If you were waiting for the LG Optimus G to be revealed with not just what was rumored, but features not yet heard of on the tech circuit, you’re in luck! Today is the day that the LG Optimus G is appearing with 4G LTE connectivity, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor at 1.5GHz, and a brand new set of user interface features as well. This device also brings on a lovely new physical back made with Crystal Reflection, this bringing on a luxurious look and feel and displaying different patterns depending on your viewing angle and lighting.
This brand new smartphone works with a 4.7-inch WXGA True HD IPS+ display at 1280 x 768 pixel resolution with a 15:9 aspect ratio. Inside you’ll find 2GB DDR RAM, internal memory at 32GB, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running the whole beast. The back of this device has a 13 megapixel camera on its back and a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front, and inside you’ve also got Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, USB2.0 HS, A-GPS, MHL, DLNA, and NFC wireless connectivity abilities.
This device works with a 2,100 mAh battery and is 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.45mm in size, 145g in weight. The display works with Zerogap Touch and True HD IPS+ Display from LG Innotek and LG Display, this bringing on a picture that’s right up there as close to the surface of the glass as you’ve ever seen it. On the back is a unique panel made with LG’s own patented Crystal Reflection process, this bringing on an intricate polarized pattern under its surface. With this physical build you’ve got a three-dimensional illusion that is, as LG notes, “exquisitely reminiscent of a jewel.”
Inside you’ve got a collection of features that also recently appears on the LG Intuition (see our full review here) in both the camera and the user interface. You’ve got Time Catch Shot allowing you to choose whichever shot you like best out of a series, Cheese Shutter activated by you saying the word “cheese” out loud, Smart Shutter with automatic adjustment of shutter speed based on movement, and Low Light Shot Noise Reduction as well. And of course the camera on the back of this device is massive at 13 megapixels – we’ll see how fabulous it is when we get our hands on it soon!
This device will also be working with Cross-Tasking, a new term from LG that covers all the different ways in which the LG Optimus G will be able to work with multiple complex tasks at once with no compromise on one another’s ability to work at top quality. This environment currently supports the following abilities:
· QSlide Function shows two different screens simultaneously on one display. As it doesn’t show a part of the screen but the entire screen of both functions, the user can complete two tasks concurrently – such as sending a text message or searching the web while watching a video;
· Live Zooming enhances the video-watching experience as users can zoom in up to five times while the video is being streamed for a close-up of one’s child while watching a recorded video from a school recital;
· Dual Screen Dual Play not only allows mirroring between the smartphone and a TV, it also has the ability to display different content on each screen wirelessly. For example, a slide presentation can be displayed on the TV while the Optimus G shows the accompanying speaking notes;
· QuickMemo allows users to write, draw, or jot a memo with their finger directly on the captured screen for sharing instantly with others as an attachment or a URL. The QuickMemo can also be used as an overlay feature – like jotting down a number using the QuickMemo and directly dialing the number while the number is on the top layer;
· Screen Zooming allows for the zooming in and out of lists in music player, email, text messages and photo gallery. It also offers the ability to change the font size and screen layout;
· Application Link launches preset applications (Email, calendar, weather, etc) when the alarm is turned off – making your preparation time in the morning go a little faster with all the information prepared on your screen;
· Icon Personalizer allows users the ability to customize icons by editing size and adding images so the most frequently used apps can be most easily accessible.
As Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG notes, “The Optimus G is a groundbreaking premium device not only in the history of LG but also in the smartphone industry – With the Optimus G, users will be able to experience unsurpassed UX features that will allow them to perform tasks that really enhance their daily lives.”
This device will be appearing in stores soon – starting in Korea next week with an October release in “key global markets” – the USA we hope! Stick around our LG tag portal for more as the Optimus G gets closer and closer!
