Leaked photos show claimed early Motorola smartwatch prototype

A day after Motorola revealed that it is working on a smartwatch for release later this year, Android Police posted low-resolution photos of what it says is an early prototype from some point last year. The unnamed source claims that the watch was code-named Gem but known to the development team as the Google Watch.

With Motorola having now parted company from Google, and Google believed to be working on an LG-made Nexus-branded smartwatch to be announced next month and launched at Google I/O in June, the one certainty is that this device won’t be launched as the Google Watch … 

Early prototypes rarely reveal much, with both hardware and software subject to substantial development along the way. Certainly this rubbery-looking watch is a long way short of the fashion-focused watch Motorola has promised. Button icons do, though, suggest the prototype had both fitness functionality and Google Now integration.

Samsung launched its second-generation smartwatches a few days ago, and Apple is expected to launch its own iWatch later this year.