The growth of wearables continues, with Google Play Store launching a dedicated category for apps that work with wearable technology.

The launch comes shortly after the company made the SDK for its Android Wear platform available to developers at the Google I/O conference. A handful of third party apps have already integrated the SDK, including Duolingo, Pinterest and The Guardian, with others including CloudMagic and LevelUp scheduled to appear on the wearables Play Store shortly.

Google has also rolled out Google Play services 5.0 to devices worldwide, which introduces a set of APIs that make it easier to communicate with apps that run on Android Wearables, providing developers with a messaging interface that lets programs sync data, exchange control messages and transfer assets.

Rumours are also circulating that Microsoft is preparing to launch a wearable device that will work with Android and iPhone in addition to the Windows Phone. According to Supersite for Windows, the device will be a wristband primarily focused on fitness that will also display smartphone-based notifications, and will be announced and available for sale in Q4 of this year.