SICK New Luxury Android Wear Watch From LG

[DroidModderX]

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The "Urbane Watch" is a new all metal Luxury watch coming from LG. The watch runs Android Wear. Specs include a 1.3" full circle P-OLED display, 1.2GHZ snapdragon 400 processor, 4GB of storage, 410 mah battery, and IP67 dust and water resistance. The watch does have the same display as the LG G watch R but has a much sleeker design with a much smaller bezel. This watch features the most stunning watch face that I have seen on any Android Wear device. It also includes a heart rate sensor. It is only 10.9mm thick. LG has not announced availability or pricing, but this should be unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Spain next week.

 

[FoxKat]

Nice looking and higher resolution than the Moto360, but MUCH smaller screen (1.3" versus 1.8"). Not much you can do with a screen that small, other than display time in a watch face and some notifications.

It would be nearly impossible to type on a keyboard on that thing, and even some of the functionality that we're already getting used to with smart watches would be severely limited on this one.

The bezel (or watch casing), is MUCH larger than the 360. I could have seen this with a smaller casing and still be as slick but with a larger screen.

These pics make it look huge with a tiny screen.

 

[SquireSCA]

I really wanted to get excited by Android powered watches. I imagined how cool they would be and I almost bought one.

I am glad that I held off, because to be honest, I don't see this fad catching on,

There are some nice designs out there, but what works for a nice watch, I think will limit what it can do as a smart device.

The screens are just too small and limiting for anything useful. And if you make the screen large enough to be useful, then it will be too big for a watch...

 

[jstafford1]

I really wanted to get excited by Android powered watches. I imagined how cool they would be and I almost bought one.

I am glad that I held off, because to be honest, I don't see this fad catching on,

There are some nice designs out there, but what works for a nice watch, I think will limit what it can do as a smart device.

The screens are just too small and limiting for anything useful. And if you make the screen large enough to be useful, then it will be too big for a watch...

To be honest I thought alot like this until actually using one. Mine had proven far more useful than I initially thought and with updates and generational improvements I see things only getting better.

The smartwatch will not be a fad. The functionality isn't there for everyone yet but it will grow exponentially I assure you.

 

[SILVER COUPE]

maybe if they had a way to have two screens that open like a book and make the screen larger and easier to type on it would increase the functionality. in any event its a really nice looking watch.

 

[mountainbikermark]

I really wanted to get excited by Android powered watches. I imagined how cool they would be and I almost bought one.

I am glad that I held off, because to be honest, I don't see this fad catching on,

There are some nice designs out there, but what works for a nice watch, I think will limit what it can do as a smart device.

The screens are just too small and limiting for anything useful. And if you make the screen large enough to be useful, then it will be too big for a watch...

maybe if they had a way to have two screens that open like a book and make the screen larger and easier to type on it would increase the functionality. in any event its a really nice looking watch.

They are more useful when using voice features. Voice dialing, voice text, voice reply, etc so you get the full screen experience, tiny as that is, without losing most of it to a keyboard that is hard to use at best. Even back in the 60/70s when Dick Tracy, the Flinstones, Jetsons and others were using watches to do much more than tell time they didn't use keyboards the way we've come to utilize them. They skipped the whole desktop/laptop/tablet/smartphone experience and took it straight to smartwatches, though it was considered fantasy at the time.
Will they become as main stream as the microwave oven and personal computer? Only time and the development community can answer that.

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[Jonny Kansas]

I think @mountainbikermark hit the nail on the head perfectly. If you're not the type to use Google Now for quick searches and/or reply to texts via voice-to-text, a smartwatch will likely never be the device for you. I've only really done the latter since getting the G Watch.

I think there's a fine line between form and function with these devices, just as others here have stated. You want the screen big enough that you can easily read it, but not so big that it looks like you have a phone strapped to your arm. Just as Mark said, I believe you want that full screen experience, without a tiny, almost unusable keyboard.

Even the calculator app I have on my G Watch has tiny buttons. A full qwerty keyboard will either be so small that you can't easily hit the letter you're looking for, or will take up the entire screen, plus have to be scrolled as it is in Wear Internet Browser.

Are smartwatches ready for mainstream? Or, maybe the bigger question is, is the mainstream ready for smartwatches?

Having been an early adopter of smartphones, I've lost count of the number of people I know who swore up and down that they had no need for a smartphone and would never get one who now have and love having one. It may not be for everybody at this point, and probably never will be, but I think it'll be adopted more and more, as long as manufacturers do their part to put them in attractive packaging.

