LG fingered a fault in a screen component as the reason the second edition of Watch Urbane had a shelf life of just six days.
Watch Urbane looked like it had a lot going for it. After all, it was the first smartwatch to allow users to make and take calls right from their wrist. But it looks like Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Gear 2 now holds that distinction, though that one will run on the company's protected Tizen micro operating system.
LG called back the Watch Urbane, just shy of a week after the Android Wear watch hit the shelves and about a week before the official launch.
Initially, LG said its engineers found an issue that "affects the day-to-day functionality" of the smartwatch. Now LG has opened up about why, but it's still being a bit coy.
"For competitive and supplier relations reasons we are not in a position to communicate the specifics of the issue that led to this decision," said LG. "However, what we can share is that the hardware issue was related to a new advanced component that we had incorporated in the device that had never been used in an LG wearable device before."
That faulty "new advanced component," whatever it is, could disrupt or discolor the screens on Urbane second edition smartwatches.
"During aggressive testing over thousands of hours under severe conditions, it was revealed that this component failed to meet LG's quality standards and could potentially impact our image quality over the life of the device," said LG.
LG hasn't indicated when or if it will bring the Urbane second edition back. While Samsung has beat it to the punch, the LG Urbane second edition still has the distinction of being an Android Wear watch -- the Gear S2 runs both Tizen and Android, so it's compatible with a broad range of Android handsets.
The South Korean electronics company previously stated that the availability of the Watch Urbane 2nd Edition will be decided at a later time. The move to cancel the launch of the smartwatch may be disappointing to some. Although, it is quite comforting that instead of trying to ride the fast-paced technology wave, LG chose instead to reiterate its top priority of ensuring that products meet quality standard before becoming available for purchase.
