear" and a post to the Google Blog on Tuesday says it will bring aspects of Google Now, including voice control and notifications, to your wrist. The platform will also interact with health and fitness apps and work as media control center of sorts:

Just say “Ok Google” to fire up a music playlist on your phone, or cast your favorite movie to your TV. There’s a lot of possibilities here so we’re eager to see what developers build.

Unlike with the Pebble watch, which has limited functionality and available apps, or Samsung's Galaxy Gear, which is only compatible with a few flagship phones in the Samsung universe, Google is introducing its wearable platform ahead of announcing any hardware. Mountain View does say that Google gear for your wrist is in the works, though:

We’re also already working with several consumer electronics manufacturers, including Asus, HTC , LG, Motorola and Samsung; chip makers Broadcom , Imagination, Intel , Mediatek and Qualcomm; and fashion brands like the Fossil Group to bring you watches powered by Android Wear later this year.

In fact, Motorola has already announced their Android smartwatch, the Moto 360, which the company says will launch this summer. Similarly, LG plans to introduce its G Watch sometime in the second quarter of this year.

A site to sign up for the developer preview of the platform is now live. The preview promises to allow devs to run Android Wear in an emulator and connect it to a device to see how Google-based "cards" like those in Google Now will look on the platform.

According to the UI overview on the developer site, cards take up the entire screen real estate on a watch, and vertical swipes move between cards, while side-to-side swipes bring up more information. Tap-able buttons may also appear on the cards to take further action on a notification.

Saying "OK, Google" or clicking on a "g" on the screen opens a menu screen called a "cue card" with a list actions like "take a note," "send a message," "set an alarm," or "call a cab."

You can see how Google envisions its wearable platform taking shape in the video below:

To jack in to my brain and get more on the latest in science, tech and innovation, follow me here on Forbes, as well as on Twitter @ericcmack and on Google+.