CES 2015 wearable rumours stuck on the mill: HTC, Tag and more...

It’s been a busy week in the city of sin, with a whole host of new wearables getting a public unveiling at CES 2015. We’ve seen shiny new fitness trackers, multisport smartwatches, exciting VR platforms and even fashion brands muscling in on the wearable action.

But there was plenty we didn’t see. Plenty of web rumours and murmurs that failed to materialise. Here are the highest profile wearables that were reported to be launching at the show, that were conspicuous by their absence.

HTC wearable

HTC was all set to demo a wearable device at CES, according to numerous reports.

Back in October HTC Americas head Jason Mackenzie told Re/Code that it was holding back with regards to wearables until it got things right on the design front. The HTC boss confirmed that the smartphone giant had planned a wearable launch event for October, before the decision was taken to push it into next year.

“We had originally planned to have a wearable launch in this time frame,” he said. “It ended up just not being ready.”

Essential reading: HTC smartwatch guide

In December a report by VentureBeat stated the device would not be a smartwatch, as was widely purported by the rumour mill, but would take a new form factor and would go on sale in Q1 2015.

The report stated the device will be "very different from anything currently on the market" and that "HTC will work closely with other companies who have already done significant work in developing apps for activities such as fitness".

We think there’s legs in this one, despite the Vegas no-show. Maybe CES just came too soon. All eyes on Barcelona then, MWC kicks off in less than 2 months.

Tag smartwatch

One of the most widely reported rumours, the Tag smartwatch is said to be powered by Intel. According to Business Insider’s industry sources, the smartwatch was all set for a debut at the tech expo, or possibly in first few months of 2015. Looks like the latter then.

TAG’s watches tend to be on the chunky side and we’re sure the ultimate goal is to squeeze the necessary tech in without compromising its design heritage.

Back in September, Tag’s head of watch operations, Jean-Claude Biver, revealed to a Swiss newspaper that the company was working on an Apple Watch rival. He hinted that it wouldn’t just be a copycat device though, and stated previous digital watches such as the sailing watch which Tag made for the Oracle team could be used as a starting point.

So while there was no Vegas launch for the Tag smartwatch, we fully expect to see it land in the next few months.

A brand new Pebble

Back in October, Pebble’s former evangelist Myriam Joire told Tech Radar that a new Pebble was coming, one that would be highly customisable and be "an evolution not a revolution".

There wasn’t much else to go on for this rumour but, with Pebble having previous form outing its smartwatches at CES, such as the Pebble Steel at CES 2014, we hoped the Kickstarter-darling would match the flawed beauty of some of the stunning Android Wear designs. But our hopes were dashed with no Pebble announcements materialising over in Vegas.

Let’s hope the modular Pebble rumours ring true before 2015 is up – the original and the Steel are already looking a little dated.

LG G Watch R2

Last month, Business Korea reported that “LG Electronics is going to unveil its 4G smart watch, tentatively named the G Watch R2, next year.”

It was predicted that the 4G capable Android Wear smartwatch would get an official airing at MWC 2015, which takes place in March, but there was also some web whispers that an earlier CES launch could have been on the cards.

It seems, however, that any leaks about a new LG smartwatch were most likely a result the slick Audi-collaboration that the company was showing off at the show.