Second Gen Moto 360 Men's and Women's, Fitness-Oriented Moto 360 Sport Unveiled

MojoKid writes: Motorola's first generation Moto 360 smartwatch was one of the first Android Wear smartwatches to hit the market, and because of its round display, became the immediate flag bearer for the Android Wear platform. As new competition has entered the fray — including entries from Apple with the Apple Watch and Samsung with the Gear S2 — Motorola is announcing a second generation smartwatch that solves most of the complaints of the previous model. Motorola has ditched the archaic Texas Instruments OMAP 3 processor in the original Moto 360. The new second generation Moto 360 brings a more credible 1.2GHz, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and Adreno 305 graphics to the table. You'll also find 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage. And if you didn't like the largish dimensions of the previous Moto 360, you'll be glad to know that Motorola is offering two sizes this time around. There's a 46mm diameter case that comes with a 360x330 display and a smaller 42mm diameter case that houses a 360x325 display. Motorola has also introduced a dedicated women's model of the Moto 360 which features a 42mm diameter case and accepts smaller 16mm bands. As for battery life, Motorola says that the men's and women's 42mm models comes with a 300 mAh battery which is good for up to 1.5 days of mixed use, while the 46mm watch comes with a larger 400 mAh battery which is good for up to 2 days on charge.

Comments

Still no actually round screen?

[SirJorgelOfBorgel]

From the pictures, it seems the screen still isn't really round, but has a straight section at the bottom just like the old version.

If that ends up to be the release, then it's a no go for me. Looks absolutely terrible.

Then again, I don't wear watches anyway, and if I did, it'd be a classic, not some smart toy. I'm not Hasselhoff, I don't need to talk to my car.

Re:Still no actually round screen?

[shellbeach]

From the pictures, it seems the screen still isn't really round, but has a straight section at the bottom just like the old version.

This was discussed with the release of the original 360. IIRC, current display tech necessitates some non-display area, and Motorola decided (rightly, in my opinion) to go with the flat-tyre approach rather than the chunky-bezels approach. The LG G-watch R is an example of the latter approach, with bezels blown out of all proportion (although LG clearly don't understand watch design so I suspect that one looks worse than it had to).

Then again, I don't wear watches anyway, and if I did, it'd be a classic, not some smart toy.

I do wear watches, and I wear classic ones; there's something about mechanical movements that strongly appeals to my steampunk side. Like you, I wouldn't buy a smartwatch; I have no need for notifications on my wrist and it would go against my personal grain. But I have to say that so far Motorola has understood the "watch" concept better than any of the other smartwatch players -- the Moto360 actually looks great on the wrist.

I'm not Hasselhoff, I don't need to talk to my car.

Hey, if it came with KITT I might seriously consider it ... :)

Re:Still no actually round screen?

[shellbeach]

Yes, well, KITT with a flat-tyre would be a bad combo ...

But having seen the watch in the flesh (it, with the apple watch, are the only two smartwatches I've ever seen in the wild) I can only say I didn't notice the flat-tyre look at all when coupled with a dark watch face. Horses for courses, naturally, but I liked the watch in person a whole lot more than in the renders.

Re:Smartwatches are gimmicks (for now anyway)

[afgam28]

I used to think so too, but then I got one as a gift and started wearing it. There were a few things that I then found out were nice:

- Android Wear devices can unlock your Android phone for you, so you don't have to enter your password/pin/pattern every time. This by itself is so compelling that I'd wear a smart bracelet with just this feature if it was available.

- You can use your watch to ring your phone, if you lose it under the couch or something.

- It's actually very convenient to be able to glance at messages/emails when they arrive without having to pull out a phone. You can archive them then and there if it's not important (very useful if you're trying to do Inbox Zero) or respond using voice recognition if it's something short (very useful when driving).

It's not a life-altering step forward like the original iPhone was, but not every new device needs to change the world and disrupt everything. As long as it provides value to some niche, then it's a good thing to have on the market.