LG announce the LG G Watch retail availability

LG has today announced the official Australian retail availability of their Android Wear device the G Watch. While it went on-sale directly after Google I/O last month, some consumers have been wanting to get their literal hands on the watch before purchasing, and now is your chance.

LG advised that the watch will be available in White and Gold or Titan Black for $259 from Harvey Norman and Telstra, the watch will also be available from selected retailers who are yet to be named. The pricing is about on par with the Google Play store, which sells the watch for $249, with a $19.95 shipping charge, so this is a little bit cheaper to get the LG G Watch on your wrist.

Lambro Skropidis, General Manager Marketing at LG Electronics Australia, said of the G Watch :

As one of the first Android Wear devices to market, we see this as the beginning of a long-term commitment to making wearables an integrated part of the everyday lives of consumers. We’re confident that once consumers see how useful and compelling the new G Watch can be, it will become a useful and fun addition to their daily lives.

Hardware wise the G Watch is a decent little machine with a 1.65″ IPS Display and powered by a Snapdragon 400 processor (the same as what’s powering their G Pad 10.1 tablet). Full Specs for the G Watch include :

• Display: 1.65-inch LCD IPS (280X280)
• OS: Android Wear™ (compatible with smartphones running Android 4.3 and above)
• Compatibility: Smartphones running Android 4.3 and above
• Chipset: 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor
• Total Memory: 4GB eMMC/512MB
• Internal Storage: 4GB
• Bluetooth: 4.0
• Sensor: 9-Axis (Gyro / Accelerometer / Compass)
• Water & Dust Resistance: IP67**
• Battery: Li-Polymer 400mAh
• Strap size: 22mm (Interchangeable with other 22mm straps made of leather, fabric, or
  metal)
• Colours: White Gold and Black Titan
• Dimensions: 37.9 X 46.5 X 9.95mm
• Weight: 63g

We’ve had our hands on the G Watch for a couple of weeks now, and a full review is in the works. You can read our first impressions of the G Watch, as well as our impressions of Android Wear in Jason‘s write-up here.

Update: All three carriers will be selling the LG G Watch in their stores at the $259 price-point. In addition, Telstra will be offering the watch on a month by month payment plan, at $10 per month with a $19 upfront fee. Optus may look at this down the track but at this stage will be offering it for outright purchase only.