LG announces Watch Urbane, an Android Wear smartwatch with a round display and metal body
LG reveals LG Watch Urbane, an Android Wear watch with looks to battle Apple — LG Watch Urbane: ready for your fancy suit. — LG's latest smartwatch has gone for a fancy look, but still runs Android Wear.
Context & Ripple Effects
LG's Watch Urbane announcement is a direct style-first counter to the Apple Watch launch window: where earlier Android Wear devices leaned on gadget aesthetics, the Urbane pairs a round display with a metal body aimed at formal wear. The related coverage shows LG hedging its bets almost immediately — ten days later it unveiled a 'luxury' Watch Urbane LTE variant that runs WebOS instead of Android Wear, splitting one product name across two operating systems.
First-order effects
- LG positions itself as Apple's most direct smartwatch rival on design, with the US launch at $349 undercutting Apple's entry stainless-steel pricing while matching its premium metal framing.
Second-order effects
- Google's platform responds to Apple's closed ecosystem: by August Google ships an Android Wear app for iPhone 5 and later, with the Urbane named as a supported device — letting Android Wear watches chase Apple's own installed base.
- Review feedback ([[a:829036|more than a day of battery even with the always-on screen, but no ambient light sensor and a $349 'gaudy' verdict]]) forces the fashion-over-function trade-off into the open for buyers comparing against Apple.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, watch OSes fragment by tier — Android Wear for mainstream, WebOS for luxury — before converging again when LG makes the Urbane LTE the first Android Wear device with cellular capability, pushing smartwatches toward phone independence.
The trend: Smartwatch competition in 2015 is consolidating into a two-horse design-and-platform race between Apple's vertically integrated watch and Android Wear licensees like LG, with cellular connectivity as the next differentiator.