Motorola launches more robust, healthier 2nd-gen 360 smartwatch

US-based handset-maker Motorola Mobility on Tuesday launched its second generation Moto 360 in the country at a starting price of ₹19,999 in an exclusive partnership with Flipkart.

The second-generation 360, which is also compatible to Apple devices with iOS 8.2 and higher, is water-resistant and withstands immersion up to 3 feet in freshwater, for up to 30 minutes. (Motorola)

US-based handset-maker Motorola Mobility on Tuesday launched its second generation Moto 360 in the country at a starting price of ₹19,999 in an exclusive partnership with Flipkart.

The new watch comes with a heart rate monitor, Moto's proprietary health app, Moto Body, Wi-Fi and better battery life than the previous generation Moto 360. Motorola, which said that the new watch will be available from 7.30 PM on Tuesday, is also selling the watch on Myntra , the Flipkart-owned fashion portal.

"We have taken design and style to a new level with the 2nd-generation 360. It is a combination of great looks and supports all use cases of an extended device," Amit Boni, country head at Motorola India, said when asked about the strategy to include the new features in the watch.

"The watch is a very cool accessory for consumers and can be worn all day. The bands of the watch can also be changed to suit the dressing sense or occasion," Boni added explaining the logic behind selling the watch on Myntra.

The second-generation 360, which is also compatible to Apple devices with iOS 8.2 and higher, is water-resistant and withstands immersion up to 3 feet in freshwater, for up to 30 minutes. The company also has clarified that it has not been designed to work while submerged underwater so taking a swim with it or exposing the leather band to water could spell trouble.

Other features on the smartwatch includes a maximum display size of 1.56 inches protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The watch is powered by a quad-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and 512MB RAM. Consumers will have to stick to 4GB internal storage as there is no expandable memory slot. The watch, running on Android Wear operating system, will come with other regular connectivity features like Bluetooth.

Another interesting addition to the watch are the Live Dials which can be used to notify users about different apps and their current status. Live Dials are small icons on the watch face that keep displaying regular updates from apps that they're linked to. Consumers can jump to the app just by clicking on the dial. Motorola has included custom watch faces as well.

Once the Moto 360 runs of of battery, you can simply drop it into a sleek little charging dock till it juices up. (Motorola)

Once the Moto 360 runs of of battery, you can simply drop it into a sleek little charging dock till it juices up. (Motorola)

The device, which was unveiled at the annual consumer electronics trade show, IFA 2015, in Berlin in September, comes in two main sizes with different battery sizes. While the men's version of the watch comes with 400 mAH battery, the women's version comes with 300mAH unit.

"The new Moto 360 does everything — right from catering to looks and serving as an extended device, it takes care of nutrition, sleep pattern and the health of a consumer's heart," Boni said alluding that the company was talking to partners at a global level to make its fitness plans on the watch better.

Tthe first generation of Moto 360 was the highest selling Android Wear using watch in 2014. According to Canalys market report, 720,000 Android Wear supported wearables were shipped out of a total of 4.6 million smart wearable bands. Currently in the entire band space, health and fitness bands like Fitibit and Xiaomi lead the race with Garmin and Samsung and Sony following them.

Motorola doesn't divulge India-specific figures and hence the number of Moto wearables sold in the country is unknown.