Google shuts down crowdfunded Android Wear smartwatch

Google has always been pretty freewheeling with Android, but it looks like that won’t be the case for Android Wear. The company’s already made it clear that hardware-makers can’t modify the new software in any major way, and now the search giant is clamping down on just who can build Android Wear devices as well.

Android Wear is Google’s first attempt at a smartwatch (or other wearable) OS, and as such, the company is keeping a very tight grip on the user experience and list of hardware partners for the time being. An IndieGoGo project called Com1 didn’t get the memo, though, and decided “hey, if we raise enough money, they have to let us use Wear, right?” Wrong, it would seem. Com1 used stock images of Android Wear and the Android Wear trademark in its campaign page, which was taken down by IGG under the premise of an intellectual property infringement complaint by Google shortly after the campaign launched. Now, it’s possible that Google simply was filing on copyright grounds for the stock Wear images being used in a commercial context without permission.