An open-source alternative to Android Wear OS for smartwatches emerges

Can the Android Wear and Tizen operating systems on smartwatches be challenged? French computer science student Florent Revest believes so.

Revest has developed AsteroidOS, a flavor of Linux for smartwatches, still in early beta. It has been tested on LG's smartwatches and a port is underway to Asus' Zenwatch 1.

AsteroidOS has basic smartwatch features like a calculator, calendar, stopwatch and heart-rate monitor. Asteroid 1.0 could be ready for three to four smartwatches later this year, Revest said.

Like PCs and mobile devices, smartwatches usually come with an OS installed. Installing another OS like AsteroidOS could break a watch's warranty. Just as with mobile devices, installing a new OS on a smartwatch can be risky. Users have to be technically skilled or they could render devices nonfunctional.

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