In just under an hour, Motorola will be holding an event with Moto 360 smartwatch designer Jim Wicks wherein he and other staff members will shed some more light on the Android Wear powered smartwatch, the Moto 360. Many manufacturers are on board with Google’s new Android Wear platform, with LG showing off its smartwatch entry, the LG G Watch. LG’s wearable device is poised to be the first Android Wear powered device released, and the Moto 360 is going to be the first to be showcased. Since Motorola Mobility was in the hands of Google until its recent acquisition my Lenovo, it makes sense that Motorola is the first to show off their hardware as well as Google’s Android Wear platform.
So, what can we expect from Motorola’s Hangout today? I’ve got two words for you: design and features.
Motorola will undoubtedly focus on its design decisions and implementation, including how the company’s design sets itself apart from other smartwatches, such as the Pebble and Samsung Gear 2. Furthermore, Google’s Android Wear wearable platform will be shown off, hopefully in the flesh so we can get a real-time look at how the platform will function. Android Wear is poised to do for wearables what Android did for smartphones, namely providing a flexible, free and open source platform with which any device manufacturers can use as the backbone of their wearable devices.
As for Android Wear, the features we’ve seen packed into the platform so far are stunning to say the least. Visually, the platform displays notifications and updates which resemble the interface of Google Now, and that’s a good thing. Google has spent much time customizing its search software and Google Now, and it clearly shows. Android Wear smartwatches will have some pretty amazing voice recognition features as well, allowing the Moto X-ish voice commands to wake the device with a simple “OK, Google.”
The prospects for the future of wearables just got a whole lot more interesting. You can tune into Motorola’s Hangout by heading to Motorola’s Google+ page and signing up for the hangout. It begins at 11PST, so head over there soon! Can’t make the Hangout? Don’t worry, we’ll be covering the Moto 360 news as it breaks.