Motorola has been quite successful with the Moto 360 smart watch in the past year and it would be awkward for everyone if the Lenovo-owned company didn’t come out with a successor. Apple has launched the Apple Watch, Pebble Time is doing well, the Asus VivoWatch will have quite the battery life and the LG Watch Urbane is a piece straight out of a fashion magazine. But even though all these awesome wearables are already here for the taking, people are still waiting on the Moto 360 2nd generation. There’s a lot of interest in it because the first generation Moto 360 is a great device that leaves people expecting even more out of the second edition. First edition tech will usually have its flaws, and the Moto 360 does, right alongside Android Wear. But that first edition can be considered training of sorts and we are already seeing great improvements in Android Wear. Motorola is most likely already working on the second generation Moto 360 with better hardware, better integration, more battery life and more useful features.

The Moto 360 second generation has not been officially confirmed by Motorola, but I suspect that many of you would agree that Motorola will not let the opportunity slide past. Rumors are that the new Moto 360 would be ready by September, which is consistent with the release date of the first model. It’s pretty safe to assume that the new smart watch would be making it to market by Halloween. As for how Motorola will change the new Moto 360, there’s little to be known. For some reason, birds aren’t chirping that much, even though it’s Spring. It seems like Motorola is trying to be as mum as possible about the whole Moto 360 affair. But rumors are still circulating, and right now the word is that Motorola has some tough competition to outdo with the new Moto 360.

As such, expectations regarding the new Android Wear device are high and the company will most likely want to meet most of them. Going against the already popular Apple Watch might prove to be a bit difficult. Already, the ball seems to be in Motorola’s court as people seem to be liking the circular shape of the Moto 360 more than they do the rectangular shape of the Apple Watch. And that’s where the second generation Moto 360 will be improving: design. The black bar on the bottom isn’t too bothersome, but it does look a bit off so if the company decides to go with the most premium-, polished look, they will have to address that. Rumors are that the bezels will be a bit compromised in the process of removing that black bar, but they won’t be as thick as they are on the LG G Watch R or the LG Watch Urbane. The casual, laid-back design language that’s iconic of the Moto 360 will most likely be kept the same, with the added benefit of a more precious gold chassis variant. I’d take that with a grain of salt, though.

With a fully round display and a minimalistic design, the second generation Moto 360 and the updated Android Wear would make a great team. Adding GPS to that package would be ideal, so that people wouldn’t have to carry their phones around and be able to use the smart watch on its own.  A 3G data connection is also rumored to be added and one of the Motorola community members has hinted at a new carrier getting on board with the data plans for the Moto 360 second generation: Google. That’s an interesting thought, there. Releasing the new Moto 360 2015 with its own data-plan from Google would be a great move against Apple, and against major carriers in the U.S. as well, AT&T most notably.

The hardware-side of the new Moto 360 is rather unclear at the moment. There have been a few leaks about a higher-resolution display at 360*360, a better processor and a bigger battery. More battery saving modes have been mentioned, although that has to do with Android Wear development as much as it has to do with the Moto 360 second generation. Our best guess would be that Motorola will strive to make the new edition of the Moto 360 as user friendly and practical as possible. With 3G, GPS, a fully round screen and a slightly bigger battery, they would have a good shot at seriously drawing in Apple fans and convincing more Android fans. A new version of Android Wear might also be in the works, so we’re definitely looking forward to new features for a stand-alone device that don’t involve a smartphone being tethered.

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The only issue with these rumors is that if they all turn out to be real, the second generation Moto 360 will most likely be expensive, maybe as much as the Samsung Gear S, as in about $400 without a contract. That might not sit too well with Moto 360 fans, as the relatively affordable price of the 2014 edition was one of its selling points, and can still be considered one. With all the hype about the Apple Watch and wearable technology, Motorola does have to make a stand and convince technophiles that they can make a cheap device with great features, without compromising too much. That won’t be an easy thing to do and compromises will have to be made. Which is why we would take these rumors with a grain of salt, as we can’t know for sure which of these features are the keepers for the company. We’ll keep you updated if any other leaks surface or if we can get our hands on some insider info. Until then, how would you imagine the second generation Moto 360?