In the dawn of smartwatches, the convention of tethering the device via bluetooth or Wi-Fi to a smartphone is very familiar concept to many. LG Watch Urbane 2 wants to change all that. It’s the first standalone smartwatch that can run without a smartphone.
Breaking away from the conventional smartwatch setup, the LG Watch Urbane 2 LTE Edition ditches the smartphone for a more mobile smartwatch experience. Unlike most of the competitors in this niche, the Urbane 2 works on a cellular network without the use of a bluetooth or Wi-Fi connected smartphone. Android Wear 2.0 is still to be released later this year but the Urbane 2 is apparently the first one to use the software from Google.
The Urbane 2 is avalaible for the following carriers:
AT&T
Without contract: $359.99
With 2-year contract: $199.99
Monthly data payment: $10.00
Verizon
Without contract: $499.99
With a 2-year contract: $429.99
Monthly data payment: $5.00
The benefit of a cellular connection on your watch means that you won’t worry if you forgot your phone at home. Urbane 2 will stay smart and still connected to a network by using your chosen carrier’s signal to enable the smart features whenever you’re not in the Wi-Fi or bluetooth range of your smartphone. This means voice search, notifications, messaging and phone calls can all be done on the watch.
In terms of build quality, the Urbane 2 is thicker, larger and heavier than its circular watch competitors. The Motorola 360 and the Huawei Watch are slimmer next to the LG smartwatch. The sharp display sports a 1.38 inch full round display with a screen resolution of 480×480 pixel. With a 348 PPI pixel density, this is the best display you can get from any smartwatch in the market today.
SEOUL, Nov. 12, 2015 — The LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition, the first Android Wear smartwatch to feature cellular connectivity, will begin rolling out to customers worldwide starting this month in the United States and Korea with key markets in Europe, Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States to follow in the months ahead.
Compatible with both Android and iOS smartphones*, the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition allows users to answer calls and check messages without the assistance of a tethered smartphone. So wearers can feel confident knowing that they won’t miss any important information when out for their morning run or on the tennis court.
The LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition features a classic timepiece design consisting of a hairline-etched stainless steel body and a full-circle 348ppi P-OLED display. The three buttons on the right side provide quick access to shortcut settings, LG Health and apps. Moreover, its high-capacity 570mAH battery and Power Saving Mode enables the smartwatch to last throughout the day with power to spare.
“Keeping people connected to the world is our business and the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition was designed specifically to meet the needs of customers who want to communicate anytime, anywhere,” said Juno Cho, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “The wearable category is still in its infancy and we plan to continue introducing exciting devices that appeal to a diverse audience.”
Price and purchase details will be announced locally at the time of availability.
* Cellular enabled features will vary across Android and iOS.
AT&T isn’t just banking on the LG G5 to start its spring with a bang. After months of sorting out glitches, LG is re-launching the Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE on AT&T as of today. The cellular-linked, NumberSync-friendly Android Wear piece is available for $18 per month on a 20-month installment plan ($360 total), or $100 if you buy it alongside a G5 on an AT&T Next plan. That’s before the $10 per month you’ll need to pay to add the smartwatch to your shared data plan, we’d add. If you absolutely need to stay online when your phone is at home, though, this might hit the spot.
As for the G5? That little old thing? Pre-orders are starting today at AT&T, with a launch planned for April 1st. Buying the modular smartphone will set you back $23 per month on a 2-year AT&T Next plan, but the network is offering a Buy One Get One deal that provides a free G5 (or rather, the credit for one) if you add it on a new second line and pay for it on a Next 24 plan. The BOGO promotion is comparable to what you get for the Galaxy S7, but it’s worth considering if you’re looking for an alternative to Samsung.
Did you have your eye on one of those new LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition from AT&T? Well tough. LG just yanked the smartwatch from store shelves citing “a hardware issue which affects the day-to-day functionality of the device.” The device was the first Android-based smartwatch to include a cellular connection. It had debuted on AT&T only a week ago and was supposed to come to Verizon tomorrow, November 20th. Nope, not any more.
There’s no word on specifically why the watches were pulled or when/if they’ll return. According to 9to5Google, Verizon will not ship to pre-order customers while AT&T has told its retail outlets to offer customers who have already purchased the 2nd Edition a full refund.
With code names Angelfish and Swordfish, Google have a master plan of releasing their very own Nexus smartwatches ditching the “flat tire” found on the Moto 360.
Google and Nexus might be another brand to watch out for when smartwatches are concerned. The company is working on their very own version of the technology that can compete with Motorola and LG. Code named Angelfish and Swordfish, these smartwatches will be a the first smartwatches that can possibly ditch the flat tire at the bottom part of round displays.
