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Motorola Announces New Smartwatch

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Motorola announced Tuesday at the mobile world Congress that it is developing another smartwatch that will be released later this year, TechCrunch reported.

Rick Osterloh, vice president of product at Motorola, said the new device will solve real user problems and will be treated more like an item of jewelry, CNET reported.

"Right now, there are no wearable products you actually want to wear, and it's because they're all extremely ugly," Osterloh told reporters at a press conference according to CNET. "We're trying to solve the problem of style."

 Motorola is one of the first firms to attempt a smartwatch back in 2011 when it released the Motoactiv GPS and fitness watch. The Illinois-based company's bulky, "think iPad nano on a wrist band" device was packed with features geared towards the fitness crowd, TechCrunch reported.

The product was discontinued in 2013.

Steve Horowitz, senior vice president of software engineering at Motorola, told reporters the watch will be an Android device.

"I can say we are 100 percent focused on Android. [The] market has spoken as to where the OS focus needs to be and we will continue with that strategy. As time possesses we will have conversation but I am very focused on Android," he said.

Osterloh said Motorola will be announcing the watch in a few months.

Although Osterloh said Motorola is targeting a 2014 launch, it is unclear when Motorola's net smartwatch will hit stores, TechCrunch reported.

TechCrunch predicts that Motorola's new smartwatch will face stiff competition from the Pebble Steel, new Samsung Gear watches, and even more traditional fitness trackers such as the Fitbit.

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