LG Shows Off WebOS Smartwatch at CES

LG's next-gen smartwatch will ditch Google's Android Wear for webOS, according to various reports.

As noted by The Wall Street Journal, a new LG smartwatch lineup will launch early next year. "We're going to slowly try to build [a software] ecosystem around areas we can have more control over," an anonymous LG source told the Journal during this week's CES in Las Vegas.

LG has control over webOS because it owns the mobile OS, having purchased it from HP in 2013.

Android Central and The Verge got their hands on the webOS-based LG smartwatch at CES, where LG showed the device connected to an Audi vehicle.

LG did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But at CES, the company has already launched webOS 2.0 TVs. The first-gen webOS TV sets arrived last year, sales of which were at 1 million two months after their introduction and 5 million by December.

Still, some remain skeptical about bringing webOS to mobile devices; the Journal quoted a person familiar with LG's plans as saying Android would remain its major mobile platform in the near future.

"It isn't a technology issue," they told the paper. "There is a prevailing system and people are used to that, which is hard to change."

LG entered the smartwatch ring in June with its $229 G Watch, before unveiling the rounded G Watch R in August. Both run Google's Android Wear mobile OS and tap into the applications available in the Google Play store. Check Out the Best Photos From CES 2015!

The world got its first look at Android Wear in March, when Google teased its wearable OS, which allows users to simply say "OK Google" to ask a question, make a reminder, or complete an activity—all from their wrist.

It also comes with the ability to monitor health and fitness and control music on your synced phone or cast a movie to your TV via Chromecast. An October update means folks can now ditch their smartphone while on a run or bike ride, or for listening to music via Bluetooth headphones.

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