Why I'm Waiting for the Moto 360 (and You Should, Too)
At the Google I/O conference this week, the search company showed off Android Wear, the latest Android iteration and the technology that it hopes, will carry it to the top of the wearable marketplace. To help it get the platform there, Google has enlisted the help of three companies – Samsung, Motorola, and LG. All three of the firms have built hardware, but two of the companies – LG and Samsung – are actually offering their products right now.
The LG G Watch and Samsung's Gear Live are available to order now for $229 and $199, respectively. More importantly, the devices will ship in early July, which makes them perfect fodder for us early adopters who can't wait to get our hands on the latest and greatest technologies. And if one were to believe Google, the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live are just those technologies.
But as an avid early adopter who needs to get his hands on every last thing that tech companies hand out, I'm here to say that I'm holding off on this one. While I'm still not sure whether smartwatches really are the way to go, I'm willing to try them out. And at around $200, they're affordable enough, given their slate of features. But I just don't see why I'd buy a watch like the LG G Watch or Samsung's Gear Live when the Moto 360 is right around the corner.
For those who don't follow the smartwatch industry too closely, the Moto 360 presents a unique opportunity for buyers by ditching the traditional square screen design in smartwatches for a round display.
The Moto 360, which is coming to store shelves later this year, will deliver all the same functionality that one would find in the LG G Watch or Gear Live, but it adds a level of refinement to its design that we don't see elsewhere. The device just looks, well, cool. And it's high time that a company finally looks beyond the norm and tries something that we haven't expected. Motorola, not LG or Samsung, is that company.
Of course, with all of that refinement – both from a software and hardware perspective – comes a price that will likely make us take a few steps back. But I really don't care. If I wanted a device that has a square display and the same software experience and just about everything else on the market, I'd go with one of the products I can order now. If I want to try something that's truly unique, however, I need to go with the Moto 360.
That, in and of itself, is what makes us early adopters. We don't have the time (nor the funds) to buy every product, but if something is truly special, we'll be first in line to pick it up. That's why we jumped at buying the iPhone in 2007 and why we want to see what the Google Glass experience is like. It's also why many of us will nix plans to buy the latest Android Wear devices and wait for that something special to come along that justifies our time and spending. And that device is the Moto 360.
I'll admit the thing the Moto 360 has going for it is its round screen, but for me, at least, that's enough to make me get in line when it hits store shelves.
How about you?