Android Wear is due to get new features in the 1.4 update, but so far, no details have been provided about its release. Now it seems that it could not be far off as Google has released the API 23 SDK for developers and they will have to ensure that apps currently running on API 22 will be compatible with both. 

In its blogpost announcing the release of the API 23 SDK, Google described how it was already running on the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE which was announced recently. The release of the SDK means that the 1.4 update with Android 6.0 Marshmallow will be arriving over the air for Android Wear devices in the next few months. 

Among the new features that the SDK will give users is the ability to pick which types of permissions they want their apps to have on their smartwatch and even turn them off when needed. The SDK comes with "-round and -notround resource qualifiers" that developers can use to easily create apps for round and rectangular smartwatches with customized with images and layouts. 

The API 23 SDK will allow developers to incorporate sounds along with their apps when they are creating them. This has become even more important as devices like the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE, which is the first cellular-enabled smartwatch, comes with speakers. Android Police states that speakers could arrive on other Android Wear smartwatches soon and it points toward the Huawei Watch as having one on board. There is also Intel x86 support included in the API 23 SDK, as smartwatches like the TAG Heuer Connected have a chipset from Intel and not from Qualcomm. 

As for the new features that Android Wear 1.4 has, Android Police states that on the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE, three new gestures have been added to the two pre-existing ones.