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2nd-gen Moto 360 allegedly shows up in the wild, complete with “flat tire” and regular watch strap lugs


Not long ago, we revealed that Motorola’s next generation smart watch has made its way through testing and registration with the FCC in Brazil. That was after Motorola itself ‘accidentally’ leaked it. Now it seems, people testing the device in Chicago are just walking around and hopping on public transport wearing the unreleased wearable. Google Plus user, Gerrit Gödecke spotted one being worn while riding a Chicago commuter train and managed to snap a few shots.

If this is the real deal, the device pretty much looks as expected. Early leaks showed a round metal casing with the only physical button placed at the two o’clock position. The smartwatch in the pictures corroborates those previous rumors. What’s encouraging is that Motorola is seemingly going with regular watch strap compatibility with the the next 360. Although you can technically fit standard 22mm straps to the current Moto 360, it does require some tinkering and involves cutting a section from any strap to make it fit.

There is one potential downside to the redesigned smartwatch: It still has the black portion at the bottom of the display. Affectionately dubbed ‘Flat Tire’, this black portion conceals the 360’s sensors. For some, it’s not a big deal. For others, it’s a deal breaker, especially considering watches from the likes of LG and Huawei have managed to keep everything hidden, and still feature a round metallic casing design.

It’s hard to say how valid this leak is. I was initially very skeptical when I saw the sharer had named a file “FullSizeRender”. To me, this either screamed ‘fake’ or ‘controlled leak’. However, Gerrit explains the file name in a response to another G+ user as follows:

That’s because I trimmed and retouched (shadows and contrast) the picture on an iPhone, the files get renamed to that then. I still have the original file but you could potentially identify the person wearing the watch… that’s why I trimmed it.

Given all the mounting evidence we’ve seen already, it seems safe to say this smartwatch is the real deal. At this point, we’d be surprised if it wasn’t. But you can never tell for sure. Let’s hope Motorola puts us out of our misery soon and announces its second generation Moto 360. I’ve been wearing the first gen for months, and it’s about time for a change.

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