Lenovo CEO Reportedly Posts Image Of Next Gen Moto 360, ‘Flat Tire’ Display Remains

When the Android Wear platform was unveiled last year, the star of the show was undoubtedly the Motorola Moto 360. With its stainless steel body and round display, the smartwatch looked futuristic while retaining styling that was somewhat familiar to traditional timepieces.

However, it’s been a year since the original Moto 360 was unveiled and there have been a number of round-faced Android Wear devices that have either hit the market or will in the coming months. LG has both the G Watch R and the Watch Urbane, while Huawei came completely out of left field with its “Watch.”

Motorola, of course, isn’t sitting still and the company is looking to push ahead with a second generation Moto 360. And wouldn’t you know it, Motorola’s new parent company — Lenovo — may have just leaked the design of the upcoming smartwatch. Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing posted an image to Weibo, which shows a number of smartwatches in various states of assembly.

The image is interesting, because it provides us with two significant bits of information. First of all, the new Moto 360 appears to adopt a traditional, exposed-lug design, which should make it easier for users to swap out the band that comes with the Moto 360 for a wider variety of third-party solutions (the current Moto 360 has a lug design which integrates into the bottom of the casing). Even though the Moto Maker gives customers a variety of bands to choose from, nothing beats the plethora of options available by switching to a traditional lug arrangement.

The second bit of information gleaned from the photo is that it appears that the “flat tire” display found on the original Moto 360 will carry over to its successor. The Moto 360 currently houses its ambient light sensor and display driver in the crescent-shaped cutout at the bottom of the display, and it has been perhaps the most criticized design aspect of the smartwatch. The aforementioned LG G Watch R, LG Watch Urbane, and Huawei Watch get around this limitation by ditching the ambient light sensor and adopting a slightly larger bezel to accommodate the display driver.

But these are likely just prototypes and anything could change between now and an official unveil, but it’s at least good to see that Motorola isn’t resting on its laurels as the best-selling Android Wear OEM on the market.