Android Wear started off with a bang but in recent times its development and device releases have slowed, most notably with Google delaying Android Wear 2.0 until 2017. Motorola, manufacturer of what used to be the best looking Android Wear watch going around, have decided to push Android Wear aside, at least for now.
Today Shakil Barkat, head of global product development at Motorola, has confirmed that they will not be releasing a new smartwatch this year, nor will they be releasing one when Google finally does unveil Android Wear 2.0.
Barkat said:
“We do not see enough pull in the market to put [a new smartwatch] out at this time. Wearables do not have broad enough appeal for us to continue to build on it year after year.”
While a new wearable device will not be in the annual device road map for Motorola they will look at revisiting the decision should technologies for smartwatches improve. Barkat said that they “believe the wrist still has value and there will be a point where they provide value to consumers more than they do today”.
Android Wear 2.0 is slated to bring some new enhancements to the platform, and this can and will run on older smartwatches, with it running on the Huawei watch already (in beta form) and Motorola saying that the 2015 version of the Moto 360 to receive it as well. The Moto 360 from 2014 will not receive the update, though.
Motorola, it seems, have decided that they do not see any point in releasing a new watch when it would be only a very small iteration on top of what they already have. I have to agree with this outlook, as my Huawei Watch is still extremely relevant (and Chris believes the Moto 360 v2 is as well) and the newer watches do not offer any major improvements in technology over what that has, and both are over a year old now.
Anyone else see Android Wear stagnating? How can Google rectify this?
Still wearing my LG Watch Urbane. However I’m hoping Pebble get out of their troubles and release the Pebble 2 for ordering on their website. At under $200 AUD and 6 day battery life, based on my Pebble OG experience I’ll wait for Wear 3.0 😉
Still using the original LG G Watch here. I’m ready to replace it when something compelling comes out but waiting for 2.0.
It’s slow but mostly still works ok.
First up, I thoroughly enjoy my Moto 360 (2015). I use it mainly for notifications, general watch functions, and a few niche apps (i.e. 2FA authentication (Authy, Duo Mobile an Google’s own), as well as weather etc). Having said that actually using Android wear is a bit cumbersome. Navigation definitely needs work, and i’m not sure whether Android wear 2.0 will fix the inherent problems. I actually think the way that Samsung have implemented navigation on their wearables is definitely more intuitive and efficient. I, unforunately, find the design aesthetic for Samsungs Gear line to be a bit meh, and… Read more »
The first Moto 360 is on deaths door for nearly everyone. The CPU was poor and the battery is crap so no point updating that one. Hopefully the delay to AW 2 is because google realised they needed to up their game in hardware and software.
I actually fear the death of Android Wear altogether. They are just too expensive for most people to be able to afford and with companies like Motorola putting it on hold it probably won’t be long before other Manufacturers do the same of they haven’t already. Unfortunately it looks like Samsung’s Tizen based S3 is leading the way in wearables along with Apple.
Don’t get the grey market stock if u want to use Samsung Pay. Brought gear s2 from Grey market and now i cannot use Samsung Pay :'(
U cannot even find a Firmware to sideload
I think Android Wear is ageing. Google’s approach to software on a wearable is just poor, and even with 2.0, launching an app still requires going through a long list. In comparison WatchOS on that Apple Watch, the operating system has been more advanced since the beginning.