iPhone Buzz » LG Electronics

Verizon confident they’ll oust iPhone

Chris Davies — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:29:19 +0000

Thanks to some judicious leaking we already knew the devices Verizon are planning to launch this holiday season, but we didn’t know until now exactly how much they’re gunning for AT&T and the iPhone. Key in the assault is their exclusive LG Voyager, a sliding smartphone whose full-front touchscreen flips aside to reveal a QWERTY keyboard, can handle up to 8GB of memory (via memory card) and – unlike the iPhone – has EV-DO for high-speed browsing.

Still, it’s Verizon’s Chief Marketing Officer Mike Lanman who threw down the gauntlet:

“We think it’ll be the best phone … this year. It will kill the iPhone” Mike Lanman, Verizon Wireless

Strong words (and already being picked apart by analysts) but there’s little doubt that some consumers not yet under Apple’s spell will be tempted by the Voyager’s feature-set that is, on paper at least, a distinct improvement over the iPhone. It’s set to land on November 18th.

What do you think? Okay, so this is an Apple-focused site, so you’re likely to have at the very least leanings toward the iPhone, but could Verizon’s hyped play for the Christmas market tempt you away from the nearest Apple store? Let us know in the comments.

IFA 2007 – SlashGear Exclusive With LGs Viewty KU990

Staff Editor — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 23:48:15 +0000

LG has done it again at IFA this year, first it was the KS20 which was basically the Prada running Windows Mobile 6, and now this, the Viewty KU990. If the Prada was a fashion phone only, then it would be like the supermodel at a fashion show, that would make the KS20 like the business end of a fashion show, and then there is the Viewty KU990 which would probably be the designer, not quite as simple as the supermodel, but full of features.

Specs wise this thing is amazing, it has 3G, a 3” 240×400 touchscreen, 5.1MP Schneider-Kreuznach camera with image stabilization (is this a phone or a camera?), auto focus, ISO 800, and QVGA vid recording topping out at 120fps! Now what good would a phone with that extensive of a list of camera features be if you couldn’t edit and upload your content? Well that’s just it, you can, you can use the touchscreen to edit photos and you can upload your video directly to YouTube.

With those three Prada styled phones, with all those features, I think the LG mobile development and design team have earned a well deserved break. Now if only we could bring the whole line down to an affordable price point.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqQ-lzjOBOo[/youtube]

Features:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEoAVub1Q48[/youtube]

Camera Demo:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW9ADFtUTgc[/youtube]

Some ‘Splainin’ To Do:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAYNW3ozTAk[/youtube]

Live Demo:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qep5iT2AACM[/youtube]

IFA 2007 – SlashGear Exclusive video hands-on of the LG Viewty KU990 [via SlashGear]

IFA 2007 – SlashGear Exclusive With LG KS20 HSDPA Smartphone Prada

Staff Editor — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 23:33:31 +0000

Not to long ago SlashGear brought you an article about an LG phone they saw that looked like the Prada running Windows Mobile. Well it turns out that’s pretty much exactly what it was, only know its been officially released, with a name, the LG KS20.

Essentially it looks like the Prada you all know, and some have come to love, but with a few nice additions, namely the smartphone functionality. On the hardware side it has HSDPA and twin cameras as well as a generous screen.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H8Zcj2Y_sc[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq0Lo8w-gtQ[/youtube]

There is no keyboard, instead its on the phones touchscreen. For more on the SlashGear article from February click through to here.

IFA 2007 – Exclusive video hands-on of LG’s KS20: the HSDPA Prada [via SlashGear]

LG KU990 could steal some hearts from iPhone

Chris Davies — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:08:40 +0000

When SlashGear tested LG’s sexy little Prada cellphone the key frustrations in an otherwise glowing review were the lack of HSDPA and the stilted browser; well, LG seem to have listened and we know that at least half of those issues (the 3G data connection) has been satisfied in their new KU990 handset. Coming to the UK very shortly, I’m not going to roll out the old cliché (“could this be an iPhone killer?”) but I will say that I’m bloody anxious to get my hands on one.

That beast of a camera lens is in fact a 5.1-megapixel Schneider-Kreuznach unit with image stabilisation, auto-focus, ISO 800 sensitivity and QVGA-quality video recording. Everything is controlled via the 3-inch, 240 x 400 touchscreen (which, assuming it’s like the Prada’s, will be a stunner), while there also appears to be a secondary camera on the front of the unit for video calls and preliminary specs indicate Bluetooth with A2DP stereo support, USB 2.0 and a fully-featured media player.

You just know I’ll be getting on to LG for a review unit asap, so keep reading MY iTablet for more details…

New LG patents to affect future iPhone?

Chris Scott Barr — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:31:58 +0000

A pair of patents released by LG seems to have some people worried about the impact they will have on future versions of the iPhone.

The first patent describes a â€œMobile Communications Terminal Having multiple displays.â€ Basically, you would have a clamshell device, only instead of the top containing a screen, and the bottom a keypad, the lower keypad is replaced by a touchscreen.

