WSJ: LG Making Google Smartwatch

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LG mobile chief Park Jong-seok confirms ahead of Mobile World Congress 2014 the company is working on a smartwatch, but fails to give further details regarding operating system or specifications.

LG LifebandHowever the Wall Street Journal reports the device actually is a a teamup with Google, making it run on Android-- and the wearable equivalent of the LG-made/Google-branded Nexus smartphones lineup. According to the WSJ the device has been in development since at least October 2013, and will be integrated with the Google Now voice and search assistant service.

CNET corraborates the news story and adds the device will debut on June 2014 at the Google I/O developer conference.

The reasons for LG's wanting to enter the wearables arena are obvious-- with a mobile unit hit by Q4 2013 losses the company is, as the WSJ puts it, "in desperate need of a profit generator." Since analysts predict 2014 smartwatch shipments reaching 5 million units (according to Canalys), wearables are poised as the next big CE thing,.. and the market is rapidly becoming crowded as a result.

CES 2014 saw a whole slew of wearable launches, while MWC has the launch of the two Gear smartwatches by Samsung.

LG also aims to making smartphones suiting all pockets, from $750 luxury models to $70-80 devices. “We want to achieve [mobile shipment] growth that will be twice the pace of the market," Park tells reporters before pointing out analyst estimates of 2014 mobile growth reaching 10-15%.

Go LG to Take on Competition With New, Premium Gadgets (WSJ.com)

Go Google, LG Working on Smartwatch (CNET)