We’ve got our first personal encounter with the G Watch, seeing this first generation Android Wear device in action. Now LG is spilling all the beans on the smartwatch, including the details that everyone has been waiting for: availability and price.
The LG G Watch is no doubt a fancy block of mobile computing technology. Sporting a 1.65-inch screen, slightly larger than the Samsung Gear Live, but with a resolution of 280×280 only. That said, the displayed performed well enough for its purpose, not as a smartphone display but as a one-off notification center. Of course, LG does have an interesting feature in that area, with an always-on display that will let you see the time immediately, without having to do some wrist-flicking or screen-tapping.
In all other features and hardware, the G Watch seems to be on the level of other smartwatches, which is probably the baseline for Google’s Android Wear. That means a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage. The usual motion sensors are there too, without a heart rate monitor, but LG isn’t closing the door on the possibility of future models sporting one. Of course, the star of this device isn’t exactly the hardware, though the form factor definitely factors into it, but Android Wear. The little vignette below shows how Google’s wearable platform can help make your life a little less unpredictable, hectic, and embarrassing.
Now for the good, or bad, part. LG is opening up pre-orders for the G Watch starting today and you can put in your ticket via Google Play Store. However, the device will initially be available only in 12 countries, which are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, the UK, and the US. Later on, it will also make its way to Brazil, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, and Russia. The G Watch will cost you $229, for either a Black Titan or White Gold model.