I think this effort by LG looks really sharp, but it feels to me like exactly what it is, a LATE first gen device. I don't think the G watch R has competed with the Moto 360 in the way they had hoped it would. I, for one, love the R's fully round screen, but hate the numbers and tick marks permanently on the bezel. That's what faces are for. However, the R, to me, appeals to people who prefer a more sporty watch, while this new offering, (again) to me, appeals to a more "sophisticated," dressy crowd. Smart move on LG's part, if you ask me.

I am concerned about the screen size though. As stated previously by myself and others, too small makes it not worth the effort to use and too big makes it look ridiculous. I see this with many faces I download to the G watch that were meant for a round device. Squeezing the entire circle into the square of the g watch's screen leaves smaller fonts and dials unreadable for sure.

IMO, no one has gotten the formula 100% right so far, and the software is still in it's infancy. We're looking at the equivalent of the G1 as far as phones go. Maybe that's where folks like myself have a leg up on others whose first android phone was a member of the Droid family. I remember exactly what android was like when it first came out. This is a better, more polished start than android had in its beginnings and it's still young.

 

[mountainbikermark]

I think @mountainbikermark hit the nail on the head perfectly. If you're not the type to use Google Now for quick searches and/or reply to texts via voice-to-text, a smartwatch will likely never be the device for you. I've only really done the latter since getting the G Watch.

I think there's a fine line between form and function with these devices, just as others here have stated. You want the screen big enough that you can easily read it, but not so big that it looks like you have a phone strapped to your arm. Just as Mark said, I believe you want that full screen experience, without a tiny, almost unusable keyboard.

Even the calculator app I have on my G Watch has tiny buttons. A full qwerty keyboard will either be so small that you can't easily hit the letter you're looking for, or will take up the entire screen, plus have to be scrolled as it is in Wear Internet Browser.

Are smartwatches ready for mainstream? Or, maybe the bigger question is, is the mainstream ready for smartwatches?

Having been an early adopter of smartphones, I've lost count of the number of people I know who swore up and down that they had no need for a smartphone and would never get one who now have and love having one. It may not be for everybody at this point, and probably never will be, but I think it'll be adopted more and more, as long as manufacturers do their part to put them in attractive packaging.

I think this effort by LG looks really sharp, but it feels to me like exactly what it is, a LATE first gen device. I don't think the G watch R has competed with the Moto 360 in the way they had hoped it would. I, for one, love the R's fully round screen, but hate the numbers and tick marks permanently on the bezel. That's what faces are for. However, the R, to me, appeals to people who prefer a more sporty watch, while this new offering, (again) to me, appeals to a more "sophisticated," dressy crowd. Smart move on LG's part, if you ask me.

I am concerned about the screen size though. As stated previously by myself and others, too small makes it not worth the effort to use and too big makes it look ridiculous. I see this with many faces I download to the G watch that were meant for a round device. Squeezing the entire circle into the square of the g watch's screen leaves smaller fonts and dials unreadable for sure.

IMO, no one has gotten the formula 100% right so far, and the software is still in it's infancy. We're looking at the equivalent of the G1 as far as phones go. Maybe that's where folks like myself have a leg up on others whose first android phone was a member of the Droid family. I remember exactly what android was like when it first came out. This is a better, more polished start than android had in its beginnings and it's still young.

Samsung , not surprisingly, uses S Voice to go with their Touch Wiz experience and I'll be willing to wager once HTC puts their own out (rumor says it'll have it's own os not AW or SW) rendition it'll have it's own vocal recognition, possibly (pure speculation and guessing on my part) tying in with Dragon Dictation or other available speech recognition.
I'm not sure if the G and others have Bluetooth voice protocol or not but on my Gear S I don't have to argue with my watch, looking like I forgot my meds to the passer by who makes a beeline across the road to avoid me, but instead speak into my Whisper (or other) as I attempt to get the watch's voice recognition to call my wife on my phone. As long as I speak normally and hide my southern drawl it does a marvelous job no matter the task I ask it to perform. The Whisper being class 1 BT (100+ meter range), I can call my wife from my phone using my watch while I'm outside and my phone is inside or both on opposite ends of the house, either using the dialer or vocally tell the watch to make the call..

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[LoneWolfArcher]

Very nice looking. I would chuck my 360 for this IF they came out with a black version.

