New Watch Urbane model offers LTE, NFC, but no Android Wear

LG just took the wraps off a new version of the Watch Urbane (itself a version of the G Watch R), but this time changes are more than skin deep. The new Watch Urbane LTE runs LG’s “all new Wearable Platform” OS instead of Android Wear, and offers voice calling, thanks to the integration of LTE.

Watch Urbane LTE looks similar to the “regular” Watch Urbane, with the biggest difference being the presence of three buttons on the side, instead of one, like on the Android Wear model. The top button offers quick access to settings, the middle button switches between the watchface and the app launcher, while the bottom one acts like a back button. Long pressing this last button can be set to trigger a call to a certain number and to send out the wearer’s location coordinates. This safety beacon feature is similar to the one on the kids-focused LG Kizon.

Thanks to cellular connectivity, you can use the Watch Urbane LTE to make phone calls and the device even works in walkie-talkie mode, where Push-To-Talk services are available. Another cool feature of the device is NFC – LG says you will be able to pay for things like movie tickets or transit fares by waving your wrist against an NFC reader, though details are lacking for now.

To accommodate the power-thirsty LTE function, LG packed a 700-mAh battery on the new Urbane, which is significantly larger than the 410-mAh unit on other models. No details were offered, but the Watch Urbane LTE should be good for “long talk and use times and can go for days in standby mode.”

Other than the larger battery, the Watch Urbane LTE features the same specs as the Watch Urbane and G Watch R.

• Chipset: 1.2GHz Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 400
• Operating System: LG Wearable Platform
• Display: 1.3-inch P-OLED (320 x 320 / 245ppi)
• Network: LTE
• Memory: 4GB eMMC / 1GB LPDDR3
• Battery: 700mAh
• Sensors: 9 Axis / Barometer / PPG / GPS
• Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b, g, n / Bluetooth 4.0LE / NFC
• Color: Silver
• Other: Dust and Water Resistant (IP67) / Speaker / Microphone

LG is very vague about it, but the Wearable Platform OS powering the Urbane LTE seems to be a version of webOS. In fact, the smartwatch seems very similar to the mystery LG webOS smartwatch that an Audi representative showed to the press at CES. We look forward to see this new incarnation of webOS in action, probably at MWC.

No info yet on price and availability, but we should learn more next week.