LG has an exciting LG Watch Urbane LTE in store, aiming to bring the capabilities of a smartphone to a user's wrist.
Just a few days ago, LG started teasing a sleek new LG Watch Urbane, boasting a stylish design and high-tech specifications. The company now announced a new variant that comes with LTE connectivity, which means that users will be able to make and take calls from their wrist without necessarily having to pair the gadget with a smartphone. Moreover, the LG Watch Urbane LTE also comes with NFC, which will allow users to make mobile payments with the smartwatch.
"In another example of its wireless expertise, LG Electronics (LG) will be unveiling the world's first LTE-enabled smartwatch to Mobile World Congress (MWC) next week in Barcelona, Spain. The LG Watch Urbane LTE, a next-generation wearable watch, will also include NFC and a host of other features that have never been offered before on a smart device for the wrist," LG boasts in a new press release on Thursday, Feb. 26.
The new LG Watch Urbane, in both its regular and LTE models, builds on the popular LG G Watch R smartwatch with a circular P-OLED display. The new gadget, however, has thinner bezels and has a stronger focus on aesthetics, aiming to serve as a sophisticated and fashionable accessory as well as a high-tech smartwatch.
"As the fourth smartwatch from LG, the LG Watch Urbane LTE is the most ambitious. It offers the style and sophistication of a real analog watch and adds to this the highest level of micro-technology centered around a 1.3-inch Plastic-OLED display," LG further touts. "Under the P-OLED display, the LG Watch Urbane LTE packs all the communication capabilities of a smartphone in a polished, metal wristwatch. Like any 4G phone, it can make and answer calls as well as send and receive text messages. With carrier support, the smartwatch offers push-to-talk (PTT) capability with other devices on the same cellular network so customers can use their LG Watch Urbane LTE as a walkie-talkie with unlimited range to talk to multiple parties at the same time."
In terms of specifications, the LG Watch Urbane LTE features a 1.3-inch P-OLED display with a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels, a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage capacity, and a 700 mAh battery. In addition to 4G LTE, connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, and NFC. The smartwatch also has a built-in speaker and microphone, and boasts IP67 certification for dust and water resistance.
On the software side, it looks like the LTE-enabled variant of the smartwatch will run a new OS. While the regular LG Watch Urbane will run Google's Android Wear, LG notes that its new LG Watch Urbane LTE will run "the all new LG Wearable Platform operating system." Details are still scarce in this regards at this point, but it will be interesting to see just what LG's own wearable platform has to offer.
Lastly, the LG Watch Urbane LTE will be available in a single color option - silver - and will be showcased at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015, alongside the regular, non-LTE LG Watch Urbane variant. LG is expected to offer more details on pricing and availability at the event next week, and we'll keep you up to date as soon as we learn more.
