After launching Tencent Operating System or TOS at the beginning of this year, Chinese Internet tycoon Tencent rolled out TOS+ strategy last week at GMIC to make the system available for more emerging categories of smart devices ranging from smart wearables, smart TV to virtual reality headsets. Just a few days later, the first leaked images of TencentOS have appeared online.
The pictures show the Android-based system supports a variety of features that are typical for smart watches, like sports data monitoring, messaging, answering phone call, music, email alert. TencentOS also supports voice commands, payment transaction and it is going to feature several local life services like taxi-hailing, restaurant reservation, fast check-in to get users better informed in different usage scenarios.
TOS+ aims to build an open source platform that connects all kinds of smart devices, according to the company. For Tencent, it is all ideal platforms for pushing other services like gaming, social and entertainment services, mobile payment services, and more.
Like most of its local competitors, Tencent has made several endeavors in the operating system arena to gain a foothold in what is generally considered as an entry-point product for all the other mobile services. The company has rolled out its customized Android smartphone OS TITA as early as 2012, but the OS didn’t garner much attention. This time, Tencent renewed its efforts with a twitch in focus on Internet-connected devices and wearbles.
This shift seems plausible at this special timing when smart wearables and IOT products have finally started to appeal to a major proportion of Chinese gadget fanatics. Moreover, the unavailability Google service-backed Android Wear in China seems to have to prompted domestic companies to making something of their own.
But Tencent is not the only Chinese company that noticed the change. Chinese search engine Baidu launched its Android-powered smartwatch OS DuWear in April this year.
Image credit: Tencent