Google recently acquired both intellectual property as well as some R&D workers it transferred from Fossil, and now we start to understand why. Recent job postings reveal that Mountain View might be serious about making its own wearables. A Google branded smartwatch or fitness band would complement its portfolio of products for a niche market, or even mainstream.

The job posting is looking for a Vice President of Hardware Engineering for Wearables. The description goes:

As the VP of Hardware Engineering for Wearables, you’ll work collaboratively with the Senior Leadership team for Google Hardware and will be responsible for the design, development, and shipment of all Google’s Wearable products. You will lead and enable the effectiveness of a large engineering organization primarily based in Mountain View to develop multiple next-generation wearable products simultaneously.

Currently, Google only has a single wearable product, the Pixel Buds. Additionally, another job posting is looking for a Wearables Design Manager. These could both indicate that Google not only does not abandon Wear OS, but it might be serious about its own wearables, directly competing with Apple, Samsung, Huawei, and other OEMs who have these products in their portfolios.