Cronologics, the company that developed what it hoped would be an alternative smartwatch OS to Android Wear, has been acquired by Google for an unknown sum. The startup was founded by former Google employees, ironically enough, and recently launched the Alexa-powered and Amazon-blessed CoWatch. The Cronologics OS that powers it is based on Android Lollipop, and can supposedly run almost any Android app, assuming the CoWatch could sideload them (it can't). Google didn't reveal why it bought the company, and Cronologics just said (via a statement on its site) that "we see strong alignment with Android Wear's mission and look forward to working with our new colleagues at Google." It didn't specifiy if it would continue to sell the CoWatch, though that seems unlikely given that Google Home competes directly with Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo products.

You probably caught video a few weeks back of Alexa speaking through Big Mouth Billy Bass, a singing fish that got popular in the late 1990s. If you haven't seen it yet, take a moment to watch and enjoy. The animatronic fish is a good reminder that Amazon's Alexa does not just come in speakers like Amazon Echo or Echo Dot. The Alexa Voice Service (AVS) can be used to put Alexa inside a wide range of devices, and since it's in the cloud, Alexa can operate without dependency on a local device for computing power. With Amazon deep learning services, the Lex bot framework, and a smarter Alexa Skills Kit announced at AWS re:Invent this week, people can expect to see and interact with Alexa in places way beyond an Echo or animatronic fish.

Even taking into consideration the latest smartwatch models introduced recently by Apple and Samsung, it has to be admitted that these gadgets haven't been doing as well as vendors hoped. It could be that the size and weight are still off-putting to many users -- or it could be that many don't want to pay several hundred dollars for what can be viewed as a glorified Fitbit. However, that hasn't put off a number of vendors who are still hoping to make a name for themselves in the Dick Tracy sweepstakes. One that made a bit of a splash on crowdfunding site Indiegogo has just made its appearance in the market: the CoWatch, with hardware from a tech startup called iMCO, software from a company called Chronologics, and the ability to access Amazon's Alexa voice controller. I had a chance to try out the CoWatch and found it to be a highly interesting project -- one that feels not quite complete but that may have a good deal of potential. One admission before I start: While I've handled other smartwatches, this is the first that I've had a chance to spend extensive time with.