Motorola confirmed Tuesday that the company is finally ready to join the wearable space with a new entry of its own, the Moto 360, a smartwatch built with premium materials to define true art-work.
Under the new ownership of Lenovo, Motorola continues to pace up with the growing technology. The phone-maker announced the first of its wearable devices in a blog post, Tuesday. The smartwatch, called the Moto 360, is also among the first devices to use Google's Android Wear, a modified OS for wearables.
Motorola's new addition comes after the company revealed plans to build a smartwatch during a press conference at the Mobile World Congress. The company's Moto 360 features a premium look with a design different from all the current smartwatch models. Motorola showed a glimpse of the device, which has a unique round face dial for the watch.
Besides the exquisite design, the smartwatch will be able to alert the wearer of any emails, missed calls and calendar appointments. The smartwatch will also respond to the "Ok Google" command, like any other devices running on Google's wearable OS.
"Moto 360 keeps you on time and up to date without taking you out of the moment or distracting you, telling you what you need to know before you know you need it through subtle alerts and notifications," CVP product management at Motorola, Lior Ron, wrote in the company's official blog, Tuesday. "With just a twist of the wrist you can see who's emailing or calling, what time your next meeting is or a friend's latest social post."
Google is expected to host a slew of other devices from different manufacturers that will use the Android Wear OS. The web giant said it is working with Asus, HTC, Samsung and LG, but Motorola got an early ticket out of the blue, like LG. Google is working with chip makers too, including Broadcom, Imagination, Intel, Mediatek and Qualcomm and fashion brands like the Fossil Group, according to the company's blog post.
Motorola is expected to launch the Moto 360 in various designs around the world, starting in the U.S. this summer. Price range will be a major factor, but if Motorola can astound its customers, then hitting the higher price range like Qualcomm Toq will still win some fans. But the company is known to experiment with the pricing so it will not be a complete surprise if Motorola brings some attractive offers after the launch.
