Motorola has no plans for Moto 360 smartwatch successor

[Scorpus]

To the disappointment of many Android Wear fans, Motorola has revealed that there are no plans to release a successor to the Moto 360 in the near future. This news confirms that Motorola will not be releasing a new smartwatch in time for the launch of Android Wear 2.0 early next year.

The reason for Motorola exiting the smartwatch business, at least for the time being, is simple: they're just not popular enough. Shakil Barkat, head of product development at Motorola, said that "wearables do not have broad enough appeal for us to continue to build on it year after year." While Motorola may revisit smartwatches in the future, there is not enough "pull in the market" to release a new product at this time.

This news doesn't come as a huge surprise, as Motorola announced earlier this year that they would not release a new smartwatch in 2016. However, considering the quality and relative popularity of the Moto 360 among smartwatch enthusiasts, Motorola's decision to leave the market (for now) is a blow for the Android Wear platform.

Android Wear, and smartwatches in general, have not received the traction that companies initially anticipated. It's for this reason that other major OEMs, including Huawei and LG, have been slow to update their offerings, while Google has pushed back the release of Android Wear 2.0 to early next year. Updates to the software platform may breathe some life into Android Wear, but for now, companies are hesitant to spend time developing new smartwatches.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/67254-motorola-has-no-plans-moto-360-smartwatch-successor.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

It just goes to show that the general consumer is not always as gullible and naive as the tech companies would love them to be. I'll bet there's a lot of smartwatch buyers regretting their purchase and are afraid of being stung again. I can't say I blame them but sometimes you have to bump your head to learn your lessons.

 

[Panda218]

That's OK I'm perfectly happy with the Gen2 Moto 360 and don't plan to replace it until it breaks... I'll just give my money to Pebble when I come around to wanting a new smartwatch down the road.

 

[Bigtruckseries]

I bought my Apple Watch, excited, and waited a whole month for it to arrive.

I wore it since I got it.

As a "watch", it was terrible. Needed to be recharged every single day and could die quicker if you actually used any workout apps.

As a fashion piece, it was perfect. It matched everything I wore and because of its exclusivity, it was a highlight even when it didn't match.

As a "smartwatch", it was good at calendar notifications, email updates, SMS and many basic messages, but you couldn't do much on the screen.

I decided to put my Applewatch away and go back to wearing my Citizen EcoDrive Skyhawk Black Eagle and Blue Angels Atomic-time watches.

They are "wear-it and forget it devices which set themselves using RF technology - regardless your time zone - don't need WiFi or Bluetooth and last indefinitely as they run on solar power.

Would I buy Applewatch again?

Maybe - but upgrading to the Applewatch 2 would be another $400 with no return for Applewatch1. Supposedly the battery is better. Supposedly the water resistance is better. Maybe later I'll consider the 3.

 

[Phr3d]

ROFLMAO (there's a Robin Williams Fashion Police / Fashion Risk quote somewhere in the remaining neurons)