Motorola, LG announce first crop of Android Wear-powered smart watches
Google's nascent Android Wear platform gained two standard-bearers Tuesday as American smartphone maker Motorola unveiled the Moto 360 and South Korean consumer products giant LG introduced the G Watch.
Motorola's Moto 360 is modeled after traditional round wristwatches, with a metal casing that the company says will be available in multiple styles. The shape is a stark departure from other smart watches on the market, which exclusively sport designs centered around a rectangular display.
"We decided that if we were going to do the Moto 360 we must do it round," Motorola consumer experience design executive Jim Wicks said.
"It's a very ambitious design. I remember presenting it to the engineers for the first time, this sort of dual reaction of excitement and sort of dread fear of 'how on earth are we gonna realize that," added Motorola designer Dickon Isaacs. "All the core components are technically completely brand new, ground-up in order to support this design vision."
Google features the Moto 360 heavily in its Android Wear promotional videos, though does not note the device by name. Motorola is in the midst of an ownership transition, having been sold by Google to Chinese computer giant Lenovo earlier this year.
LG, meanwhile, appears to have been chosen to manufacture the de facto Android Wear reference platform. The company's G Watch sports a rectangular face, and LG -- which calls itself a "lead partner" in the Android Wear initiative -- touts the watch's low barrier to entry for developers.
"The opportunity to work with Google on LG G Watch was the perfect chance for LG to really pull out all stops in both design and engineering," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.
Neither company announced pricing information or hardware specifications, though both devices are expected to hit shelves this summer. Fashion brand Fossil is also planning an Android Wear-powered watch, but has yet to release details.
Google unveiled Android Wear, an initiative designed to adapt the company's Android platform for wearable devices, earlier Monday. Android Wear will provide hardware partners with access to frameworks for mobile notifications, "OK Google" digital assistant support, built-in health and fitness tracking, and two-way synchronization with Android handsets.
Motorola's Moto 360 is modeled after traditional round wristwatches, with a metal casing that the company says will be available in multiple styles. The shape is a stark departure from other smart watches on the market, which exclusively sport designs centered around a rectangular display.
"We decided that if we were going to do the Moto 360 we must do it round," Motorola consumer experience design executive Jim Wicks said.
"It's a very ambitious design. I remember presenting it to the engineers for the first time, this sort of dual reaction of excitement and sort of dread fear of 'how on earth are we gonna realize that," added Motorola designer Dickon Isaacs. "All the core components are technically completely brand new, ground-up in order to support this design vision."
Google features the Moto 360 heavily in its Android Wear promotional videos, though does not note the device by name. Motorola is in the midst of an ownership transition, having been sold by Google to Chinese computer giant Lenovo earlier this year.
LG, meanwhile, appears to have been chosen to manufacture the de facto Android Wear reference platform. The company's G Watch sports a rectangular face, and LG -- which calls itself a "lead partner" in the Android Wear initiative -- touts the watch's low barrier to entry for developers.
"The opportunity to work with Google on LG G Watch was the perfect chance for LG to really pull out all stops in both design and engineering," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.
Neither company announced pricing information or hardware specifications, though both devices are expected to hit shelves this summer. Fashion brand Fossil is also planning an Android Wear-powered watch, but has yet to release details.
Google unveiled Android Wear, an initiative designed to adapt the company's Android platform for wearable devices, earlier Monday. Android Wear will provide hardware partners with access to frameworks for mobile notifications, "OK Google" digital assistant support, built-in health and fitness tracking, and two-way synchronization with Android handsets.
Comments
Motorola has it right.
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I have found only one watch that is streamline enough for my tastes, and I don't even wear that... very often.
Nice video of the Motorola watch. I wonder if the boys in Cupertino ever thought about the various department head VP of this, VP of that ever getting out and doing a video for an Apple product? :rolleyes:
http://moto360.motorola.com/
I haven't used a watch since 1999 when they accidentally went swimming and when I got my first mobile (Nokia 6110) I never felt I need something on my wrist.
