The Soli wireless system and the Jacquard, a garment-focused product, are two eye-catching showstoppers produced by the Google Advanced Technologies and Projects group, also known as ATAP. Both products were announced in 2015 and released a few years later. Jacquard provided some of the most surprising partnerships, including apparel maker Levi’s and luxury fashion house Yves Saint Laurent. The former brought us stylish jackets with built-in intelligent trackers. At the same time, Adidas introduced Jacquard tags designed for soccer cleat insoles. However, the project and the related companion app have been quiet since these partnerships, except for the 2019 release of two new Jacquard/jackets, Levi’s, and their time could be better.
The Jacquard Android app’s most recent version indicates the project’s termination. Even if you don’t have the app, it doesn’t seem to be a secret since the following is stated in the What’s New section of the Play Store:
With this upgrade, users will now be able to be informed when there are future changes to product support.
Moreover, starting the app with the internet turned off results in the page below. At the same time, 9to5Google discovered references to end-of-life in the app’s code, including a header for app shutdown. All of this suggests that Google will soon make a statement regarding the passing of Jacquard.
Once the companion app retires, customers who purchased coats or backpacks with Jacquard support must understand what will happen to them. The Adidas smart in-sole for athletes, which was previously mentioned, includes a separate app that was updated one month ago. Still, after this discovery, even its future is now in doubt.
Although less unsettling than Google Glass, Project Jacquard undoubtedly had a similar level of consumer appeal. The feature set was passable, allowing you to use the jacket to control music and receive notifications when you left your phone behind. Jacquard, though, has yet to take off as quickly as some had hoped, and it doesn’t help that Google has recently been cutting back on anything that isn’t AI, like with Stadia.
