Baidu is entering the smartwatch market with its own operating system

Few of us in the West have heard about Baidu, but down in China, there are few who haven’t. The technology giant has the same presence there that companies like Facebook and Google have here, and it wants to use this to cash in on the wearable market. Yesterday, the company launched a website introducing DuWear, its new Android-based operating system for smartwatches. 

Chinese technology giant Baidu has launched a website to introduce its upcoming Android-based smartwatch OS, named “DuWear”, on Wednesday. According to the company, the system not only supports basic smartwatch functions such as motion tracking and heart rate monitoring, but is also integrated with several Baidu-backed services like voice search and mobile payment technology. Simply by raising the wrist and talking to a smartwatch running DuWear OS, people will receive immediate feedback on weather and stock information. While issuing an order such as “I’d like to make a payment”, the Baidu wallet embedded in the OS will complete transactions instantly, according to the website. Baidu will also install mapping and GPS software into the OS to provide navigation services to consumers. An app store will be launched later to give users access to other supporting apps for DuWear.