The only thing I'm willing to put on my hand again must be more than just something spawned from a bad one night stand between a Watch and Android.
I bet that Jony, Tim & co are rolling in tears when they see these idiotic products being introduced by clueless competitors%u2026
Wait until Apple releases a round smartwatch and everyone screams bloody murder for copying Motorola.
All while conveniently forgetting there have been several round iWatch renders and designs done by third parties that are over 1 year old now.
Fixed.
What do iWatch renders by fanboys have to do with Motorola's Moto 360 or a hypothetical production Apple iWatch?
They have the right idea with the round display (which they did on the $2000 Aura in 2008), thin bezel, and more jewelry-like appearance as compared to other "smart" watches, but I wouldn't say they have it right.
The display is too large to be unisex and probably even too large to appeal to most non-geeks (unless they can change the culture like we've seen with smartphone sizes).
The casing is too thick.
No evidence of advanced biometrics which I believe are key.
The round display gives rise to cost and production concerns.
The thin bezel is great but I wonder if the final product will different.
No info on specs like the PPI, processor, display type, or battery life make me wonder how this can be ready this Summer.
The bright, mostly white display being shown seems to be strikingly different from what I'd expect from a device with a small battery.
Motorola has it right.
I am not so sure. I wonder if the 'classic watch' look will get tired rather quickly.
I think the Google video (last thread) did a great job of showing the potential of a wrist device beyond the medical/fitness applications. They made it look fun and youthful, though still geeky.
The advances will be fast and furious for certain. I suspect that the 'look' will be important but there are so many other variables such as functionality (not just what it 'can' do, but whether it actually works flawlessly), and battery life, that will determine whether the device will be truly a game changer.
Android Edibles. Because Google wants to be inside you without buying you a drink first.
1) Your assumption is that a wrist-worn wearable should be for primarily telling time and mirroring other features of a smartphone. I don't think this is what Apple has in mind.
2) Watches a huge business even today.
3) I can't conceive of a future where wearable electronics aren't a major part.
A round smartwatch is the dumbest idea I've heard in a long time. Good job blowing money on R&D just to be different.
It seems any company who launches any product, no matter how incremental or insignificant it is, are yelping how their product is so "innovative" and a total "game changer". They're watering-down those terms to a point where one starts to look for new adjectives to describe what these terms once meant.
Why? It's certainly harder to produce a round display but I think it's the right direction for a wrist-worn device that needs to maintain the same appeal as a high-end watch.
We already have a term for adding water to poop. Diarrhea.
Bless their hearts. They're trying so hard to emulate Apple, but they just. don't. get. it.
A round smartwatch is the dumbest idea I've heard in a long time. Good job blowing money on R&D just to be different.
Why is a round smartwatch so dumb?
It looks pretty natural to me:
Even the UI adapts well to the circular display:
Motorola's smartwatch check-list:
While we're still waiting on complete specs, what else do you think Apple can do different?
What if you.just.don't.get.it?
I think this a remarkably beautiful design for a smart-watch. I believe the key to developing a popular design is to make it either look very similar to the most prevalent watch form factor, which is round, or make it radically different - such as curving around the wrist.
Providing the battery life is at least 3 days on a single charge, I think these will be very popular with geeks and non-geeks alike.
Advanced biometrics (which don't look present by looking at the bottom of the rendered device), smaller size or sizes, thinner design, more classic design, better fit and finish, better UI, better battery life (which I interpret as using something like OLED with a light coloured Thin Helvetica Neue font on a black background to reduce power consumption), and a general lack of trying to make it a watch that has smartphone capabilities but rather a wrist-worn wearable that complements the iPhone and perhaps other Apple devices, like a secure BT system that will auto lock/unlock my iDevices and Macs based on proximity.
A round design is a nice departure from what all others have been doing though.