At MWC 2015 LG unveiled news about a forthcoming snappy and fashionable smartwatch. The LG Watch Urbane LTE, is the first LTE-enabled smartwatch capable of make calls, sending messages and providing Push-to-Talk functions – all without a smartphone connection.
And, while it has some significant, forward-thinking features that finally takes the wraps off a fully realized Dick Tracy serial, there's one thing it doesn't have that the majority of others do – Android.
With the Urbane, LG has decided to develop its own LG Wearable Platform. This is gutsy move by the company, considering other vendors that have branched out to develop their own wearable platform have failed in popularity, with Pebble being the only producer that has succeeded. But even with Pebble, the company had to eventually give in and develop a conduit to support Android Wear apps functionality to run on the devices. So, LG is off on its own. Some might suggest that Samsung has made inroads into the smartwatch market, but only if you count the sheer number of wrist-worn devices the company has released since 2013. It's released six smartwatches in that time period, but was gun shy at MWC 2015 and only suggested that yet another one is coming soon.
Still the Urbane sports some impressive features and specs.
Specs:
- Chipset: 1.2GHz Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 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
Features:
- Make calls
- Send text messages
- Push-to-Talk
- Three physical buttons instead of a touchable screen
- Virtual wallet
- Heart rate monitor
- Fitness tracking (special modes for golfers, cyclists, and hikers)
- Can be submerged in a meter of water for up to 30 minutes
- Customizable watch face
- NFC
Fortunately, LG is not hedging its bets on the LG Wearable Platform. The company also produces a G Watch Urbane that does run Android. The company has given no indication when the smartwatch would actually release, but should be sometime yet this year.