Rumored specs is the first variant will be considerably larger with LTE and GPS connections. This one is named Angelfish with a 43.5mm case and 14mm thick body. That\’s wide but still smaller compared to the Moto 360 (46mm) and the LG Watch Urbane (46mm). And the smaller version will come with mobile data and other connections. This bigger model will have a crown between a top and bottom buttons for various purposes.
Swordfish is the smaller one much like the Pebble Time Round but with thinner bezels. Dimensions are quite smaller at 42mm wide and just 10.6mm thick body. By far, this is way thinner than the Moto 360. Swordfish\’s features can be more gentle and rounded than the Pebble\’s with just one button without the LTE and GPS.
The inclusion of the Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor inside these devices are yet to be confirmed. Such SOC can increase battery life.
Samsung has finally unveiled its next-generation smartwatch, the Gear S2, today after teasing it during the announcement of the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 edge+. The Gear S2 is the company’s first smartwatch with a completely circular display, and Samsung has focussed a lot on the appearance of the watch without letting go of hardware and software features. Unlike the past few years when Samsung was one of the few brands to experiment in the smartwatch space, the smartwatch market is quite crowded this year, thanks to the grand entry of brands like Apple and LG.
This year, the Gear S2 will be the company’s weapon to compete with the likes of the Apple Watch, the LG Watch Urbane, the ASUS ZenWatch, and the successor to Motorola’s Moto 360. Samsung’s flagship smartwatch will be offered in two variants, the Gear S2 and the Gear S2 classic, with the only changes between them being design and materials, each targeting different tastes and preferences. The 11.4 mm thin Gear S2 is targeted towards consumers who love minimal and modern design, while the 13.4 mm thin Gear S2 classic is for consumers who like a more traditional watch design approach. The Gear S2 will be offered in a dark gray case with a dark gray band and a silver case with a white band, while the Gear S2 classic will be available in an elegant black case with a matching genuine leather band.
Coming to the display, both the smartwatch variants feature 1.2-inch circular Super AMOLED displays with a resolution of 360 x 360 pixels. How is Samsung differentiating the Gear S2 from its competitors? Well, the company has invented a brand new way of interaction with the smartwatch: a rotating bezel, which we exclusively reported about earlier this year. Also, there are two additional buttons, home and back, which helps a user in accessing notifications and applications in a quicker, more accurate, and most importantly, a more comfortable manner. The watches are IP68 certified, so they are dust as well as water-resistant.
On the software side of things, these smartwatches run a Tizen-based wearable platform that is customised to be used on wearable devices with circular displays. Users can view at-a-glance notifications for calendar events, emails, messages, news, weather, and notifications from other apps with ease. They can even type or narrate custom replies using the inbuilt keyboard and the voice recognition system. The Gear S2 can receive notifications and can carry out voice calls, thanks to cellular connectivity. NFC can be used for carrying out mobile payments through Samsung Pay, and the watch can also be used as a smart car and room key or a remote control that can manage connected devices and appliances at home.
Pre-installed apps include S Health, Nike+ Running, S Voice, Weather, Calls, Contacts, Notifications, Messages, Email, Maps & Navigation, Music Player, and Gallery. There’s a Healthy Watch Face and a widget that displays your activity throughout the day. Fitness functions on the Gear S2 encourage users to stay healthy and active, and gives them a 24-hour activity log with activity progress and patters. Auto activity recognition system motivates users to be active and fit.
There are a bunch of watch faces that come pre-installed on the Gear S2 that change the information displayed on the screen depending on time, place, and occasion, and Samsung states that it is working with partners to offer a range of apps, watch faces, and bands helping the users in showcasing their style and mood. The apps will include ones for glancing news, sport scores, stocks, trending tweets, and those that show near-by places and restaurants, through a custom circular user interface.
On the inside, the Gear S2 features a “wearable-optimized” 1.0GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage. It is equipped with a bunch of sensors including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a heart-rate monitor, an ambient-light sensor, a barometer, and a microphone. Connectivity is taken care of by Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.1, and NFC. There’s a 250 mAh battery that can be charged wirelessly using the provided charging dock, and the company claims that the Gear S2 can last upto 2-3 days with normal usage. The Gear S2 3G, as the name suggests, also features cellular connectivity, thanks to an Embedded-SIM (e-SIM), and has a day less of battery life. The cellular variant of the smartwatch will be available through carriers in Samsung’s home market, South Korea, and in North America.
The availability or the price of the Gear S2, the Gear S2 classic, and the Gear S2 3G hasn’t been announced yet, but the watches will be displayed on September 3 during IFA 2015 at Berlin. What do you think about the Gear S2? Do you think that it is equipped enough to defeat the Apple Watch and other Android Wear-based smartwatches from other brands? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
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