Yesterday, Motorola dropped a silent bombshell by revealing its entry into the smartwatch arena, the Moto 360. The device is one of the many upcoming wearable devices that runs on Google’s Android Wear platform. Motorola aired a Google+ Hangout today (after a few bumps) which starred Moto 360 designer Jim Wicks in which he answered a bunch of questions about Motorola’s upcoming smartwatch. Of course, all of the really specific questions remained unanswered, such as release date, pricing and availability. Those details will come later.
What was detailed in the Hangouts session was how Motorola put much emphasis on the design of the device, and how it managed to pack a ton of tech into the round display touting device. As far as features go, Wicks claims that all of the Google functionality that we have come to expect from Android devices are in tow with Android Wear, and that Google designed the platform with round and square displays in mind. As for why a round watch face or touchscreen was chosen for the Moto 360, Wicks cited traditional design as the motive, as well as the need to make the device appeal to the masses. With most traditional watches taking on a round watch face, Motorola believes that the Moto 360 will appeal to people more than a square watch would. Wicks also stated that the round face provides as much surface area as a square one, and fits better on the wrist.
Wicks describes the Moto 360 as the next step in its quest to deliver a device with always on voice features with low battery consumption. Wicks called upon the Moto X as an example, stating that all of the bells and whistles of the Moto X would be making their way to the Moto 360. Motorola’s learned a lot from the Moto X, and will the devices features as a stepping stone to the next generation of smart devices.
As for technical details, those were hard to find during the Hangout, although we did learn a few things. Motorola claims that they are putting much emphasis on battery life, and did not state the size or life of the battery. The Moto 360 is water-resistant, and will work with any Android device that is running Android 4.3 and up. Motorola offered no details as to when and where the device will be released, but did say that they expect the Moto 360 to make its way around the globe.
Motorola did leave us with a bit of a mystery, though. With no USB port or metal contacts of any kind on the Moto 360, how will we charge our shiny smartwatches? Wicks would not comment, but that leaves us with one viable charging option; wireless charging. With kinetic charging still a glimmer in developers’ eyes, I’d doubt if that kind of tech was included. It will be interesting to see if the Moto 360 does indeed use wireless charging or if Motorola has some awesome parlor trick up their sleeves.
There you have it folks, all the Moto 360 details we know at this point. Make sure to check back with us for more details on the Moto 360 as they come to light.