Amazon Alexa is coming to your Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch before midyear

By Andy Boxall January 6, 2022

Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch owners will be able to call up Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant in the future, as the company has confirmed support will arrive on its latest models before the middle of the year. The news comes from CES 2022, where the company revealed two new smartwatches that use the Gen 6 platform, the Razer X Fossil Gen 6 limited edition, and the Skagen Falster Gen 6.

Fossil told Digital Trends in an email:

“Alexa will be launching in the first half of this year on our Gen 6 devices, with the opportunity to roll out on future devices. We’ll have more information closer to launch.”

Not much to go on so far, but it seems Alexa will arrive as an app on the Gen 6 watches. Anyone with a Gen 6 will find Amazon Alexa listed in the app section right now, but when selected, it simply says, “coming soon.” Reports of the Alexa app’s existence have been around since the Gen 6 launched, but Fossil hasn’t officially talked about its plans until now.

Currently, you can use Google Assistant on all Google Wear OS smartwatches, including the Fossil Gen 6 and earlier versions, but with Alexa support too, Fossil will add considerable convenience for those who use Amazon’s connected products over Google’s. However, it’s not the first time Alexa has been found on a smartwatch.

Fitbit integrated Alexa in the Versa 3, Versa 2, and Sense smartwatches, where you can ask for weather information, set alarms and reminders, control smart home products, and control various aspects of the watch itself. Amazfit also uses Alexa as the virtual assistant on its GTR 3 Pro smartwatch, among others. Amazon itself doesn’t make a smartwatch, but Alexa can be called into action on a wide variety of other connected products.

Alexa isn’t the only thing for Gen 6 owners to look forward to, as all models will receive an update to Wear OS 3 in 2022, the latest software currently only available on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic. However, like the Alexa update, you’ll need patience as there isn’t an exact release date for Wear OS 3 either. There’s the potential for both to arrive at the same time, though.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Senior Mobile Writer

Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…

Mobile

Clean and discreet, the Skagen Falster Gen 6 is one for the minimalist

Fossil Skagen Falster Gen 6 on the wrist.

Skagen has brought its beautiful, minimalist, Danish-inspired design aesthetic to the Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch platform with the Falster Gen 6. Announced during CES 2022, it’s a follow-up to one of our favorite Wear OS smartwatches, and the Falster Gen 6 retains the familiar fuss-free circular case and bar-like lugs for a clean, instantly recognizable look. It's not all about the design, though, as there’s some great news on the software front too.

Buy the Skagen Falster Gen 6 now, and it comes with Google’s Wear OS software installed, but Fossil has confirmed the smartwatch will get the new Wear OS 3 software update in 2022, meaning that even though the software is a little old now, you can buy it with confidence that it won't stagnate when others around it are running the latest software. The one caveat here is that there’s no exact date on when the update will arrive, but based on Google's statements when Wear OS 3 launched, it’s likely to be during the second half of 2022.

Mobile

The Razer X Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch is only for the 1337

Razer x Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch.

We know what you’re thinking. Does the new Razer X Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch have RGB lighting? Well, it's not going to challenge one of the gaming brand's keyboards or PC components, but one of the three custom watch faces does add an RGB effect to the outer edge of the dial. That’s good enough for us, and the geekiness level of this brand new limited edition smartwatch is raised even further by there only being 1,337 -- another way of writing “leet,” or elite when referring to a gamer’s skill level -- made.

In addition to the three custom watch faces, you also get two special straps with the smartwatch, one in Razer’s trademark green color scheme, and the other in black. It’s based on Fossil’s recently announced Gen 6 smartwatch platform and the design hasn’t changed, but Razer’s branding has been added to the buckle on each strap, and it comes in a cool, special edition box.

News

Amazon brings Matter support to several smart home devices

A collection of Matter-enabed Amazon devices.

At CES 2022, Amazon announced that it is adding Frustration-Free Setup to several smart home devices supporting Matter. Last year, Amazon announced that Matter support would be coming to most Echo devices and that the Echo 4th gen and eero devices would work as Matter Thread border routers. The Frustration-Free Setup is part of the matter specification.

Matter is a new smart home protocol that allows for advanced interoperability between different manufacturers. Think of Matter as a way for your Amazon Echo device to communicate with your Google Nest device, all the while talking to your Homepod Mini fast and efficiently. Once Matter starts becoming more widely available, there will be less pressure on your smart home to be ruled by one manufacturer and it will allow you to customize your smart devices for your unique needs. With companies such as Google, Apple, and Amazon behind the movement, you can be sure that this protocol will become a staple in smart home tech.