LG Could Launch a webOS Smartwatch Ditching Android Wear

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The South Korean tech giant LG has already invested heavily in the Android Wear ecosystem with couple of smartwatches including the G Watch and G Watch R respectively. But, the vendor has not dared to explore an alternative that has been done by Samsung with the Tizen OS based Gear S smartwatch.

If the recent developer website listing has to be believed, LG is trying to announce a webOS based smartwatch. The LG hosted website is down since the listing was reported by The Verge and the details regarding the smartwatch are scarce. Furthermore, the report adds on that LG declined to comment on when the webOS based wearable device will be launched officially. A company representative is quoted stating, “There are many initiatives going on at LG at any given moment. The majority of them never see the light of day.”

The webOS platform is the successor to PalmOS and is considered one of greatest mobile operating systems launched so far. Back in 2010, HP got hold of this platform and webOS powered the tech giant’s lineup of mobile devices such as TouchPad that short lived in the market. From HP, LG acquired this platform in order to incorporate the same in its smart TVs. However, there is nothing that is literally preventing the South Korean tech firm from implementing the webOS for its other devices such as smartphones and wearables.

The first modern smartwatches based Android Wear platform launched the LG are the G Watch and G Watch R with the latter expected to go on sale in mid-October. Similar to Samsung, LG also appears to be trying to diversify its products and trim down its dependence on Google’s operating systems.

The South Korean company could turn the webOS platform into a possible alternative to Android operating system. Especially, when it comes to less developed categories such as smartwatches and smart TVs, LG can use this platform. However, LG will have to create a competitive ecosystem and that is the biggest challenge for any new operating system that launches in the market.