Motorola unveils two new Moto 360 watches
NEW YORK—Motorola unveiled two new versions of its circular Android Wear smartwatch Wednesday, adding to the list of would-be Apple Watch competitors introduced by Samsung and others at the IFA consumer tech conference in Berlin.
The biggest feature of the fashion-focused Moto 360 is its customizability. Using the company's online Moto Maker tool, users can customize their watches in one of the 288 different available combinations. The new watches come in three styles — Men's and Women's editions of the regular Moto 360 as well as the more durable Sport variant — two different sizes (42mm or 46mm) as well as a variety of different color and material options for the band and bezel. The new Moto 360 also features easier access to the bands than last year's model, allowing users to more straightforwardly swap bands for further tailoring later on.
The Moto 360 Sport will not have swappable bands, which Lenovo-owned Motorola says is part of an effort to provide greater durability. It will be available in black, white or orange.
Beyond the various style offerings, the new watches also feature a sharper always-on display, faster Qualcomm processors as well as improved battery life that the company says should last up to two days on the larger 46mm model and over a day on the smaller 42mm version. The Sport model will also incorporate a reflexive "AnyLight" hybrid display for better readability when exercising outdoors in direct sunlight.
As with some of the other wearables announced at IFA, Motorola is targeting the higher-end fashion market with its new devices, offering the new Moto 360 later this month in upscale retailer Nordstrom in addition to its own website, Best Buy, Verizon and Google's Play Store. The new smartwatch is available for pre-order today online from Motorola, Best Buy, and Google Play with pricing ranging from $299.99 to $429.99.
As with last year's Moto 360, the new watches are charged wirelessly using an included wireless dock and can be fully charged in around an hour. The Moto 360 is also water resistant to withstand splashes from the sink, as well as light rain or sweat. Both versions of the watch will feature heart rate monitors and track steps, though only the Sport variant will have built-in GPS for tracking runs. Neither version will include a speaker or NFC support for mobile payments, but both will offer an improved dual digital microphone for better audio capture when using voice commands.
The new watches also run the latest version of Google's Android Wear software, allowing for interactive watch faces, greater compatibility with other smart devices as well as support for the iPhone and iOS. Motorola is not yet integrating directly with Apple's HealthKit health tracking app, though Lally Narwal, Motorola's director of product marketing, says the company is exploring adding that support in the future.
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