Ahead of its official unveiling at the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2015) in Barcelona, LG has announced the world’s first LTE-enabled smartwatch — the LG Watch Urbane LTE. The smartwatch can make calls, send messages and also have push-to-talk capability, all without a smartphone.
A smartwatch couldn’t have been more chic or independent. The fourth variant in LG’s smartwatch portfolio, the LG Watch Urbane LTE, featuring a Plastic-OLED (P-OLED) display, hides plenty of micro-tech under its sophisticated analog looks.
With 4G LTE built in, the watch can make/answer calls, send and receive text messages and can double as a walkie-talkie with its PTT capability. “Well-connected” is certainly on the smartwatch’s menu — also boasting NFC for convenient and secure payment from your wrist; and GPS.
The big surprise is that the latest LG smartwatch doesn’t run Android Wear but instead powered by the all-new LG Wearable Platform operating system, developed in-house for LG’s own wearable products. It carries over most of the features from the sexy LG G Watch R including an always-on ambient mode on its display.
Initially it was thought that the new OS is based on LG’s webOS as seen on a prototype at CES 2015, but LG has denied the claim.
Coupled with a large 700mAh battery, the watch delivers impressive long talk and use times, which LG claims can go on for days in standby mode.
In terms of design, the LG Watch Urbane LTE has three physical buttons on the right side for easy access to functions without having to swipe through menu screens.
It’s also got a plethora of sensors including a heart rate monitor, and motion sensors to help you track fitness goals. In addition, it also includes specialised features for golfers, cyclists and hikers. IP67 dust- and water-resistance means you can submerge the watch in a meter of water for up to 30 minutes.
Don’t like the watch face? Change it. The LG Watch Urbane LTE has access to thousands of watchfaces to suit your personal taste.
Key specs at a glance
- Chipset: 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
- Operating System: LG Wearable Platform
- Display: 1.3-inch P-OLED (320 x 320 / 245ppi)
- Network: LTE
- Memory: 4GB eMMC / 1GB LPDDR3
- Battery: 700mAh
- Sensors: 9 Axis / Barometer / PPG / GPS
- Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b, g, n / Bluetooth 4.0LE / NFC
- Color: Silver
- Other: Dust and Water Resistant (IP67) / Speaker / Microphone
No pricing or availability has been revealed yet, but stay tuned in the coming few days.
