LG Watch Urbane Global Rollout Begins via Google Store

Much like LG's first Android-wear powered G Watch smartwatch, the LG Watch Urbane will be also available via the Google Store. The smartwatch will be made available to buy in countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States starting this month.

(Also see: LG Watch Urbane First Impressions: Continuing Evolution)

Unfortunately, the company has not announced any pricing details of the LG Watch Urbane for these markets, and says pricing can be expected to be announced locally near the launch date. Initially announced ahead of MWC this year, LG Watch Urbane is inspired by the company's first circular smartwatch, the G Watch R, and sports an "all metal" design.

LG also touts that the LG Watch Urbane sports LG Call and LG Pulse features those are not available on other Android Wear devices. LG Call allows users to check recent calls and the favourite contacts list on the connected smartphone to call directly from the watch, while LG Pulse is a heart rate measuring feature. It measures wearer's heart rate every second during exercise with no maximum time limit. LG Pulse at the end of activity reports the average heart rate over the entire duration of the activity and will display a heart rate graph on the LG Health app, which will be rolled out soon.

(Also see: Android Wear Update Brings Wi-Fi Support, Always-On Apps, and More)

The LG Watch Urbane features a 1.3-inch circular Plastic OLED (P-OLED) display with a resolution of 320x320 pixels and a pixel density of 245ppi. Other specifications include a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 clocked at 1.2GHz coupled with 512MB of RAM (LPDDR2). It comes with 4GB (eMMC) of inbuilt storage. The LG Watch Urbane measures 45.5x52.2x10.9mm and will be available in Gold and Silver colours. It is backed by a 410mAh battery. It features Photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor to track heartbeat, a 9-axis (gyro/ accelerometer/ compass), and a barometer. It comes with IP67 certification that makes it dust and water resistant.

The LG Watch Urbane sports a stainless steel body and features a stitched natural leather strap that can be swapped with any standard 22mm band. The smartwatch also features an always-on ambient mode that shows the time on the display at all times in dimmed mode, resulting in potential battery savings.

(Also see: Android Wear Companion App v1.1 Update Brings Revamped UI, New Features)

Commenting on the rollout, Juno Cho, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company said, "The LG Watch Urbane is the third Android Wear device introduced by LG in the past year which demonstrates our commitment to this platform. More importantly, LG Watch Urbane is a perfect example that Android Wear watches can be functional and beautiful and a useful accessory that complements any wardrobe. No one would mistake LG Watch Urbane for a computer on your wrist."