The second patent is for a â€œMobile terminal providing graphic user interface.â€ So on the touchscreen mentioned above, you would be able to select, or tap on an icon and have it react to your input.

I don’t really see this affecting the future of the iPhone, the first one especially. The second one might be cool to see on a future iPhone. But what is amazing is how LG managed to get these patents in the first place. I already have a mobile communications device that is exactly what these patents describe. It has a clamshell form-factor, has two screens and one them is a touchscreen where the things I touch or tap react visually. It’s called a Nintendo DS.

LG patents may tread on future iPhone [via macnn]

LG Points Finger At Apple For Copying Prada

Chris Scott Barr — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 22:56:00 +0000

Since the details of the Prada phone have emerged the rumor mill kicked in to full swing with the obvious accusations that LG copied Apple’s iPhone design. Until now LG has been very quiet about these rumors, but they’ve had enough.

Woo-Young Kwak, the Head of Mobile Handset R&D over at LG has decided to start some finger-pointing of his own. He went as far as to say that Apple actually copied their Prada phone design.

It’s one thing for readers around the world to speculate and even imply such things. It’s highly unprofessional for the Head of R&D to say that. I asked our own Editor Vincent Nguyen for his thoughts on the situation. His response; â€œIt’s not nice to call someone’s mother fat.â€ There you have it folks, lets keep it above the belt.

LG Says Apple Copied the Prada Phone. Also, Apple’s Mother is Obese [va gizmodo]

Why put WM 6 on your phone if itâ€™s not meant to run it?

Vincent Nguyen — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:56:08 +0000

I call BULLSHIT on LGâ€™s explanation â€“ as explained by my buddy Jason over at Gizmodo. However, my editor at 3GSM did report back today that LG was indeed working on the unit because there seems to be some technical difficulties. Ok, so hereâ€™s what LG had to say about this.

What did they say? They said The LG Prada phone has never, and will never run Windows Mobile 6. It runs a proprietary OS made by both LG and Prada. Who knew Prada had software engineers? There you have it. Rumor smashed.

The PRADA phone aka LG KE850 is official!

Vincent Nguyen — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:53:06 +0000

LG Electronics finally made the PRADA phone official. As we all know, the PRADA phone is all touch interfaces using Synaptics™ ClearPad (capacitive touch screen) technology.

I personally think the PRADA phone will give the iPhone a run for its money. It’s sleek and super thin (at just 12 mm). The handset’s music player supports various formats such as MP3, ACC, ACC+, WMA, RA, music multitasking (messaging), while the video player supports formats such as MPEG4, H.263 and H.264. The user interface utilizes Macromedia Flash (which I believed was developed by Pilotfish). And for business users, you’ll be pleased to know all your powerpoint, documents, spreadsheets, pdf files and text files will be easily viewed on the PRADA phone.

Unlike the iPhone, the PRADA is only EDGE Tri-Band (900/1800/1900). It does feature a 2M CMOS camera with integrated LED Flash. Theres an external Micro SD memory slot for memory expansion. The company didn’t disclose the size of the internal storage space (boo! since the iPhone comes in 4 and 8GB). The other downer is the battery its only got 800mAh. For a graphics intensive handset, this is barely enough to keep it going for a few hours, not to mention playing videos and listening to music! My Treo 750 has a 1200mAh battery on it, and as it stands right now, I can barely get through 5 hours of total usage on it.

[Images courtesy of Aving]

The price of EUR 600 will put a dent in your pocket book! If you don’t mind paying the price and happens to live (or knows someone) in UK, France, Germany or Italy, you’ll be able to get your mitts on one late February. Folks in Asia such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore will be able to get theirs late March 2007. Finally, the Korean version is scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2007. Wait a minute; I don’t remember writing anything about it being available stateside! What gives? What are we chop liver? Are we not good enough to have the PRADA phone?

[poll=17]

[Images courtesy of Aving]

Features
Capacitive Touch Screen
Music Player (MP3, ACC, ACC+, WMA, RA)
Music Multitasking (Messaging)
Video Player (MPEG4, H.263, H.264)
Macromedia Flash UI
Document Viewer (ppt, doc, xls, pdf, txt )

Specifications
EDGE Tri-Band (900/1800/1900)
98.8 Ã— 54 Ã— 12 mm
2M CMOS Camera / LED Flash
External Memory Slot (Micro SD)
Innerpack Battery 800mAh
Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, USB Mass storage

Related: Onyx Concept Phone gives birth to twins: iPhone and LG KE850 [Internal - MYiPhone]

For further information on LG mobile handsets, please visit www.lgpradaphone.com. Via LG Press

Onyx Concept Phone gives birth to twins: iPhone and LG KE850

Vincent Nguyen — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 22:13:24 +0000

Historical tales are full of cases where twin brothers separated at birth are reunited in the strangest of circumstances. Well, now it seems that we have a modern-day version of the story… but will one be pure good and the other pure evil? iPhone was raised by Apple in the United States, while LG KE850 was raised in Seoul by LG Electronics (later sold off to Prada). The two brothers were worlds apart and were recently made aware of one another for the first time. It’s still unknown as to which is the elder of the two. But what I do know with 99.99% certainty is that the LG KE850 derived from the Onyx Concept phone, made by Synaptics. It’s unfortunate that the only video we have is in French. The owner showed only a few features, so it’s hard to determine whether the features we see on the Onyx Concept and iPhone were implemented.

