LG will begin the global rollout of its LG Watch Urbane this week, the first new smartwatch to be powered by Google’s latest version of Android Wear.As previously announced by Google, the Android Wear update is set to rollout to a number of devices in the coming weeks, with the Watch Urbane, which will be rolled out in South Korea, followed by markets in North America, Europe and Asia, the first cab off the rank.
LG stated customers in a number of countries, including Australia, will be able to purchase the Watch Urbane via Google Store this month.
The Watch Urbane, aimed at the luxury market, was initially introduced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier in the year. Circular in design, it sports a 1.3″ full-circle P-OLED display housed in a stainless steel body, available in polished rose gold and silver, and comes with a natural leather strap, which LG states can be replaced with any 22 mm-wide band.
It is powered by a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, and is compatible with smartphones running Android 4.3 and above.
“LG Watch Urbane is the first new smartwatch powered by the latest version of Android Wear, which works seamlessly with smartphones running Android 4.3 and above,” LG stated.
“Some of the features available for the first time on any Android Wear device include Wi-Fi connectivity, always-on apps to keep the display from going dark when running, navigating or even grocery shopping, and an improved UX that makes launching favourite apps and getting in touch with friends easier than ever before, with everything now front-and-centre.”
Two of LG’s own features added to the Watch Urbane are LG Call and LG Pulse.
LG Call allows the wearer to access recent calls and the favourite contacts list on a connected smartphone, dialling out directly from the watch, with LG Pulse measuring the wearer’s heart rate every second during exercise with no maximum time limit, reporting the average heart rate over the entire duration of the activity and displaying a heart rate graph on LG Health (which LG has stated is coming soon).
“The LG Watch Urbane is the third Android Wear device introduced by LG in the past year, which demonstrates our commitment to this platform,” commented Juno Cho, LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company president and CEO.
“More importantly, LG Watch Urbane is a perfect example that Android Wear watches can be functional and beautiful and a useful accessory that complements any wardrobe. No one would mistake LG Watch Urbane for a computer on your wrist.”