It’s official! Today in Seoul LG is announcing its latest flagship smartphone, the Optimus G. The 8.45mm (0.33-inch) thin handset — which has been rumored for weeks — packs Qualcomm’s Fusion 3 chipset which pairs a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC (APQ8064) with a 2G / 3G / LTE radio (MDM9615). It features 2GB of DDR RAM and a 4.7-inch 1280×768 (320ppi) True HD IPS PLUS display with Zerogap Touch (in-cell touch) technology. A sealed 2100mAh Li-polymer battery rated for 800 charge cycles powers this Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) device. The rear camera sports a 13-megapixel backside-illuminated sensor with 1.1µm pixels, an f/2.4 autofocus lens and a single LED flash — along with a more pedestrian 1.3MP shooter in front. There’s 32GB of built-in flash storage, but no microSD card slot. Other specs include WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, NFC and MHL.
Aesthetically, the Optimus G marries LG’s Chocolate and Prada design-languages into a sleek 145g (5.11oz) unibody smartphone. The front is all glass with three capacitive buttons while the back indroduces the company’s Crystal Reflection process which gives the handset “the ability to display different patterns depending on the viewing angle and lighting“. LG’s placing a lot of emphasis on how the user experience benefits from the Optimus G’s quad-core Krait CPU and Adreno 320 GPU — something it calls “cross-tasking”. This includes capabilties like QSlide Function, Live Zooming, Dual Screen Dual Play, QuickMemo, Screen Zooming, Application Link and Icon Personalizer, plus camera funtionality such as Time Catch Shot, Cheese Shutter, Smart Shutter and Low Light Shot Noise Reduction — all of which are detailed for your reading pleasure in the PR after the break.
Update: Unsubsidized pricing will be 999,900 KRW ($895 USD) when the Optimus G ships in Korea next week. That’s pretty steep, even for an unlocked device.
If you’re a fan of the Samsung Galaxy Note or the LG Intuition, 5-inch displays and all, you’ll be happy to see the competition continue to mount up with a new addition to the phablet universe from HTC. The following render and a bit of information leaked on the device lead us to believe that HTC will be taking the tall route – a 5-inch display with a whole lot more height than its got width. This device is ready for your palm, if this render is to be believed, while it still delivers a massive display and the full gamut of HTC One greatness – greatness we know and love.
Inside this device you’ll very likely be seeing a dual-core processor from Qualcomm if not the S4 Pro, a quad-core next-level processor from the Snapdragon masters. This device also looks very much to be sporting red flare like we’ve seen on a large cross-section of Verizon/HTC devices which makes us think that there may be some 4G LTE in this monster’s future. This device has also been called the DLX and the 6435LVW.
This device has three capacitive buttons up front near the bottom, a lovely speaker grill up top, and a center-top-mounted camera at the back that will almost certainly be at least 8 megapixels strong. You’ll likely be working with this device with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or – do we dare hope – Android 4.1 Jelly Bean by the end of this year.
This device may very well be shown off at the September 19th event in NYC that’ll have HTC showing off “what’s next”, whatever that may be. Here in this behemoth we’re inclined to believe that HTC is not aiming to be the last one left out of the phablet party. What say you?
The next-generation LG Optimus G has been shown off once again before its full launch which will almost certainly be taking place extremely soon – here in a video spot from Korea. This video advertisement shows the device being worked with and played with by a set of happy customers and appears to fit rather well in their hands as they make use of its ultra-powerful processor. Inside you’ll find the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor we’ve had a peek at just weeks ago and up front you’ll be jamming with a massive 4.7-inch display.
This device works with 1280 x 768 True HD IPS+ across its 4.7-inch screen and will be popping up with 2GB of RAM under the hood. LG is bringing the fire this time around with a styling not unlike the LG Intuition with its rubbery back and simple black outline but brings with it a smartphone-sized experience. Qualcomm will be holding this device up as a hero as well as it’s the first to be coming to the market with its 1.5GHz quad-core architecture.
This device’s advertisement video spot shows off how the device works with 4G LTE and an ultra-powerful camera, likely 8 megapixels or larger. What we’ve heard thus far on the camera front as a possibility is a 13-megapixel shooter on the back, but we’ll know the full truth only when the device is officially unveiled! For now we’ve only to watch and enjoy the device as a fun experience without specification confirmation.
Check the timeline below to see more information on the LG Optimus G before it pops up in full motion soon and very soon!
