LG is finally planning to launch its WebOS smartwatch early next year, according to a new report.
The WSJ reckons LG is gearing up to drop a smartwatch running its custom-built OS in 2016.
The site put its info down to ‘a person familiar with the plans’ – that old chestnut – and said LG wanted to challenge Google’s dominance of the smartwatch software market.
“We’re going to slowly try to build an (software) ecosystem around areas we can have more control over,” said the source, speaking at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show over in Las Vegas.
LG is no stranger to the smartwatch market; the South Korean firm has already produced two wrist-borne offerings – the G Watch and the G Watch R.
The point to note however, is that both wearables run off Android, as do many of the current contenders for smartwatch glory.
Related: CES 2015: What’s happened at the Las Vegas tech expo so far?
WebOS is a Linux-based operating system, originally developed by Palm but sold to Hewlett-Packard, and then once more onto LG.
Interestingly, LG also announced WebOS 2.0 for its TVs at this year’s CES, although it’s not yet clear which WebOS version the smartwatch will be based off.
We’ll keep you posted as we find out more.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
