The Moto Z gets a Nougat update and Daydream certification

The last time we checked in on Nougat market share numbers (a little over a week ago), the latest version of Google’s operating system was ranked below Gingerbread in terms of adoption. Slowly but surely the needle is starting to move. A handful of manufacturers have announced updates for their devices in the lead up to the holiday, including both variants of the OnePlus 3.

This week, Motorola’s modular Moto Z handsets will be getting Android 7.0 (not 7.1, mind) this week – or at least the Moto Z and Z Force – no word yet on the Play, but it’ll likely follow fairly shortly after, as that’s how these things tend to go.

Along with the software upgrade comes Daydream compatibility, meaning you’ll be able to plug the phone into Google’s new VR headset without any hassle, marking the first non-Google-branded handset to be certified with that official distinction. Perhaps Google is throwing a little love toward its former sub-brand.

At the very least, the Pixel is about to get a little less lonely on the Daydream page, and Motorola’s bringing some more key functionality to its most compelling handset.

Montblanc Makes Mechanical Watches Smarter With New e-Strap Band

Here's a dilemma: You're a big fan of the look, feel, and design of super-expensive mechanical watches, but you're also a bit intrigued by all the potential of the new smartwatch era. You previously plunked down thousands for a super-fancy watch, however, which makes you a bit less interested in buying yet another wrist adornment that will cut into the amount of time you can show off your main piece.

Montblanc, maker of expensive fancy mechanical watches, hopes to have found an issue for your dilemma. The company has announced a brand-new "e-Strap band" that keeps your watch's face all mechanical, pristine, and sexy, while packing all the electronic fun bits into the watch's actual strap. Would one call this a hybrid watch, in that case?

Suffice, the leather strap—with a "carbon fiber texture," as A Blog to Watch describes—comes with a little electronic module at the bottom that you can get in either coated steel or gray steel. Yes, you can customize the band itself a bit.

The little module has a small 128x36-pixel OLED screen on it, which you can use to view notifications whenever you flip your wrist around. The module also pairs with a related smartphone app which gives you more access to said notifications as well as a built-in activity tracker. The e-Strap band tracks your footsteps via a built-in accelerometer, but that's it; don't expect any fancy pulse rate measurement or other health-themed items from Montblanc's band.

Said e-Strap will come packaged with a few of Montblanc's Timewalker Urban Speed watches, but you can also purchase it separately. It'll be compatible with any other 42mm- or 45mm-wide Timewalker watch and, as A Blog to Watch notes, it'll probably work with any other watch with a similar lug-to-lug size. It is, after all, just a band—a smarter band, but a band nevertheless. It's also a band that retails for 250 Euros or so, which is more than the cost of most simple smartwatches it's designed to imitate.

Find Missing Phone, Keys With Motorola Keylink

Lose your keys? If so, Motorola is hoping to save you the trouble of searching with the Motorola Keylink.

The tiny little device attaches to your keychain and pairs up to the Motorola Connect app for iOS or Android. If you lose your keys, you can use the app to trigger the Bluetooth-enabled Keylink, which will emit a ring so long as your keys are within 100 feet or so of your smartphone.

Another fun trick: If you happen to lose your phone, but have your keys, you can also press a button on the Keylink to make your phone ring. And that's not all.

"If you own a [second-gen] Moto X (video below) Droid Turbo (slideshow above) or a phone running Android 5.0 Lollipop, you can use your trusted device settings to enable the added ability to keep your phone unlocked when your keys are nearby. This way you don't have to enter your password to use it. Just enable trusted devices by going into settings and then security," Motorola said.

The Keylink's battery isn't anything fancy, just a standard coin cell battery available in most stores. With it, the Keylink will remain active for just around one year. Motorola and T-Mobile are currently selling the KeyLink for $25, and it'll work with any Android phone running version 4.3 of the OS or later (Jelly Bean) and any iPhone running iOS 7.1 or later.

And, yes, the Keylink can even "get a little wet," as Motorola describes.