Articles about Moto 360

Years ago, venerable toy-seller Toys R Us ran a brilliant advertisement. It showed a goofy kid playing with a rain-check. Yes, the child was palling-around with a slip of paper. This highlighted the importance of being prepared with your Christmas shopping. Kids, and adults, want actual gifts -- not paper-promises for the future.

The same applies for manufacturers, you see, as launching a product after the holiday shopping season can mean death. My colleague Joe Wilcox highlighted this recently with Google's Pixel C, for which the holiday shopping window is closing. Today, Motorola announces its latest Android Wear smartwatch, the Moto 360 Sport, and it is not even pretending to be aiming for the shopping season in the USA. Nope, the company is targeting the beginning of 2016. Maybe the fancy smartwatch doesn't have a calendar?

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The traditional shape of a watch face is round. There are variations, of course -- square, rectangular, and so on -- but for the most part, round is a safe bet. With the Moto 360, however, Motorola raised a few eyebrows when its screen was launched with a design that has become known as the 'flat tire' look.

Yesterday, the company unveiled the new version of the Moto 360 and the same flat tire, non-round screen is present. What gives? Despite disappointment, and even ridicule from users, Motorola remains adamant that it made the right choice, standing by its decision to keep the flat tire in the second generation of the smartwatch. So, is it ugly, or does it make sense?

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Motorola's Moto 360 remains one of the most interesting Android Wear devices, despite being introduced a year ago. Its elegant design has been unmatched so far by most competitors and the user experience continues to be solid. However, when compared to some newer rivals, like Apple Watch, the device is showing its age, being designed with a different market in mind. A successor is much-awaited.

Today, Motorola takes the wraps off its new Moto 360, revealing a smartwatch that will appeal to a wider range of consumers, including iPhone users. The new device features a similar design to its predecessor, but improves upon the original formula by adding more powerful internals, more customization options, and a wider range of models, similar to what Apple has done with its offering.

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One in ten US broadband households plan to buy a smartwatch in 2015, however, 84 percent of them won’t spend over $250 on the device, according to recent wearable research.

The survey, from Parks Associates, suggests that the price point of $100 (£65) to $250 (£160) is roughly equivalent to a high-end fitness tracker.

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While the competition is trying to catch up, Motorola's Moto 360 remains one of the best-looking Android Wear devices on the market despite being around for over nine months. It is also among the most refined, making it an attractive purchase for the smartwatch enthusiast.

The one thing that you may not like about Moto 360 is its price, which, considering that a successor is likely to be announced in the coming months, is a bit too high. Motorola has fortunately addressed this with a $100 price cut.

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Early yesterday afternoon, LG Watch Urbane arrived from Verizon. Turnaround is quick for anyone who wants one right way, rather than waiting for Google to ship (now 1-2 days rather than by May 8). I am rushing a first-impressions review, and some comparison to the Moto 360 is mandatory. If round is your taste, consider one of these two smartwatches.

Meantime, to collect my thoughts for the review and for anyone considering the Urbane, I share something sooner. Overall, I am satisfied with the initial out-of-the-box experience. Urbane is gorgeous and looks like a traditional watch. The always-on, dimmed face contributes to the effect—without bleeding dry the charge. The watch is also more functional as a timepiece, as such. I mean, shouldn't it be?

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Motorola introduced Moto Maker as a way to let customers personalize phones with all sorts of adventurous designs from wood to pigskin and all manner of other things. However, the company was also among the first to jump into the Android Wear space, bringing the new smartwatch platform to everyone. Now the two are combining.

Today the company announces that the same sort of customization is arriving for your smartwatch -- providing, of course, that it's Motorola branded. You'll get three cases and nine bands to choose from as you walk through the process. Motorola also points out that you can "complete your design by choosing one of 11 watch faces. Once you get your watch, it’s easy to swap watch faces from our collection or through Google Play".

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That is the only takeaway from today's brutal bias assault against Android Wear. Canalys reports half-year 2014 shipments of 720,000, and the Apple-loving free press categorizes the number as a failure. Meanwhile, the analyst firm boasts that "All eyes are now on Apple, which will reveal further details about the Apple Watch prior to its release in April". Not mine. Are yours?

Over at Wall Street Journal, Rolfe Winkler begins his hatchet piece with: "It's been a slow start for Google’s smartwatches". The search and information giant doesn't sell any of the devices, developing the underlying platform. Nitpicking aside, he ridiculously writes: "Apple sold roughly 114 million iPhones over the same period. That means Apple sold almost as many iPhones each day as makers of Android smartwaches sold over the six months". Oh yeah?

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You lazy son of a bitch. It's Sunday, Christmas is Thursday, and you still haven't started shopping for gifts? Don't worry, we've got your ass covered with a quick, down-and-dirty gift bonanza. It's an eclectic mix because we have the attention spans of mice intoxicated by coffee and Krispy Kremes.

Lucky you. Many U.S. online shops grub for dollars by offering last-minute, free one-day shipping. Ha! There are some rewards waiting until Santa attaches reindeer to the sleigh. Read fast, because some of these are deals that won't last -- and when we say this grab bag is random, we mean it.

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Motorola managed to really impress with last year's Moto X and Moto G. The two smartphones have shown time and time again that they do not need heavily-customized software, large screens or the fastest hardware around to stand out from the rest of the pack. They successfully targeted different parts of the market -- the former has gone after flagship buyers while the latter has sought to attract consumers on a budget -- in a different, impactful way, relying on the appeal of the overall package to tell their story. But, no matter how good they might have been, Moto X and Moto G are clearly showing their age.

Today, Motorola is relieving the pair of their leading roles, as it unveils the new Moto X and Moto G (the 2014 editions, if you will). The names might be the same, but the latest offerings are new inside out.

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