Update: Android Wear is in the house. Check out what Google's smartwatches can do and see our full review.
We put the first two Google-powered smartwatches on our wrists in TechRadar's Android Wear review, but concluded that the software is still best worn by early adopters.
The LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live beat Apple'siWatch to the punch, but we're hoping Android Wear manufacturers have better watch designs and more than a day's battery life up their sleeves.
Motorola's coveted Moto 360 may be the one with specs that catch up to Google's fairly impressive wearable software. It's coming this summer, according to the company.
It's shaping up to be as fashionable as it is functional, and it runs the same uniform smartwatch platform that extends Google's leading smartphone software to the body.
Android Wear supports both round and square watch faces, as seen on the circular Moto 360 and boxy LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live, and the lineup doesn't stop there.
Additional manufacturers are committed to outfitting smartwatches in Android Wear. HTC, Asus and even Fossil may not be far behind.
As Android head Sundar Pichai penned in the announcement, these app-driven time pieces understand the context of the world around you and deliver messages and reminders beamed directly to your wrist.
Convenient Google Now notifications are literally on hand thanks to Android Wear, and the ability to seek out information with voice controls outfits everyone with the all-encompassing power of the search engine.
What Android Wear does
Android Wear is intended to provide "information that moves with you" and so far it lives up to that promise. It puts the entire world inches from your suddenly-free fingertips.
It doesn't just tell the time. The wearable operating system makes suggestions based on time and it factors location into its context-sensitive data.
The best everyday habit example involves riding on a bus and seeing a Google Maps-powered notification countdown to an unfamiliar destination. "4 stops to: Jackson St." intelligently reads the watch. The scary guessing game is taken out of a public transit commute.
The new technology also tips off wearers to dangers that lurk, as demonstrated in Google's first Android Wear video. A "Jellyfish warning" prompt can be seen with a surfer's flick of the wrist.
A relevant list of nearby beaches saves the video's early adopters who can surf without worrying about the sting of the boneless and brainless ocean creature. Yes, it could save your life, or at least save you a lot of pain.
All of a sudden, digging that rectangular smartphone or, worse, phablet out of your pocket and pulling up a much more involved map or notification app seems so pedestrian.
Making time for families
Google seeds the idea that Android Wear can alleviate our addiction to smartphones in an effort to make more time and eye-contact with our families.
This concept is more practical than the similar idea the company has been floated when delivering the Google Glass Explorer Edition to beta testers. Smartwatches feel natural and unobtrusive.
A parent is able to attend breakfast with his family while keeping a close eye on the estimated commute time to work thanks to an on-wrist Google Now notification.
"No surprises" is the unofficial goal of Android Wear. Leaving too early and breezing through traffic would have filled this parent with breakfast-skipping regret. Leaving too late would've started his day with traffic-influenced anxiety.
'Okay Google' on the wrist
Even more touching is the dad who receives a Google Hangouts message right on his Android Wear smartwatch while bathing his son. "Dude, this game is insane!" writes the token friend who doesn't have such responsibilities.
The dad doesn't run to a TV or have to awkwardly palm his smartphone with soapy hands for an update. "Okay Google, what's the Syracuse score?" he asks his watch without pressing a button.
A scorecard of 28-27, naturally in favor of his college basketball team, pops up. He cheesily shouts "Yay" while raising his hands. His young, halfway washed son does the same without us knowing if he really knows why. He could easily be cheering for having more time with his dad.
The increasingly familiar "Okay Google" voice prompt opens up a world of possibilities beyond sports score updates. Android Wear smartwatches can handle questions like, "How many calories are in an avocado?" to more personal queries like, "What time does my flight leave?"
"Okay Google" can also accomplish tasks outsourced from a smartphone. Calling a taxi, making restaurant reservations, setting alarms and sending - not just receiving - texts is all possible to do hands-free with the Android Wear operating system.
Google Wear fitness apps
Google's Android Wear smartwatches can solve everyone's pesky pedometer gripes, whether it's always losing the easy-to-misplace device or not having it with you at all times.
This should remedy the problem we have with Samsung's S-Health app in Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S5. These phones are sometimes sitting idle on a table while we move, robbing us of our workout goal.
It'll also give Google a way to rival the Apple's iOS 8 Health app that may sync with the unconfirmed iWatch.
Latching a smartwatch to our wrist can count every step and chart whether or not we're meeting our exercise goals.
Google Fit promises to aggregate data like heart rate, steps taken and blood glucose, and to connect with our favorite fitness apps for real-time speed, distance and time data while walking, running and cycling.
So far, Google's rival underwhelmingly counts steps and, in the case of the Samsung Gear Live, and so-so accurate heart rate. An HRM has also beenspied in the Moto 360.
All of this puts the Android Wear platform in direct competition with the Fitbit Force, Nike FuelBand SE and the activity tracking newcomer the Samsung Gear Fit.
But the Fitbit and FuelBand lack smartwatch capabilities and, as stylish as the Gear Fit may be, it's only accessible by Samsung smartphones, not all Android devices. That leaves the door wide open for Google.
QR codes, music and Chromecast
Google's Android Wear multitasks you run for an already-boarding flight. You can keep count of calories burned while flashing a QR code in front of the airline employee in order to board the flight.
Music doesn't come directly from any current Android Wear smartwatch - all of the watches so far lack speakers. But it can activate song playing through voice commands.
Google calls this a ""key to a multiscreen world." Further out, it promises to cast movies to a TV, presumably with its inexpensive Chromecast streaming device, open garage doors with smart home connectivity.
"There's a lot of possibilities here so we're eager to see what developers build," wrote Pichai toward the end of his announcement post.
