LG, Samsung Launch Android Wear Smartwatches

The Samsung Gear Live and LG G Android Wear smartwatches are now on sale and available to consumers as of July 7, giving prospective users new ways to access the information they use in their daily lives.

Both devices are now available through Google Play, with the black Samsung Gear Live retailing for $199 and the LG G smartwatch priced at $229 in black or white, according to their respective Google Play listings.

Both smartwatches were announced at June’s Google I/O 2014 developer conference, where they were a big part of Google’s Android Wear initiative—the company’s operating system for wearable devices—which was unveiled earlier this year.

The LG G smartwatch includes an always-on display, a 400mAh battery that is claimed to last all day, 4GB of internal memory and a 1.2GHz CPU, according to LG. It comes with a charging cradle, a travel adapter, a data USB cable and a quick start user guide. The watch connects wirelessly and works with many smartphones that are running Android 4.3 or higher, according to LG.

The Samsung Gear Live watch also includes an always-on Super AMOLED display, as well as a built-in heart rate monitor, water and dust resistance, Bluetooth 4.0 LE (low energy) and changeable bands, according to Samsung. So far, the Gear Live is compatible with the following Samsung smartphones and tablets: Galaxy S5, Galaxy Grand 2, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 3 Neo, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4 Zoom, Galaxy S4 Active, Galaxy S4 mini, Galaxy Mega 6.3, Galaxy Mega 5.8, Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition), Galaxy NotePRO (12.2) and the Galaxy TabPRO (12.2/10.1/8.4).

Google’s Android Wear software works with Google Now and both the LG G and the Samsung Gear Live watches to run a variety of Android apps that can provide users with a wealth of real-time information about appointments, flights, weather forecasts, road conditions, directions, sports scores and much more.

Users must install an Android Wear app on the smartphone or tablet and then use it with their smartwatch to gain the features.

The LG G watch is also available through AT&T locations starting July 11, with preorders available starting July 8, according to AT&T.