LG has always been a major proponent of Android Wear, working closely with Google on one of the first devices with the OS, and later on helping the company to bring Android Wear 2.0 to life. Now, LG is officially rolling out the latest version of Android Wear to some of its older devices.
Android Wear 2.0 went official back in February, but its rollout has been pretty slow, to say the least. Only a few watches have been updated so far, but today LG is expanding that list by kicking off the rollout for the LG G Watch R and the first generation LG Watch Urbane.
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The LG G Watch R has been seeing scattered availability over the last several weeks, leading many to believe that it was set to be fully replaced by the LG Watch Urbane. Now, Google has officially removed the device from sale on the Google Store, and it looks like the suspicion of many has been confirmed. The device, previously available for $249, is now showing up as “unavailable in your country” for visitors in the United States and Japan…
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It’s widely speculated that LG is working to bring WiFi support to the LG G Watch R in some future release of Android Wear, but in the most recent official release, 5.1.1, the smartwatch is notably left out. Being left out of a feature isn’t an unsolvable problem for the XDA Developers community, though, as it appears one developer has put together a hack for enabling WiFi on the round smartwatch from LG…
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We’re still in the relatively early days of Android Wear, but I think those who have tried the platform have spent enough time with it by now to know whether or not it’s essential to their lives in its current form. I hate to spoil this review in the first two lines, but I know already that, for me, Android Wear is not something I really need. Put simply, it’s just not useful enough yet. From the available Android Wear devices I’ve tried, there are a couple that I think do hardware very well — the LG G Watch R is one of them. I like it so much that I want it to be a necessary part of my day, but it just isn’t there yet… here’s why.
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The Apple Watch was once again shown off at Apple’s “Spring Forward” event on Monday, and many have been left wondering how the device compares to the Android Wear devices currently on the market. Technology has surely evolved a bit since the G Watch was announced, but how much have things changed?
There are several differences between the two platforms, but one that has now been brought to light is the device’s physical dimensions. Looking at Apple’s renders and images makes the device look big, but comparing its actual dimensions to Android Wear devices does the opposite. It’s tiny compared to most of what’s available today.
I love my Android Wear smartwatch—it’s a great extension to the Nexus 6 I use daily. But not many people I know have an Android Wear device, even fewer have reason to use one every day, and basically no one (outside of my circle of geeky friends) really understands why they’re useful when I try to explain what they do. My LG G Watch R is seen as cool, because I can flip between a couple dozen watch faces and reply to texts with my voice, but these things don’t really make my peers feel like they’re missing out. It’s cool, but that’s about it.
The Apple Watch was shown off again today—this time in a bit more detail—and it’s clear that the device is going to be competition to the half-dozen-or-so Android Wear devices that are on the market. It’s priced a bit higher, and that’s typical when it comes to Apple products, but there are definitely things that this device offers that Google hasn’t yet introduced. The big one—in my opinion—is Digital Touch, which Apple describes as a “fun, spontaneous way to connect with other Apple Watch wearers, wrist to wrist.”
LG has been around the Android Wear scene since the beginning. First we saw the original G Watch, then came the G Watch R, but this year LG is raising the bar in a big way. For 2015, LG has two new offerings. One of which is a stylistic upgrade over the G Watch R and another that takes its wearable mission outside of the Android Wear space altogether. Today we’re taking a quick look at LG’s Watch Urbane and Urbane LTE. How do these watches compare to previous releases from LG? Well, let’s go ahead and find out…
T-Mobile is currently selling the Moto 360 via its website for $250, however qualified customers can buy the smartwatch for no money down under a monthly payment plan ($10.41 for 23 months; $10.56 for 24th month) if you sign up for one of the carrier’s Simple Choice plans. If you’re not a fan of online shopping, Motorola’s Android Wear-powered timepiece will debut at T-Mobile retail locations, alongside the LG G Watch R on November 19th.
The LG G Watch R is now available from AT&T and Google Play and Sprint confirmed today that it will start offering the Korean electronics manufacturer’s latest smartwatch on November 14th. The carrier will sell the Android Wear device for $300 outright or qualified customers can purchase it for no money down via Sprint’s Easy Pay program for $25 per month for one year.
After a day of availability at AT&T’s website, the LG G Watch R is now on sale at Google Play. Listed with a warehouse departure time of one to two business days, LG’s new $300 smartwatch joins its slightly more affordable predecessor at the Play Store.
Last week, AT&T confirmed that it will carry the LG G Watch R, but absent from the carrier’s reveal were pricing and an exact release date. Today, however, the outfit announced that it will start selling the device online on November 5th for $299, followed by its retail locations on November 7th. A little on the expensive side, the timepiece’s top round face sporting competitor, the Moto 360 goes for $250.
AT&T announced today that it will be one of America’s first wireless carrier’s to sell the LG G Watch R. Ma Bell didn’t provide any specific details about pricing and release plans, however LG recently said that the gadget’s global rollout is scheduled to start sometime next month.
LG announced today that its new G Watch R is going to be launching during the beginning of November in select markets, including France, Italy, Spain and the UK. The company plans to introduce its new round smartwatch to additional territories like Asia and North America soon after, but it didn’t give an exact time. After much speculation, LG unveiled the G Watch R last month during IFA in Berlin, allowing us to get a little time with its new smartwatch.
LG recently unveiled its latest smartwatch, the G Watch R. This is the first Android Wear device with a full circle display, because as some of you may know, the Moto 360 has a “flat tire” due to the sensors located at the bottom side of the face. The good news is, the G Watch R is just as premium as the Moto 360, and in my opinion, possibly better…
Just a little more than a week ahead of Motorola’s press event for the Moto 360, LG tonight has officially unveiled the G Watch R. The company has been teasing the circular Android Wear device heavily for the past week, but only tonight has it become official.
Rumors have been swirling for the last few weeks that LG was prepping to unveil the second generation G Watch at IFA, but most accepted that this was preposterous given how we’re only a couple of months into the first version’s existence. But it appears that while LG probably doesn’t have a second generation square watch ready to be unveiled next week, they do have a round watch to show us that will conveniently steal much of the Moto 360’s spotlight.
