LG Electronics will be releasing their ‘LG Watch Urbane LTE’ on the 27th in South Korea exclusively via LGU+. The factory price is 587 USD. LGU+ will be having smart watch plan that costs about 10 USD per month.
LG watch Urbane LTE is supports long-term evolution (LTE) communication. It also has USIM card embedded in the wristband so separate number is given once the service is open. It can be synced with smartphone via Bluetooth but smart watch itself can provide high quality voice LTE (VoLTE) and text service. Text can be typed in with internally installed keyboard or through voice recognition feature.
Near Field Communication (NFC) based payment service ‘Cashbee Wear’ is also installed. Cashbee Wear can be used in over 50,000 stores across the country including convenient stores, theaters and more. Amount spent and remaining balance can be checked at anytime, anywhere. With the app setting, automatic charging feature is available if the balance goes below certain point. It also has LGU+ ‘Smart Wallet’ service which allows the user to use various membership cards and coupon without smartphone.
MC business president Junho Cho of LG Electronics said, “LG watch Urbane LTE has all the LG Electronics’ high techs and fashionable design, making it the best wearable device out in the market. It will open up a new smart life era.”
LG watch Urbane LTE price is 587 USD. It is a bit high price rather than what people had expected. Samsung’s ‘Galaxy Gear S’ that uses 3G communication service was about 270 USD. With contract, the carrier supported about 100 USD allowing the customer to purchase the watch somewhere in the mid 100s.
LGU+ is deciding how much they should set the supporting fund at. For now, they are planning to support somewhere around 180 USD.
LG Electronics has applied the LG wearable platform onto the LG watch Urbane LTE. Currently there are 20~30 apps that are usable. More apps need to be developed in order to compete with Android OS.
LGU+ is joining the smart watch market as LG watch Urbane LTE is coming out. The 3G using Galaxy Gear S did not even go on sale. Apple watch will be released on the 24th of April and Samsung’s Orbis will be releasing soon. The smart watch market is expected to become a competitive field soon.
Staff Reporter Ahn, Hocheon | hcan@etnews.com