LG unveils the first official product video for the hotly anticipated LG Watch Urbane, the successor to the LG G Watch and LG G Watch R released by the Korean electronics maker last year.
Although the minute-long video does not say much about the upcoming device, the South Korean electronics maker clearly made it a point to emphasize the Watch Urbane's design, which, judging from the video, is definitely something to watch out for when LG officially unveils the physical device at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain next month.
Design has always been a pain point for most smartwatch makers, whose mission it is to develop a device that does not look like a miniature smartphone slapped on to a cheap, plastic strap. The arrival of the Apple Watch in April is expected to bring a well-designed smartwatch to market, but we don't need to wait that long for a beautiful smartwatch. The brushed metal Moto 360, for one, features a round watch face that makes it look like a luxury Swiss-made watch.
However, some users have observed that the Moto 360 is too bulky for their tastes, and that is one of the issues the Watch Urbane, which is supposed to have a thinner profile, wants to address. As for customizability, the video shows one can swap the Watch Urbane's strap for other straps designs, including one made of gold metal, natural black leather, and a variety of 22 mm straps.
Just like its predecessor, the sporty G Watch R, the Watch Urbane will sport a circular 1.3-inch plastic OLED display with a resolution of 320 x 320 for a 245 ppi. It will run on a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400 processor from Qualcomm with 512 MB of RAM and storage of 4 GB. The Watch Urbane will be powered by the same 410 mAh battery found in the G Watch R, which can deliver up to two days of battery life of normal use on a single charge.
The Watch Urbane will also have a slew of sensors, including a gyroscope, accelerometer, and heart sensor. It will run on Google's Android Wear and will be compatible with any smartphone running on Android 4.3.
"The LG Watch Urbane's classic design and smart features make it the perfect smartwatch to complement our G Watch and G Watch R, which were designed as more casual and active devices," says LG President and CEO Juno Cho in a statement. "LG Watch Urbane is an important part of our strategy to develop wearable devices that are worn and viewed as everyday accessories, not electronic gadgets."
