Google's Motorola division has begun selling its
highly anticipated circular smartwatch, the Moto 360.

The firm said it believed the model offered a
stylish design after what it suggested had been a
series of unappealing wearable tech launches by its rivals. The release of the watch comes at a time of transition for the business. Sales of Motorola's smartphones are on the rebound and the business as a whole is about to switch ownership to Lenovo.
But while analysts have been generally positive
about the look of the new time piece, they
expressed doubts about its potential to become a
bestseller.

Motorola also unveiled new smartphones and a
small Bluetooth earbud designed to allow owners
to interact with their handset by voice. 'Stylish and smart' The Moto 360 features
a 1.5in (3.8cm) LCD
touchscreen encircled
by a thin metal band.
The waterproof device is powered by Google's new Android Wear operating
system - which is designed for small screens - and also features a built-in
heart rate monitor and
pedometer step
counter, but no
proprietary sleep monitoring software. It only lasts about a day between charges. The
version already on sale in the US has leather
straps, and versions with metal bands will follow.
The watch will be released in the UK in October. The firm's president, Rick Osterloh, suggested it
was a clear improvement on competitors' earlier
models. "I think the first watches that shipped have been
really bad," he said. "A number of manufacturers were willing to ship
products that I felt were not appropriate for
consumers. "The biggest problem consumers said they had
with them was that they really didn't look
appealing. "The difference in our initial approach has been
to focus on that problem and solve it." He added that he welcomed the prospect of Apple entering the sector, potentially as soon as
next week. "I think Apple is going to help grow the
category," he said.

Source: m.bbc.com/news/technology-29039293