Com 1 Indiegogo campaign pulled after rights complaint from Google

By Joseph Keller
last updated

Com, the company behind the Com 1 Indiegogo campaign for a new Android Wear device, says that their campaign has been pulled following a rights infringment complaint by Google. The complaint letter says that the Com 1 campaign used Google's intellectual property in their campaign without authorization.

Com has apologized to their backers, and says that as a sign of good faith, they have begun processing refunds. The company also says that they have a backup plan, though they haven't been public about what it entails. The Com1 Android Wear device was set to be a square watch made of aluminum or stainless steel, depending on customer preference. It would have interchangeable bands. The device also had a water resistance rating of IP67.

Were you looking forward to the Com 1 watch, and how do you feel now that the campaign has been suspended? Sound off in the comments.

Source: Com on Twitter

Joseph Keller
Joseph Keller
26 Comments
  • I thought it was open source software? What is the complaint about? Posted via Android Central App
  • My guess is that they still have to obtain some kind of consent for marketing. Don't quote me on that.
  • the used copy right protected images and claimed them as there own. I also don't think Google wants just anyone making a Android Wear watch.
  • Android: Yes!
    Google Android Wear: Closed source. Think of Wear as a part of the proprietary Google Apps. Any OEM can run Android, but if you want the play store, and other GApps, you gotta have Google's OK. Com1 didn't. Chuck Norris can call 'su' without having root permissions.
  • apparently it was poorly worded to the point where it could be interpreted that they owned Android Wear, I never really saw it that way though a section of their campaign page did advertise the features of Android Wear
  • If that's it, it would seem like there would be a quick fix - change the wording so it didn't imply that. The fact that this is taking longer to fix raises the suspicion that something more complicated might be going on.
  • Androidwear is not open source. Its totally controlled by google and the OEM manufacturer has little control over what software they can add
  • Android is Open Source. Android Wear runs Google now which is 100% proprietary. Google wanted to lock down Android Wear more than Android itself.
  • It is not "Google Now", although it is a platform controlled by Google and not open.
  • it was an ugly watch from unheard of company. for a 150 bucks go out and buy a real android wear watch
  • That's usually the bulk of crowd funded companies, unheard of. ~My $0.02~
  • The more smartwatchs there are with solid technology (no saying this one is) the better... It will lower the prices... so the average person and kid can have one. Posted via Android Central App
  • I thought the Com1 was too good to be true. It was so spec'd out with sensors and a bigger battery than any other Android Wear device, but it was smaller than a Pebble Steel. It didn't help that they kept improving their specs every few days. I figured I'd wait until it was commercially available anyway. Maybe Google asserted their copyright to keep vaporware like this from ruining their plans for Wear.
  • I think your suspicions are correct. With all the vaporware, shady campaigns, and incomplete deliveries associated with indiegogo they probably decided to pull the plug before too many people get excited for something that would never ship. Or by the time it did ship it would be outdated, overpriced, and/or nonfunctional.
  • Kind of expected it to happen Posted via Android Central App
  • still not sure what to think but I was looking forward to it if it happened to actually achieve what they claimed, which would be 2 day batter life on a device smaller than any other android wear device so fat
  • I think this is a good thing. Google wants to maintain a high standard and impression of Wear and we don't know if this crowd funded watch was going to turn out as good as they claimed on their website. Posted via Android Central App
  • That's a fuck up. Who would want another LG G Watch anyway? Posted via the Android Central App
  • I was really looking forward to buying this. A Android Wear watch that's below $125. Posted with my Nexus 7 2012 or Moto X via the Android Central App
  • Me, that thing is far better looking than the moto 360. I hate that more every time i see it.
  • The company was run by people with a dream but little business sense. Even their bare-bones web page was filled with poor writing and grammatical errors. I emailed a comment about this to them, taking one paragraph and rewriting it as an example. They just took my text and used it to replace their own, stating, "I can't believe we missed that! Thanks so much for the edits! I'll make sure its updated asap!" I didn't mind, as it took me all of about a minute to write, but what kind of company lets a strange write their company description? What kind of company doesn't bother to ask permission before appropriating someone else's writing?
  • Well, on the bright side, it's a good move from Google then?
  • Holy shit they sound like a proper fly by night operation. Posted via Android Central App
  • moto moto moto, I will say first time I saw this I did think it was LGs
  • Looks like a huge rookie mistake to me....
  • I think Google saw this crowd funding attempt for the nightmare that it is/was likely to turn into and wanted to make sure their name and Android Wear wasn't involved with it. Most crowd funding is bad enough, but this one specifically was set up to make sure the company received all of the pledged money whether the overall funding goal was met or not. It sure smelled like a money grabbing situation to me, especially with the company changing the specs of the watch all the time. It proved that the watch was total vaporware and the chance of success was almost zero IMHO. Now we find out that the company didn't even have the proper approval from Google which is just another sign that this company didn't do any planning prior to setting up the money grabbing campaign.