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Motorola Has No Plans For a New Smartwatch (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the kick-the-can-down-the-road dept.

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.

6 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. The flat tire just developed a puncture by gweilo8888 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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 They squandered what should have been a huge lead in the round smartwatch market by using outdated components that destroyed battery life.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.

  2. What is the use case for smartwatch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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?

    1. Re:What is the use case for smartwatch? by CannonballHead · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I can think of two use cases that would be useful to me, if I had a smartwatch, which I don't. :)

      1. 1. Alarm for waking up in the morning without having something that also wakes up my wife and/or baby. But I'm not sure about wearing it on wrist and sending evil scary waves through my head all night (in the event I put my hand under my head while sleeping).
      2. 2. Phone notifications without having to get out my phone... e-mail, calls, sms, whatever. For example, I drive a tractor on our family farm (not my day job, or I'd be broke ;) ). I had to get a mount so I could put my phone up on the dashboard, otherwise there's just no way I hear it or feel it even in my pocket while driving the tractor. Other uses would be similar ... walking/running, etc. Just convenience, though.

      ... slashdot doesn't support "ordered lists" ? :(

    2. Re:What is the use case for smartwatch? by nman64 · · Score: 2

      Yep yep. They are just a convenience. For many (most?) people, the conveniences might not be enough to outweigh the inconveniences. I have a Samsung Gear Live, and I love it. It's big -- bigger than most people would want their watch to be -- but I have large wrists, so it fits me nicely. There's nothing it does that feels like a must-have feature, but it adds a number of little conveniences that I really appreciate. For example, when I put meatloaf in the oven, I raise my wrist and say "Ok Google. Set a timer for one hour." and walk away. Even if I'm nowhere near the oven, my wrist will vibrate and I'll know it's time to serve dinner.

      Things I like about it:
        * I don't miss as many notifications (I often don't hear my phone, but the watch vibration gets my attention)
        * I can read notifications easily while on the go, and I can react to many of them with gestures and voice commands
        * I can use voice commands for simple actions like sending texts, setting timers, etc. without pulling out and unlocking my phone
        * I use it to control media software (for example, skipping videos on Kodi on my living room TV or songs on Spotify in the car), again, without pulling out the phone
        * It's another piece of many Tasker recipes (home automation and more)

      Things I don't like:
        * "Is that an Apple Watch?"
        * Battery life (I get about a day and charge it overnight every night, so not a big deal)
        * It doesn't have a speaker -- I can imagine some additional use cases if it did

  3. It's the battery stupid! by evanh · · Score: 2

    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.

    1. Re:It's the battery stupid! by farble1670 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

      Ah yes, queue the "but my Casio ..." posts that plaster every smart watch thread.

      Are you really having that much trouble getting over the word "watch" in the name? It's not a watch. It's a fairly powerful computer that happens to be in a watch form-factor. Do you hear the word "watch" and just shut off your brain after that? It's called a smartWATCH because calling it a "wrist hobblinsnicker" is poor marketing. If the only possible thing you can imagine using a smartwatch for is the same things for which you use your Casio, you are right, buying one would be friggin' ridiculous.

      If you don't want a computer on your wrist, that's fine, but making comparisons to your Casio's battery life is about as smart as making a comparison between a calculator and a laptop computer. I mean really, imagine those idiots. A handheld calculator can multiply numbers just as good as that desktop and costs hundreds or THOUSANDS of times less. It NEVER needs to be charged. It fits in my pocket. It doesn't need a full keyboard with all of those useless letter and function keys. It has a built in display saving me hundreds of dollars. The OS NEVER needs upgrading, and it never, ever crashes.