Asus is aiming for a bigger success this year as it has already laid out an impressive roadmap for 2015. If the Taiwanese tech giant is to make good on those promises, it must first address the pain points of the consumers.
In wearables, short battery life is the biggest consumer concern and Asus is looking to fix that by inching away from the Android Wear platform, according to a new report from Focus Taiwan citing Asus CEO Jerry Shen.
According to the publication, Asus will not cut ties with Google completely. At least one other smartwatch, mostly ZenWatch 2.0, will be powered by Android Wear.
"The major concern is about saving power," Shen said. "We will continue to work with Google on Android Wear, and we will have another (smartwatch) that is not based on Android Wear and features a longer battery life."
While details on the new wearable OS remain scanty, Shen revealed that the non-Android smartwatch will run a new MediaTek processor that is under development. If everything goes as planned, the future smartwatch by Asus will run for days on a single charge. The company's chairman, Jonney Shih, also hinted last month that the future Asus ZenWatch will run up to seven days by utilizing simplified chipset and a new OS.
The news of Asus deviating from Android Wear platform comes as the release of Apple Watch nears. The upcoming wearable from the Cupertino tech giant is expected to transform the wearable industry and Apple is confident to sell more than 5 million units in the initial run.
Asus will intensify the competition by launching two other wristband wearables at a low price that will focus solely on the health management of the wearer. The company's first-gen ZenWatch is priced at $190, which is quite effective while competing against the likes of Samsung, LG, Motorola and others.
