Hands On With the Moto 360
The Moto 360 is what smart-watches should be. It's beautiful, it's big and — most importantly — it matches the expectations of a wristwatch.
Unconsciously or not, everyone has a pre-existing idea of what a watch should look like. If you ask someone to draw you a picture of a watch, chances are they'll start by drawing a circle. That's why the Moto 360 is such a winning design: When you see it, you see something familiar with intriguing qualities, not some gadget that happens to fit on your wrist.
With the default watchface — white hands on a black background — the Moto 360's round display might make you do a double-take if you don't already know it's a smart-watch. The prominent "OK Google" on the screen is a dead giveaway, though, and it's hopefully something you can turn off.
The Moto 360 won't go on sale until later this summer, and Motorola hasn't announced a price. The unit I tried out at Google I/O was locked in retail mode, basically showing only sample cards but still interactive. I could swipe and tap on the notification cards, but they weren't "real."
The circular notifications worked just like the ones on the near-identical LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live except they're, you know, circles. It turns out that works just fine, although I did notice the text of some notifications came dangerously close to the edge. But danger's part of the game when you're fashion-forward.
And it's fashion that makes the Moto 360 such a sensation. While the Android Wear smart-watches from Samsung and LG are cute gadgets, Motorola's smart-watch is a piece of technology you covet. In that way it reminding me of what I felt when I first touched an iPad: It may do some useful things, but the feeling of desire went beyond having a convenience. What I wanted was a trophy.
The design of the Moto 360 is what all smart-watches should aspire to. If Apple's iWatch is half as sexy, the future of wearable technology looks bright indeed.
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