Moto 360 2nd gen release date and specs rumors surface

The first Moto 360. It is rumored that its successor will have upgraded specs and design.

When Google held its annual I/O developers' conference last month, one of the most anticipated announcements that fans were hoping the company would make was about the second-gen Moto 360, the upcoming wearable of one of its partners, Motorola. 

Google's Android Wear platform came native to the original Moto 360, released in September last year. With Motorola's design savvy and Google's almost-flawless wearable OS, the smartwatch became one of the most iconic trailblazers in the then-fledgling smartwatch market.  

Competitors such as Apple and LG are keeping up with Motorola in the wearables department. With the Apple Watch released early this year and LG coming out with the Watch Urbane, Motorola is keen on maintaining its edge over the competition. With Google releasing a major update to its Android Wear platform, it seems inevitable that a new Moto 360 is coming. 

However, the Google I/O came and went, and there was no mention of a new Moto smartwatch. 

This has not stopped Moto fans and wearable observers from speculating, though. With some of the top manufacturers already releasing their flagship smartwatches, Moto 360 fans are guessing on how Motorola plans to topple the competition. 

In terms of specs, it is said that the new Moto 360 will sport a much-clearer display, with at least 360 x 360 resolution. It will also be a bit more compact than the original, and will have a much thinner watch frame to make it a comfortable wear. The black bar at the bottom of the face will be gone, too, giving the Moto 360 2 a fully-circular screen. For design, it will retain the customization options that Motorola introduced with the previous Moto 360, giving users a much wider variety of watch faces and custom straps. 

These are only speculations at this point, but it is expected that Motorola will soon unveil the next iteration of its wearable.