Rumors have been doing their rounds on the web that LG is expected to go forth with the launch of a smartphone of its own some time next week. We reported that an NYC event is expected on September 19th. And now, LG has confirmed the date and the event by rolling out official invites.
We have already seen a whole plethora of smartphone launches this month. Nokia came up with the Lumia delights, Motorola had RAZR smartphones up its sleeve, HTC also pooled in with its share whereas Apple unveiled the much-anticipated iPhone 5. But the month’s launches seem far from over. (more…)
If you’re ready for the next generation of Qualcomm processor-packing smartphone action, LG has you covered – a press invite has been sent out teasing us all with the future ability to “live without boundaries.” This event will very likely be showing off the LG Optimus G here in the United States, complete with the Qualcomm quad-core Snapdragon S4 APQ8064. This processor takes the excellence of the dual-core S4 we’ve seen in devices like the HTC One series and the Samsung Galaxy S III (in the USA) and boosts up the power with double the CPU architecture – beastly!
The LG Optimus G is a device that’s been confirmed not only to exist but to be working with the processor mentioned above. This device’s design looks rather similar to the final form of the LG Intuition – a device we’re reviewing right this minute – including a rubbery back and a single speaker grill as well as a corner-sitting camera lens. This device appears rather simple otherwise, save for the in-cell touch technology, of course.
In-cell touch allows the device’s touchscreen technology and the display to be integrated into one unit, allowing the whole device to be much thinner. This smartphone uses a tiny 3mm bezel for near edge-to-edge display action, with the display being a True HD (1280 x 768 pixel resolution) IPS+ LCD. Fabulousness is ready here soon in the USA one way or another, but the device has already been announced else where too – NTT Docomo in Japan and on unnamed carriers in Korea as well.
Check our LG Optimus G timeline below and stay tuned on the 19th of this month for more information on LG’s next generation of smartphone power!
Not quite tired of all the big mobile news to burst out of September’s gates? Well, you can add one more to the list as LG’s just issued an invite for an upcoming smartphone launch. What is the company introducing to go head-to-head against the Lumias, RAZR HDs, iPhone and offerings from HTC and Intel? Well, we can’t say for certain, but with Qualcomm onboard as an official host, our money’s on a stateside version of the Optimus G, the first LTE smartphone packing a quad-core Snapdragon S4 APQ8064. No doubt we’ll be there on the 19th to bring you the news live, so stay tuned.
The DROID RAZR M was revealed at the event where Googler and relatively new CEO of Motorola Dennis Woodside spoke about the “new plan” for the company – a plan that’s starting right here. We got a brief DROID RAZR M hands-on experience at the event and found that it was a surprisingly powerful-feeling device for its status under the DROID RAZR HD devices sitting nearby. With its near-edge-to-edge 4.3-inch display, it’s tried-and-true fabulously powerful dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor under the hood, and a collection of protective elements throughout this device’s chassis that make it, again, an ideal phone for today’s mobile landscape – just as the original DROID RAZR should have been (and still is, for many happy users, to be fair).
Have a peek at some hands-on walkthrough time here with the DROID RAZR M and see if it and the review text (and photos) above and below answer every question you’ve got about the device. If you find yourself still sitting with quandaries at the end of the post, please feel free to post in the comments section. We’ll do our best to expand where necessary!
Hardware
When I traveled from New York City to Minneapolis the day that I was handed the DROID RAZR M, I carried it in my pocket through three airports and dropped it at least 5 times. I’m clumsy. Because of the protective features Motorola was and is being up front about in this device and the other RAZR devices as well, I thought about how awesome it was that the M bounced around and didn’t show a scratch. Of course it’s partially really good advertising, and I can be a sucker for great promotion, but there’s quite a bit of reality in the pitch as well: there are more protective components here than there are fragile bits.
You’ve got Corning Gorilla Glass across the front, one big flat panel. The back of the device is mostly made up of of a panel of DuPont KEVLAR fiber, the rim of the device is either white or black hard plastic, and the frame is made of aircraft-grade aluminum. Inside you’ve also got water-repellent nanocoating, so you’re good in the rain and if you splash a bit of coffee over the top of the device.