Third-party apps on Google Play
Android Wear is made even more convincing as a smartwatch because developers will be able to easily translate their apps from Google's mobile ecosystem.
In one month's time, that has brought 44 apps to the official subsection on the Google Play Store with the best coming directly from Google.
Maps makes it convenient to pull up walking directions or, if you're in the car, voice activate navigation to your dash-mounted smartphone without awkwardly leaning over into the steering wheel.
Hangouts beams text and instant messages to the wrist. It's one of the best features, as you can quickly dismiss trivial correspondents while getting a head start on the important ones.
Lyft can call cars with a simple voice phrase, Evernote can help you jot down thoughts and Hue Control can turn your lights on and off.
Outside of the official apps, all notifications that appear in your smartphone's notification tray make their way to the smartwatch.
There are also apps that don't appear in the Android Wear subsection, but work with the watches nonetheless.
Ware Aware, for example, vibrates every time you walk away from your phone, but it doesn't appear in Google's special subsection. Clearly third-party developers are moving quickly.
It shouldn't take long for your favorite apps to appear on the Moto 360,Samsung Gear Live or LG G Watch, whereas developers may struggle to navigate Samsung's Tizen platform that's limited to its Galaxy devices.
Android Wear smartwatches so far
The Android Wear smartwatch selection is limited at the moment with LG, Samsung and Motorola watches. But HTC, Asus and Fossil are confirmed to have something up their sleeves.
The Moto 360 was front-and-center in the smartwatch announcement, even though Google has offloaded Motorola to Lenovo. There's good reason for highlighting this time piece: it's ambitious.
As the name suggests, Moto 360 has a beautiful circular face that contrasts with other watches we've seen like the square Pebble Steel and wrist-conforming Samsung Gear Fit.
Moto 360 has been confirmed to be orientation-free so that left and right-handed wearers won't see a single difference. The digital screen can be flipped and the classic-looking single knob is symmetrical. Just flip the entire thing around to get the knob on the right side.
Even better is that this beautiful watch face is rumored to comprise of an OLED screen to increase battery life that sits behind sapphire glass. That's the same protective glass that's expected to be in the Apple iWatch.
Sticking with that authentic watch styling, there are no charging contacts or USB ports to be found here, Motorola confirmed. Instead, the inductive wireless charging feature gives us a wire-free reason to own that Qi-compatible Nexus charger Google sells in the Play Store.
It doesn't feature a privacy-invasive camera like the Galaxy Gear and Gear 2. This just didn't fit into the classic design, according to Motorola. Also, unlike Samsung's non-Android Wear watches, it supports more phones than its own Moto X.
Moto 360 is compatible with Android 4.3, Android 4.4 and Android L phones and tablets that use low-powered Bluetooth 4.0 for battery life conservation.
Left off the compatibility list is Apple so far. That means even if you own a brand new iPhone 5S or the expected iPhone 6, it won't work with this Android-only device.
Moto 360 blends familiar Android menus like Google Now and Hangouts messages with a sophisticated-looking digital watchface, and Motorola touts just-as-premium strap materials that remain comfortable.
The company promises a variety of styles when it ships globally later this summer, starting in the US. We're still waiting on an official release date and word on the metal band seen in the Moto 360 renders. So far Motorola has demoed flexible rubber straps in person.
Motorola hasn't finalized the Moto 360 price either, but its recent contest outed the "average retail value" as $250 (about £147, AU$265). The final cost could change, but it certainly sounds affordable.
Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch
Samsung and LG have the first Android Wear watches on sale with the Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch debuting for early adopters.
LG G Watch is a little more awkwardly titled, as if it's a typo with too many Gs. Just as awkward is the fact that the Moto 360 dissed square-faced smartwatches in its unveil.
That happens to be the exact design of the LG G Watch. And, curiously, it's is opposite of the LG G3 that seems to be all about its new quick circle case.
LG doesn't seem to be offended, though. The company thinks it's hip to be square with a buttonless design that highlights the boxy watch face even more.
With a 1.65-inch LDC IPS display, the G Watch is bigger than the Samsung Gear Live's 1.63-inch display, but has a tad fewer pixels with a 128 x 128 resolution instead of the 320 x 320 resolution.
Importantly, the LG G Watch lasts longer than the Gear Live thanks to a larger 400mAh battery. It lasts a day and a half whereas Samsung's watch typically stops ticking just shy of 24 hours.
Battery life is key for a wearable device that has to be worn all day long.
The Android 4.3-compatible LG G Watch is roughly the same size as theSamsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo and water and dust resistant.
Also, like the Pebble Steel, it follows the trend of supporting swappable bands for a more personalized look and feel.
The LG G Watch costs $229 in the US and £159 in the UK. It's more expensive than the Gear Live in the US at $199, but cheaper than Samsung's UK price at £159. It really depends on where you live.
As we predicted, there was no rumored 3G-cabale LG G Watch unveiled. Expect that to be added further down the line in smartwatches and possibly available in South Korea before anywhere else.
Where Android Wear stands
Android Wear shows more promise on day one than Google Glass has in its year of availability because it's not a stretch to imagine donning Moto 360, LG G Watch or Samsung Gear Live.
Since only two of the three watches have released, there are still plenty of questions left to be answered about its future, especially its battery life going forward.
Then there's the question of iOS compatibility. Would Android-powered watches ever be able to connect to an iOS 8 device? Google has made plenty of its gadgets, app and services work with Apple's iPhone and iPad hardware.
We're looking forward to seeing how natural the "Okay Google" voice commands progress and if Google-owned Nest creates an Android Wear project of its own.
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