Video demonstration of the LG KE850
[youtube]F5916aOMQNI[/youtube]

On the other hand, the developmental history of the iPhone is a big mystery, but I’m positive this Apple fell from the same tree as the LG KE850. The purpose of this story is to share with you similar characteristics between the Onyx Concept phone, iPhone and LG KE850. It’s not my position to take sides as to whether Apple copied LG or vice versa; we’ll leave that up to the courts.

Let’s take care of the first few questions such as the screen technology. I’ll show you through video demonstration what’s being advertised and what the two devices are capable of when they grow up.

This first video demonstrates Synaptics’ ClearPad touch screen technology, a transparent touch-sensitive capacitive sensor. Far greater in accuracy than traditional passive touchscreen displays, ClearPad’s strength is the resolution and detail it captures from each touch and gesture; the video below shows the Matrix-like stream of data generated simply from swiping a finger across the screen.

[youtube]WJIC07YgcDk[/youtube]

Steve Jobs demonstrates gestures on the iPhone
[youtube]WncTZIKVa6A[/youtube]

The Onyx Concept phone can discriminate between one and two finger use and can even tell when it is being held against a cheek: answering the call automatically. Now while the iPhone hasn’t learned this yet, it does have a distinctly similar trait that they’re also calling the proximity sensor. This sensor detects when you lift the iPhone to your ear and immediately turns off the display to save power and prevent inadvertent touches until iPhone is moved away. It is to be seen whether the LG KE850 will have this feature. The video below features a conceptual explanation of the the proximity sensor, a demo on the Onyx Concept phone, and finally an explanation by Steve Jobs.

[youtube]PMHCiurhxms[/youtube]

Now the iPhone doesn’t have a GPS (that we know of yet) but it does feature Google maps, which highly resembles the GPS system that we saw on the Onyx Concept phone. This feature is yet to be confirmed on the LG KE850.

[youtube]GvGVdJ0lUBE[/youtube]

I didn’t notice Steve Jobs demonstrating on-the-fly play list management, so the feature we saw in the Onyx Concept may be implemented down the road.

[youtube]slNMVgo2PSs[/youtube]

John demos the audio features of the Onyx Concept phone

[youtube]VtCjjw0C1F4[/youtube]

Note the incredibly straightforward way that two single calls (watch Onyx Concept videos below) are combined into a conference call, by dragging one contact onto the other, and contrast that against the convoluted menus and key presses needed on traditional cellphones.

Looking into a crystal ball, I have a rare opportunity to share with you the potential of these two handsets and future offspring. In a way we’re lucky, considering Synaptics were clear when they exclusively demonstrated Onyx to me that the first derivative consumer handset would appear in early 2007. Until the lawyers have earnt their daily crust and the phones themselves hit the shelves, we’ll just have to enjoy this three-part video walkthrough of the Onyx Concept phone and look with barely-restrained contempt at our bland Nokias, Motorolas and Samsungs.

Synaptics Onyx Concept Phone Conceptual explanation part 1:

[youtube]SfFiA6m0UzM[/youtube]

Synaptics Onyx Concept Phone Conceptual explanation part 2:

[youtube]BNNzZ_qw_Kk[/youtube]

Synaptics Onyx Concept Phone Conceptual explanation part 3:

[youtube]k9LdeceFLPM[/youtube]

Now we have solid confirmation that LG’s handset is based on Synaptics technology, and the UI itself looks very similar to that designed by the other side of the Onyx partnership, Pilotfish. Apple information, of course, is harder to come by, and there’s no doubting that their GUI is streets ahead. They’ve referred to it as OS X for a cellphone, and whether that’s true or more like marketing patter the bottom line is that it appears to be a naturalistic and texturally-rich way to interact with your mobile. Based on our observations, then, MYiPhone would wager that the DNA of both handsets can be traced back to Synaptics initial concept, but their personalities – the way they present each app and the ecosystem your data resides in – is most definitely a product of their adopted parents; at the end of the day, isn’t it fair to say that this is pretty much par for the course in the electronics world? Multiple gadgets, often made up of the same core technology, with the interface as their distinguishing factor. On those grounds, Apple – while maybe not the hardware trailblazers here, have nonetheless seized the upper-hand.

View all the images of the Synaptics Onyx Concept Phone in the gallery.

My thanks to Chris Davies for co-authoring this article.