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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: LG Electronics unveils Optimus G smartphone to join top players SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- LG Electronics unveiled on Tuesday its new flagship smartphone Optimus G that was expected to help the second-tier smarphone maker join the group of top players such as Samsung Electronics and Apple. The South Korean mobile phone maker, which was once one of the first-tier players in the mobile phone industry, had suffered from heavy losses due to its belated response to the smartphone boom. LG's mobile communication (MC) division turned into the black in the first quarter of 2012 after posting losses for six straight quarters, but the business shifted once again into the red in the second quarter due to an increase in marketing costs. Over the past year, LG collected all the expertise from its partners and sister companies to make the best phone, and the outgrowth from it was Optimus G. The model is also called " chairman" phone as LG Chairman Koo Bon-moo involved in its development, implying its earnest wish to regain its reputation as a top player. "Optimus G isn't just another high-performance phone with the latest bells and whistles. It's a collaboration of some of the best component makers on the planet coming together for a singular cause, to develop a smartphone that stands out in a sea of me-too devices," said Park Jong-seok, president of LG's MC division. COMPETITIVE HARDWARE LG's affiliates and partners teamed up to create the Optimus G with competitive hardware. In collaboration with Qualcomm, LG developed the first smartphone with Long-Term Evolution (LTE) connectivity capabilities that offer Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with a Quad-Core Krait CPU. The chipset runs at 1.5GHz, faster than existing quad-core processors. It also features Asynchronous Symmetric Multiprocessing (aSMP), which enables each core to power up and down independently, for maximum performance with better battery life. In addition, the Adreno 320 graphic process unit (GPU) is over three times faster than the Adreno 225 found in previous Snapdragon processors, offering a smoother gaming experience with faster frame rates and a higher high-definition (HD) resolution. Working with LG Chem, the phone maker developed a high-density 2,100 milliampere hour (mAh) battery with prolonged charging cycles. The batter's lifespan was extended to 800 cycles at 80 percent charging capabilities, more than the lifespan of 500 cycles in regular phone batteries. DISPLAY & DESIGN With help from LG Display, the Optimus G offers 4.7-inch True HD IPS-plus display that features a high pixel density of 320 ppi and a resolution of 1280 by 768. The Stripe RGB in-plane switching (IPS) panel offers a 15:9 aspect ratio. The True HD display will provide sharper and crisper color to show natural and life-like images, LG said. LG turned to LG Display and LG Innotek to develop G2 Touch Hybrid display for touch screen panels. The technology eliminates the air space between the cover glass and the touch sensor, reducing the thickness of the screen panel and making the screen stronger to withstand damage when dropped. The G2 Touch Hybrid display contributed significantly to the Optimus G's design as it reduced the thickness of the screen, enabling the device to fit more comfortably in the hand. With glass on both sides and an aluminum line around the perimeter, the Opimus G was reminiscent of LG's Chocolate and Prada phones. LG said the Optimus G inherited LG's design DNA and heritage, saying its design placed emphasis on simplicity. ENHANCED UX Optimus G that runs on Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich stood out with its unique user experience (UX) feature, that is, a 'cross-tasking' activity, according to LG. If multi-taking applies to running various applications at the same time, cross- taking applies to complex tasks that can be completed simultaneously without having to compromise other tasks. The Optimus G features QSlide Function that shows two different screens simultaneously on one display. With this function, users can send a message or search the web while watching a video. For example, if a user gets a text message while watching dramas, the message would be seen in the other translucent screen. The degree of screen clearness can be adjusted with a slide button. The Live Zooming feature enables users to zoom in up to five times while the video is being streamed, and the Cheese Shutter allows users to snap a photo with voice command like saying cheese, kimchi and smile. FAVORABLE REVIEW Market watchers gave a favorable review on the LG's new smartphone, saying that Optimus G will help LG better compete with top players such as Samsung and Apple. "Optimus G will highly likely make LG Electronics dominate in the local and North American markets among second-tier players. The device's strength is design and display. Ice Cream Sandwich operating system enhances its software competitiveness," said Choi Namkon, a tech analyst at Dongyang Securities in Seoul. The Optimus G was assessed to have competitiveness in hardware performance, design and display. The gap in software was narrowed thanks to the adoption of the Ice Cream Sandwich. With the launch of the model, LG was expected to lead second-tier players, becoming the dark horse to compete with top players Samsung and Apple. Optimus G will go on sale next week in Seoul via all three mobile carriers. It will be launched next month in Tokyo through No.1 wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo and then, in North American region during the fourth quarter. The Optimus G with LTE connectivity capabilities will be hailed in the three markets that are now providing the fourth-generation (4G) high-speed service. After the LTE service is offered in Europe from 2013, LG will have an opportunity to raise its market share in the region that dropped from around 18 percent in 2009 to the 6 percent level in 2012. LG's new model was expected to be welcomed by telecom companies. Now, Samsung and Apple are sharing the global smartphone market, leading telecom firms to customize the top two makers. Telecom companies have been looking for new market participants and products. "Although LG Electronics has to compete with HTC, ZTE and Huawei, the company appears to have the upper hand in light of its advanced LTE technology and its vertical production chain with LG Group affiliates such as LG Display, LG Innotek and LG Chem," said Park Wonaje, an analyst at Daewoo Securities. Editor: yan Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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