LG trademarked four new smartwatch names and a mobile payment system (probably designed for smartwatch payments on the wrist) last November. We knew then that LG's attempts to bring new smartwatches to the market was more than just a paper race to trademark names the company would never use. And, today, we've been provided with some documentation that gives insight into these four new smartwatches and what we can expect from them - though not much.
The leak is provided by The Leaker, a tech leakster who notes that LG smartwatches bearing model numbers W270, W280, and W281 have now passed through the FCC. The W280 and W281 models have LTE capabilities, so we can presume that these smartwatches refer to the LG Watch Urbane LTE model - implying that these are the LG Watch Urbane LTE Third Edition smartwatches. These may refer to the Watch Sole trademark name and LG could very well change the series name. This is mere speculation at this point, however. Carrier model numbers are LG-W280A and LG-W280V, probably referring to AT&T and Verizon-locked smartwatches.
The FCC document shared by The Leaker shows that the W280 models will have wireless charging capabilities, meaning that the days of charging cradles are coming to an end. We do not know if the W270 model(s) will feature wireless charging, so LG may be placing smartwatches at different price points. LG is entering into wireless charging alongside of Motorola, who already blazed this trail in Android Wear with its first-gen. Moto 360, and Samsung, who's already implemented wireless charging into its Gear S2 Sport and Classic models and Gear S3 Frontier and Classic models this year. LG is said to be bringing wireless charging to the LG G6, with the company sealing up its smartphone battery for the first time in controversial fashion to enable built-in wireless charging. Samsung has already implemented wireless charging into its Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, and the now-deceased Galaxy Note 7. Surely, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, due for arrival this April, will feature the same.
This is all we know about LG's upcoming smartwatches, and we don't know which smartwatches with which model numbers will be labeled "Watch Force" and "Watch Pro," though I imagine the Watch Force and Watch Pro smartwatches will have wireless charging capabilities (the Watch Force will likely feature strong water resistance of some kind, perhaps, IP67 or IP68). The Watch Sole will likely have the LTE data capabilities. We'll need more evidence to make more assessments.
As for the mobile payments, we don't see anything yet alluding to it in the FCC documents, though LG may be waiting for just the right time to let the mobile payment system leak (if there is one). We've heard that LG would bring magnetic secure transmission (MST) to the LG G6, a payment technology Samsung has already implemented into its Samsung Pay system and into its Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, among others, so it wouldn't be surprising to see LG bring this to its upcoming smartwatches.
With LG bringing these smartwatches through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this early, it appears as though the Korean OEM intends to unveil them just in time for the arrival of Android Wear 2.0 (which, according to a Google developer email, should land early next month). Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 is next month as well, and with it being one of the most well-known international tech conferences, LG could decide to announce these at MWC 2017 in a matter of weeks.