The device does not work with legacy accessories that connect with the microUSB and microHDMI combination as seen on our review of the Motorola Lapdock 100 – here with the RAZR M, you’ve just got a microUSB port and that’s it. You’ve also got a standard headphone jack at the top of the device, power button and volume rocker on the right, and a door on the left also with a microSIM and microSD card slot as well.
The device is palm-sized and will be basically the closest device in size and shape to the upcoming iPhone 5 – which will certainly be carried by Verizon once it appears as well. The display will likely be a similar size as well, and the display will be comparable without a doubt. Beyond the basics, on the other hand, these two devices will not be compared unless Verizon workers are asked which device has Android and is basically the same size as the iPhone. More than likely you won’t find a lot of people entering the store with that comparison needing to be made.
Also note – there’s no other device on the market that looks or feels like this. Outside the other RAZR and Motorola devices that’ve been out in the last few months, (like the ATRIX HD), of course. That back panel assures you you’re working with Motorola hardware.
Software
There’s a collection of applications here that you could feel a number of ways about. If you thought that having Google own Motorola meant that they’d be releasing devices with only the Google standard set like the Nexus lineup does, you were wrong. If you’re looking for a device that you very well could potentially work with without needing to download any additional apps, this is it. Have a peek at the full collection of apps coming out of the box here:
You’ve got a “Verizon 4G LTE Edition” of Color here, this app being a social networking connection to photos and videos – including streaming live video via Facebook. Apps like Audible and IMDb as well as NFL Mobile will connect you to media from all directions, Zappos and Slacker Radio and Viewdini also bring you physical product shopping, streaming radio, and video listings. This device also comes with a suite of Amazon apps including Amazon for Amazon.com shopping, Amazon Kindle for ebooks, Amazon MP3, and the Amazon Appstore. What’s interesting here is that while previous Amazon-toting Android devices have worked with Bing rather than Google search, this device uses Google and has the Google Play store as well. You get the best of both worlds.
This device works with Smart Actions like several Motorola devices before, this app able to do things like detect when you’re in a certain area (GPS located) and turn your device’s brightness down. You can turn your sounds down when you enter a meeting (according to your Google calendar event), you can set a notification to pop up to remind you to charge your phone at a certain time of day, and you can turn off data sync when you’re asleep – amongst many others. You’ve also got Voice Commands and Voice Search as provided by Google’s newest Android systems. Note here that this device has been guaranteed to get Jelly Bean by Motorola, but that it currently uses Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich provides you with a Recent Apps button so you can easily switch between apps on the go. It also brings a notifications pull-down menu that’s accessible from your lockscreen as well as your homescreen – there’s a quick access button there to get to your full settings as well. There’s a new feature brought on by Motorola here as well which, when you pull your homescreen over to the right, you get a Quick Settings menu with on/off switches for GPS, Mobile Data, Bluetooth, and other oddities as well.
Below: Motorola includes an easy start guide for anyone unfamiliar with Android in general but especially with their unique user interface. They’ve made it specific to this device, too, with perfectly pointed arrows at the buttons outside the display.
Motorola’s user interface works well here with Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich features, not being overbearing as it was back when it was called MotoBlur. Here we’ve got a collection of easy-to-understand icons in your settings menu, features that are well placed (like the previously mentioned Quick Settings menu), and what’s not a rather quick software build as it works with Qualcomm’s processor. Have a peek at a few benchmark results here as well to see how it adds up compared to the rest of your smartphone and tablet favorites.
Camera
The camera is rather nice – certainly not the most excellent beast in the mobile field right this minute, but more than reasonable for the promises Motorola has made for the device. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 processor has architecture dedicated to image processing specifically, also, so it’s certainly helping out at least a little bit. Have a peek at some examples of photos and video as captured by the DROID RAZR M and see what 1080p video and 8 megapixel photos look like here.
Battery and Data Speed
The battery is a massive 2000mAh and, in combination with the amazing ability of the Snapdragon S4 to keep itself on low-demand while the device is asleep, you’ll have so much standby time that you’ll freak out. See here first what happens when you use the device moderately – lots and lots of time.
