The Sony SmartWatch 3 is now officially available for purchase from Google Play, sporting a $249.99 price tag. The gadget is ready to ship in 1 - 2 business days.

As wearable technology is rapidly gaining ground, smartwatches have become the new "must have" for tech enthusiasts and gadget lovers. A number of notable options are already available on the market, and even more smartwatches are expected to launch in the future. Sony was among the first to join the wearable device race and the company's smartwatches have gotten better with each generation, while also growing in popularity.

The third-generation smartwatch from Sony hit the Google Play store back in mid-October, but it was listed as "coming soon" at the time. Fast forward to present date, and eager fans are now up for some good news. The Android Wear-powered gadget is now finally up for grabs at the Google Play store, at least in the U.S.

The Sony SmartWatch 3 may not sport the much-touted design of the Motorola Moto 360 or the LG G Watch R, but it does hold its own when it comes to specs and functionality. First of all, Sony's latest smartwatch stands out from the crowd due to its built-in GPS, which may be more appealing to fitness enthusiasts.

Aside from the built-in GPS, which allows Sony SmartWatch 3 users to leave their smartphone at home when going for a jog, for instance, the gadget also comes with plenty of other neat specs and features. The watch sports a 1.6-inch LCD display with a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels and packs a 1.2GHz quad-core processor under the hood, paired with 512MB of RAM. Other specs include 4GB of internal storage capacity, as well as a slew of sensors such as accelerometer, ambient light, gyroscope, and magnetometer. Moreover, the Sony SmartWatch 3 is also IP68-certified, which makes it water-resistant.

On the software side, Sony's latest wearable gadget comes with the latest version of Android Wear on board, marking a departure from Sony's own smartwatch OS. To learn more about the Sony SmartWatch 3 or to place an order, head over to Google Play at this link.