LG’s plans for webOS first focused on televisions, a far cry from its mobile roots. In October, LG’s own developer website briefly revealed that it was looking to build a smartwatch powered by webOS. The web pages were quickly pulled down and little else was heard about such a device until today. The Wall Street Journal has learned that LG is planning to launch a webOS smartwatch in early 2016.
“A person familiar with the plans” explained that “We’re going to slowly try to build an (software) ecosystem around areas we can have more control over” but did not reveal any specifics about the webOS smartwatch itself.
The same source revealed that LG also plans to launch a smartwatch with its own cellular connectivity, allowing to make calls without the need to be connected to a smartphone. A similar rumour surfaced last month, suggesting that LG would unveil the 4G LTE-enabled LG G Watch R2 as early as MWC 2015 in early March. Samsung already offers such a device in the form of the Samsung Gear S, albeit with 3G connectivity.
It remains to be seen how wide LG’s webOS ambitions are but early signs suggest that they could be wider than initially thought. If LG releases a webOS smartwatch, could it eventually release a webOS-powered smartphone as well?
Source : The Wall Street Journal