Moto 360 2nd Gen update brings Marshmallow to Android Wear

Just last week, Google released version 1.4 of Android Wear, which brought in support for speakers as well as new wrist gestures. That, however, was a feature set already pre-figured and even pre-announced. Now that that's out of the way, the next step in the Android Wear evolution would be to bring Android 6.0 Marshmallow to the table. That has indeed finally happened with Motorola rolling out an update to its 2nd gen Moto 360 smartwatch that brings a lot of the goodies of Android's latest version.

Android Wear is, of course, based on the core of Android itself, but, given its special interface and use case, it takes to get the latest and greatest Android version. In this case, it has taken months for Google to finally bring the soft sweetness to your wrist. Android Marshmallow, of course, brings a lot of new features, but there are a few worth noting especially for smartwatches.

In particular, Marshmallow's more battery conscious features are a perfect fit for wearables. Doze mode, for example, preserves battery life by going into deep sleep mode when the smartwatch is neither charging nor being used. Screen dimming could also be a battery life saver by automatically turning the display off or putting it in ambient mode when not in use.

Some features might be a bit debatable. Advanced app permissions, for example, might not make much sense on a smartwatch. But that could actually come in handy once these sophisticated timepieces start doing more than just show the time or notifications. Like controlling appliances or even cars. When that becomes more popular, being able to fine tune security and privacy permissions will probably make a huge difference.

The update also brings in non-Marshmallow specific new features, like support for more language and country pairs, the ability to set the date and time independent of a paired smartphone, and a new Moto Body Running mode that can track indoor running progress. It also brings some of the new features announced by Google, like the new wrist gestures. But don't expect any speaker support since the Moto 360 2nd gen doesn't have the hardware for it. It makes up for that with improved support for Bluetooth headsets.

The update has already started rolling out to users, though given the staggered process, it could take some time to reach everyone. Just be sure to keep your smartwatch connected to a smarpthone with a good Internet connection and to have a last 50% charge.

SOURCE: Motorola