14 DAY TRIAL // Word on the street has it that after just two months since LG launched its first Android Wear smartwatch, the G Watch, the company is ready to roll out another iteration.
A report coming from sources familiar with the matter revealed that the watch would show its face at IFA 2014, but we weren’t told any specifics about the product. Now, a week before the event starts in Berlin, the folks at Engadget received a video teaser detailing the new product.
And surprise-surprise – the watch is going to be round. Next month, the highly hyped Moto 360 is expected to finally be making it into retail and the completion is quite skittish of this debut.
Rectangular smartwatches have dominated the market so far, but customers don’t seem to be taken too much with the design. They prefer the traditional watch scenario and this is why the Moto 360 has been hailed so much.
So, in an effort of not being left out in the cold when the Moto 360 arrives, LG has moved mountains in order to be ready to offer a round smartwatch in September, as well. Talk about the shrinking of the product refresh cycle.
By the way, the watch is going to be called the LG G Watch R (quite obvious nomenclature), but that’s pretty much what we have so far.
There are no specifications available, still we can do our best and speculate that the watch will come equipped with the standard 512MB of RAM, dual-core processor, water/dust resistance, Bluetooth 4.0 and maybe an OLED display.
As for smartwatch specific characteristics, it’s quite likely the G Watch R will come bundled with a compass, distance meter and digital step counter.
It would be interesting to see if LG decides to make this model more premium than the first model, which was made of plastic. It could be that the company will follow in the footsteps of Motorola and HP that are trying to appeal to the more stylish consumer base with their products.
We’re still in the dark related to one aspect. Earlier this month it was argued the second LG watch will come equipped with phone calling capabilities; therefore, users will be able to take advantage of it as a standalone device. However, the latest leaks covering the topic mention nothing about this aspect.
Samsung, too, is rumored to be prepping the Gear 3 and we shouldn’t be surprised if the watch turns out to be round, as we have seen the tech giant fill a bunch of patents for products like that. In just a few days, we’ll know the facts for sure.
