Android 6.0 Marshmallow now rolling out for Android Wear, LG Watch Urbane 2 first to receive update

The Huawei Watch that has speaker support can now make calls IBTimes UK

Android 6.0 Marshmallow has been rolling out from October 2015 but less than 2% of Android devices are running on the updated OS. Google has now started to speed up the process and the latest devices to get the Marshmallow update are smart watches powered by Android Wear.

Google's Wayne Piekarski posted on his Google+ feed that over-the-air (OTA) updates have begun and should continue over the next few weeks. His post also directs to an official blog post by Google that lists some of the new features one can expect with the Marshmallow update like navigation gestures, audio support on speaker-equipped watches, and expanded support for messaging clients.

The first watch to get the update will be LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition. The Urbane 2 had got a similar update in November 2015 but due to "image quality issues," the update went missing. This time it is hopefully back to stay.

Let's check out the highlights of the new update:

Gesture Control: After becoming a big hit with smartphones the feature has been desired by smart watch lovers for a while. With the new update, scrolling up and down the card stream is as simple as flicking your wrist. Pushing, lifting or shaking the watch will also enable different functions to work.

Control messages through voice command: Voice control can be steered in a way with the new update that lets you command your smart watch to send messages from apps like Google Hangouts, Nextplus, Telegram, Viber, WeChat, and WhatsApp. For instance, if you are getting late to work you can command "OK Google, Send WhatsApp message to Boss: I'm stuck in traffic will be late for work."

Make calls right from your wrist: Now you can make calls and listen to messages right from your wrist pretty much like James Bond. But your watch must have speaker support for this to function along with your bluetooth headset.

Audio/video messages with apps like Glide can also be accessed with this feature. The Huawei Watch and Asus ZenWatch 2 (49mm) are two of the front-running devices that have this support.