New LG smartwatch rocks an LTE radio and autonomous mobile payments

LG just couldn’t wait to get to Mobile World Congress to break the news that it’s coming out with a new smartwatch that can connect to LTE networks and do mobile payments without the need of a smartphone. The new watch, LG says, is the first in the world to show up with an LTE radio.

The watch is called the Watch Urbane LTE, an upgraded version of the recently launched Watch Urbane. The Urbane is a handsome devil, with polished metal surfaces and a soft leather strap.

The Urbane LTE watch can do Voice over LTE (VoLTE) calls, and has a one-touch emergency call feature, LG says. The LTE connection allows for synchronous (real-time) communication between two watch wearers, say, in a chat room. The watch can also communicate walkie-talkie style with a smartphone.

The NFC chip in the watch allows it to do mobile payments without the need of a paired smartphone, LG says. The company didn’t give any details about the mobile payment system it’s talking about, or when it would become available.

As for the battery, LG has outfitted the Watch Urbane LTE with a 700 mAh battery that it says has a 1.7X lifespan compared to the Urbane’s 410 mAh battery.

We will have a hands-on of the Urbane LTE at Mobile World Congress in Spain next week.