Then have a peek at what happens when you turn the device’s display up to full brightness. This chart shows how quickly you can drain the battery – note that this isn’t entirely unique to this device, you can make this happen with the right combination of high-demand apps and display power and data transfer and all that good stuff at once. What you should pay attention to here though is the flatline at the end – when the death drop ends, that’s where I turned the brightness of the display to “auto.”
The DROID RAZR M works with Verizon’s 4G LTE data network and has proven itself as a rather fabulous internet beast – the danger here will be that you get too addicted to the speed and end up using your whole data allowance in the course of a few days. That’s been known to happen with some people, you know. Have a peek here at a set of data speed readings from both New York City (including LaGuardia Airport – also in the demo video above), and Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Wrap-up
This is a rather fun addition to the Motorola collection of smartphones, and Verizon will be better for it having it in the Droid universe as well. You’ll find yourself enjoying the DROID RAZR M’s near-edge-to-edge display especially, with bright, sharp, and colorful delivery yours for the taking. The processor under the hood is more than powerful enough to handle any app, game, or video you’ve got or will get in the next few years on Android, and the whole user interface is quite slick.
This device is made to be its own little beast, not part of the docking and mirroring universe that Motorola smartphones have been almost exclusively for the past year. Because of that, you’ll have lower cost ($99.99 USD with a 2-year contract), and the device can be smaller as well. The battery inside this device is thinned-out in a way that makes it non-removable as well – the same situation as the original DROID RAZR too.
So you’ve got a smartphone that’s not made to come apart and certainly isn’t made to be part of the Motorola lineup from the year previous to this season. This is indeed part of the “new plan” spoken about by Dennis Woodside as Motorola’s tie with Google keeps the company flying high into the future. We’re excited to see if the DROID RAZR HD and HD MAXX are up to snuff as well – soon enough!
Are you familiar with the ADR930LVW from Pantech? Well, you’d be excused for never having heard of it, but given that it’s just popped up at the FCC, you might be getting to know it soon. Typically, details are sparse, but a bit of sniffing around suggests that this will be rolling with Verizon friendly LTE (which might also explain the “VW” in the product name). There’s mention of NFC too, along with the obligatory WiFi and Bluetooth furnishings. The handset is rumored to also be touting a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 and a 720p HD display, which sounds perfectly believable to us. But until this breaks cover, be it as the ADR930LVW, or codename Premia V — or indeed as anything else — we’ll just have to wait and see.
Ditching the keyboard from your Windows tablet is a big theme at IFA this year, and Dell’s XPS 10 is no different. A 10-inch Windows RT slate with a detachable keyboard slice – that also, unlike with some firms we’ve seen, accommodates a second battery – the XPS 10 crept out of its box and into our hands here at IFA today. Read on for our first impressions.
At first glance, the XPS 10 looks like a mash-up of Dell’s old netbooks and the current XPS ultrabooks. The plastic casing feels sturdy in the hands while still remaining lightweight – Dell isn’t allowing people to talk about exact specifications yet, including most of what’s going on inside the slate section – though the company has used a Snapdragon S4 processor, Qualcomm has already confirmed.
Up front there’s an HD-resolution multitouch display that proved responsive at whipping through Windows RT’s Metro-style start screen. Although it’s just 10mm thick, there’s both microUSB and microSD connectivity, though the lower section comes with extra connectivity too as well of the battery. Overall, combined slate and dock can run for up to 20hrs, Dell promises, comfortably exceeding a couple of work days.
Tug out the slate – the mechanism uses a single lock-slider, and proved a little tricky on the pre-production model we were using, though Dell says that will be addressed by the time the XPS 10 hits the market – and it’s a lightweight way to browse, view video, and use basic Office apps. It has to be said, it doesn’t feel as instantly high-quality as the new iPad, but neither does it feel cheap or as though it’s likely to break.
Windows RT tablets aren’t going to be a rare sight by the end of the year. Dell will have to price the XPS 10 competitively if it hopes to grab a slice of the Windows 8 market, never mind if it wants to challenge the iPad and Android models.
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