GPS-equipped Moto 360 Sport arrives in the US on Jan 7 for $299
Motorola's fitness-focused smartwatch will arrive a few weeks earlier in the UK, on December 18.
Motorola on Tuesday announced thats its Moto 360 Sport smartwatch will be available on December 18 in the UK and France. A few weeks later the fitness-focused smartwatch will arrive in the US, going on sale January 7 at Motorola's website, followed by Best Buy stores on January 10.
The Moto 360 Sport retails for $299 in the US. International pricing wasn't immediately available, but the US price converts to about £200 in the UK and AU$400 in Australia.
The Sport model is only available in the 45mm size and comes with a silicon strap. The watch adds GPS for tracking pace, distance and speed when running or cycling. It also includes a new display technology called AnyLight that makes it easier to see the screen in any environment, which is important when working out on sunny days or at night time.
The internal hardware is the same as the Moto 360. The watch is equipped with a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage for apps and music. There's also Wi-Fi on board, which lets you use the watch even if your iPhone or Android smartphone is left behind, as well as an optical heart-rate sensor on the back.
According to Motorola, the Sport model will last a full day even with the always-on display feature (also known as Ambient Mode) enabled. The company didn't disclose how long the battery would last with an active GPS signal (typically, dedicated running watches' battery life ranges from 6 to 12 hours).
The watch carries a water-resistance rating of IP67. It should be OK for showering, but swimming isn't recommended. For comparison, running watches from Garmin, Polar and TomTom tend to feature a rating of 5 ATM.
The Moto 360 Sport will be available in black, white and flame orange