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Motorola Has No Plans For a New Smartwatch (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Lenovo Moto today confirmed that it will not be releasing a new smartwatch for the launch of Android Wear 2.0, due early next year. The company had earlier said it would not be releasing a new smartwatch in 2016, but it is now saying that it doesn't plan to put out a new device timed to the arrival of Google's newest wearable platform, either. Shakil Barkat, head of global product development at Moto, said the company doesn't "see enough pull in the market to put [a new smartwatch] out at this time," though it may revisit the market in the future should technologies for the wrist improve. "Wearables do not have broad enough appeal for us to continue to build on it year after year," Barkat said, and indicated that smartwatches and other wearable devices will not be in Moto's annual device roadmap. Whether or not Moto does jump back into the smartwatch market is still up in the air, but Barkat is leaving the possibility open. "We believe the wrist still has value and there will be a point where they provide value to consumers more than they do today," Barkat said. But it doesn't appear that we'll be getting a new Moto 360 or other smartwatch any time in the near future. Google announced back in September that it would be delaying the launch of Android Wear 2.0 from this fall to next year. LG and Huawei have also confirmed that they would not be releasing new smartwatches until at least next year.
Personally, after upgrading from a first-gen Moto 360 which could just barely make it through a single business day without charging to my current Huawei Watch which easily manages a full 36-48 hours without even trying, I'm not slightly disappointed to see Motorola exit the market. They squandered what should have been a huge lead in the round smartwatch market by using outdated components that destroyed battery life. Early adopters don't like to be screwed over, and we do have memories.
This seems quite reasonable to me. Their Moto 360 watch has had two iterations, both were pleasing to the eye (at least to me). The only complaint I could have is the "flat tire" it has. It inspired the Hauwei watch which seems to borrow heavily from the approach Motorola took, but the added bonus of not having the flat tire. Aside from software I don't know where else they could take smart watches right now. They aren't the smash hit they were projected to be, and I still rarely see people that have them.
I have been honestly thinking, what are those smart watches used for? If the thing does not show time without pressing button or shaking it, it is useless for keeping sneakily track of remaining time in corporate meetings. And if the device needs to be charged more often than phone, can it be trusted as timekeeper?
so I feel better about my indifference...
there will be a couple of companies making these things for a niche market, but we will be seeing a lot of thinning f products next year.
I see Motorola and Google bailing - maybe even Apple.
Fitbit isn't doing as well as they were and I see them just sticking to high end stuff and maybe some more acquisitions of other wearable products and companies.
But there really isn't any real need for these gadgets. I've seen people swim with them but it's just more shiny compared to using a pace clock that can also time laps and measure pulse. But they rationalize their gadget as being something they "need".
It's just another method of getting people's disposable income - which is the purpose of consumer electronics.
Motorola has no plans for a new sandwich, and I was disappointed.
Then I reread it, and didn't care.
i'm so disappointed that they won't release any over prices useless garbage.
I'd be prepared to accept a six monthly charging cycle (still ten times more often than regular watches) but every frig'ing day is ridiculous.
The simple truth is that the smartwatch market is chocking, because of one reason - the AppleWatch is consuming all of the revenue. Unlike with phones companies simply cannot sustain losses as long on something inherently more niche like a smart watch.
Apple however is doing just fine, they've said sales are ahead of expectations. They have had a really good OS update and the watches are more usable than they were... Apple also pretty intelligently realizes that fitness users are currently a primary market and did some tailoring/partnerships along those lines.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I want an electronic watch that uses an e-ink display, multiple face styles, automatically syncronizes the time, and maybe, maybe shows the weather.
(Score: -1, Stupid)
The problem with this computer that you wear on your wrist is that it doesn't do most things that I expect my computer to be able to do, is even worse for input than a phone, and the couple of things that it does do very well (tell time, show notifications, fitness tracking) are better done on a watch, a phone, and a fitness tracker.
My analog wristwatch is very highly legible, silent, accurate, and can withstand the elements and dives up to 300m. It is always visible, can be easily glanced at by someone across the table if they need to tell the time, and it rarely, if ever needs any kind of attention.
When I get a notification on my phone, I look at it, tap the notification, and can act immediately.
Get a notification on a smart watch and you have to look at it, then take out your phone, tap the notification, and act on it. The smart watch adds an unneeded extra step.
Fitness tracking was supposed to be the "killer app," but fitness activities are often both rough-n-tumble and happen outside in the elements. For that you want the cheapest, simplest device possible so that when you inevitably have to replace your destroyed one, you're not paying through the nose again (not to mention also losing your timekeeping for the period during which you are replacing it).
All this plus they are very high maintenance, needing to be charged all the time, limited in life span, and needing software updates from time to time, as well as the often finicky pairing with a phone—and the fact that there's not a single thing that I regularly do with my computer (or even phone) that I'd like to try doing on that tiny screen—and the fact that you can't even hack it to be used for low-input/low-output situations (say, embedded applications—not to mention the ridiculous cost)—and it's just not much of a wrist computer either.
Nope, I'm just gonna stick to my regular wristwatch, phone, fitness tracker, and computing devices. If I need mobile computing, a 5" Android display, octo-core CPU, and 32GB storage are already more than cramped enough.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
Dang - I've been limping along on my first gen Moto360 trying to hold out for the one I expected in the spring.
D8
Hopefully they at least update their latest offering to the new version.
If I was making a competitive comparison I really would be asking for five years per charge. A cellphone shorter than weekly is just a gimmick too.
In reality, three months would likely work fine but asking for the minimum isn't likely to get you there is it?