Just as promised, Motorola today held a Google+ Hangout with Jim Wicks, lead designer of the company's upcoming Moto 360 smartwatch. The Hangout was fairly brief, but the good news is that Wicks had enough time to reveal a few more details on the Android Wear-powered wristgear.
When it comes to the design of the Moto 360, Wicks explained that Motorola wanted to make a round device that stood out from the sea of squares that make up the smartwatch market. Wicks also confirmed that users will be able to change the band on the Moto 360 and that there will be "several different options" available. One feature that won't be present on the Moto 360 is a camera, as Wicks explained that Motorola didn't think that a watch-mounted shooter was necessary.
On the software side of things, it's been confirmed that whatever is on the Moto 360's display will reorient itself whichever way it is facing, so users will be able to don the device on either their left or right wrists. Wicks went on to reveal that the Moto 360 will be compatible with devices running Android 4.3 or higher.
Most of the hard spec details of the Moto 360 are still up in the air, but today's Hangout did provide us with some important tidbits about Motorola's smartwatch. Several wearables that've come to market have only supported select Android phones from the same manufacturer, so it's refreshing to learn that the Moto 360 will be compatible with any Android device that's running 4.3 or higher. The most recent Android platform distribution numbers showed that 12.1 percent of devices are on version 4.3 or higher, so here's to hoping that that number gets a nice boost between now and the Moto 360's summer launch.
UPDATE: Motorola has posted the Moto 360 Google+ Hangout to YouTube for our viewing pleasure. The entire thing clocks in at 22:49 in length and can be found below.
Via @Motorola
