Google Smartwatch Release Dates: LG G Watch And Motorola Moto 360 'Powered By Android Wear,' Rumored Specs

Motorola and LG have announced smartwatches on the heels of Google’s "Android Wear" unveiling, a program that ports the company’s mobile operating system to wearables. Motorola says it will release the Moto 360, which features a round face and swappable bands available in leather or metal, at an unannounced date “this summer.” LG says its G Watch will work “with a wide range of Android smartphones” and is due for release in the “second quarter of 2014.”

The LG G Watch “is LG's fourth device developed in close collaboration with Google following the Nexus 4, Nexus 5 and the LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition,” the company said in a press release. It appears that the G Watch is LG’s version of a Nexus watch, although the company comes short of the stock Android branding that appears on its Nexus 5.

The G Watch will feature a square face, and LG promises “the best Google experience for users.” LG says that hardware specifications, or specs, will be announced in the “coming months.” The International Business Times previously reported that the G Watch, originally thought to be Google's "Nexus Watch," would feature 512MB of RAM and a 1.65-inch display, according to noted gadget leaker Evleaks.

Motorola says that its Moto 360, eschews the square design seen in past smartwatches. The Moto 360 is set for release this summer, and Motorola will offer the watch with replaceable bands in both leather and metal. Motorola says they had to custom-build the Moto 360's hardware from the ground up to fit into a round body.

“It was a very ambitious design. I remember presenting it to the engineers for the first time, this sort of dual reaction of excitement and sort of, dread fear, of ‘how on Earth are we going to realize that?” Dickson Isaacs, Motorola’s head of wearables design, says in a company video. Motorola said earlier this year that it would wait to release a smartwatch until it had solved the "battery life problem" currently facing wearables, hinting at a low-energy processor that utilizes a smartphone's more powerful specs.

Google says that smartwatches powered by the company’s newly announced Android Wear are also forthcoming from HTC and Samsung. Which would you prefer – Motorola’s round design for the Moto 360, or LG’s square-faced G Watch?

Follow Reporter Thomas Halleck on Twitter for updates on Android Wear and Google smartwatches.