 

[LoneWolfArcher]

To be honest I thought alot like this until actually using one. Mine had proven far more useful than I initially thought and with updates and generational improvements I see things only getting better.

The smartwatch will not be a fad. The functionality isn't there for everyone yet but it will grow exponentially I assure you.

This. Anyone suggesting that these are unusable before actually using one is like the people that said HD TV was unnecessary until they saw HD TV! Are they for everyone? No. Are they mean to replace a smartphone? No. Are they an excellent compliment with some very nice feature? ABSOLUTELY. And, in fact, if you are already a watch wearer (which I was) why wouldn't you want a smart watch? Especially as they get nicer and nicer looking.I get compliment on my 360 all the time.

 

[mountainbikermark]

This. Anyone suggesting that these are unusable before actually using one is like the people that said HD TV was unnecessary until they saw HD TV! Are they for everyone? No. Are they mean to replace a smartphone? No. Are they an excellent compliment with some very nice feature? ABSOLUTELY. And, in fact, if you are already a watch wearer (which I was) why wouldn't you want a smart watch? Especially as they get nicer and nicer looking.I get compliment on my 360 all the time.

I was NOT a watch wearer until getting a smartwatch. My first was for the fitness functions but after using the other features I wanted more, ended up going full blown with it's own phone number, SIM card and ability to leave my phone at home. Will it replace my phone/tablet/desktop? No but it sure is fun to use.
Btw, I have an hdtv and its "meh" to me. Ugly folks are just uglier, imperfections in content just show up more and I miss my old 4x3 ratio when watching a football game.hdtv is here to stay whether I'm a fan or not.

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[Jonny Kansas]

Before getting the G Watch, I only wore a watch at work, a leftover from my days as a CNA, when I needed it to check vital signs and from my time as transport driver, when I had a schedule to keep.

I rarely, if ever, wore a watch outside of work prior to getting my smartwatch. Now, I strap it on before I'm fully out of bed in the morning and almost always don't take it off until I'm ready to lay down again for the night.

 

[WildcatRudy]

They'll always be a niche market, but I don't think they'll take the world by storm, nor will they be a short-lived fad like many are saying. My LG G Watch finally got me back into wearing one. I would have preferred the G Watch R, but the Black Friday deal made the G Watch choice for me all on its own.

What I like most about mine is the ability to see and filter through incoming messages as they arrive or, at a glance if I have a spare minute. I also never miss texts or calls since they now vibrate on my wrist. In my last three phones, I have missed their vibrations more often than not, especially if wearing layers (even more so in this cold snap we're having). The voice features are handy but I have not yet had much of an opportunity to use them.

The better watch apps have yet to be written. I've found a couple which I like, but I still find the Google Now updates to be more helpful than most apps I've tried. As more standard apps become more watch-aware, it will get more useful for us.

Plus, I'm exercising my brain cells by creating faces for it...

 

[mountainbikermark]

They'll always be a niche market, but I don't think they'll take the world by storm, nor will they be a short-lived fad like many are saying. My LG G Watch finally got me back into wearing one. I would have preferred the G Watch R, but the Black Friday deal made the G Watch choice for me all on its own.

What I like most about mine is the ability to see and filter through incoming messages as they arrive or, at a glance if I have a spare minute. I also never miss texts or calls since they now vibrate on my wrist. In my last three phones, I have missed their vibrations more often than not, especially if wearing layers (even more so in this cold snap we're having). The voice features are handy but I have not yet had much of an opportunity to use them.

The better watch apps have yet to be written. I've found a couple which I like, but I still find the Google Now updates to be more helpful than most apps I've tried. As more standard apps become more watch-aware, it will get more useful for us.

Plus, I'm exercising my brain cells by creating faces for it...

My Fit, the favorite non fitness thing is controlling the music player. It's really nice to put my phone down near the Bluetooth speaker and control Power Amp from afar while busy. So far the neatest thing I've done on my S is surf this forum using Opera Mini. I'm not sure I'd want to attempt that on the watch this thread is about, especially replying to a post. That'd take it back to other abilities that would be my favorite such as vocal searches and phone calls.

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[PereDroid]

No one wants to type on a watch. No one. That's what I have a phone for.

I was a watch wearer for a long time, stopped many years ago. Used to think "what would I need a smartwatch for? I have a phone!". Now I know. Not for everyone, but sincerely has improved my "mobile world".