As one of the first and certainly most popular options out there, the Moto 360 has become somewhat of a poster child for the circular Android Wear watch movement. This shape, however, almost didn’t happen. The Moto 360 was originally square (feel free to shudder).
The Moto 360 first launched in 2014, but, like most tech products, it began as a series of prototypes before finally launching. A number of these prototypes have leaked online, showing that the Moto 360 was, at one point, nothing like the Moto 360 we know and love today. The prototypes come courtesy of GizoChina.
It makes sense that early smartwatches tended to be square rather than circular. When smartwatches first started gaining in popularity, manufacturers aimed to quickly put a device out to compete. Most of those manufacturers had experience with smartphones, and were thus a little more acquainted with the rectangular form factor. Motorola, however, was able to get into the market with a circular device, a move that made waves around the smartwatch market and has influenced countless devices since.
In the end, while Motorola opted for a circular display, it did end up bringing a device with a ‘flat-tire’ design to market, something it was highly criticized for.
The display isn’t the only thing that Motorola changed for the final version of its device — it also altered the charging method. The prototype photos show a micro USB charging port, which was eventually changed to a wireless charging solution — thankfully.
The Moto 360 was a very popular device, but we haven’t heard anything about a new Moto 360 since Motorola was acquired by Lenovo. This is a little surprising considering Lenovo hasn’t really made an entrance into the wearable market, and using Motorola to do that would seem to be a smart move by the company.
