LG's 12 megapixel GC990 Louvre flagship with Schneider-Kreuznach optics records our puzzlement in HD
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Jul 8th 2009 6:19AM
posted Jul 8th 2009 6:19AM
If you're the type who values specs above all else then lean in close, LG's GC990 Louvre is about as spec heavy as it gets. Taking its industrial design and UI cues from the GC900 it will replace later this year, LG's newest flagship brings yet another 12 megapixel camera to market. LG's promising "zero shutter lag" while using respectable Schneider-Kreuznach optics with auto- or touchscreen-focus, a xenon flash, claimed ISO 3200 sensitivity (from a tiny cellphone image sensor?), and the ability to record 720p video at 30 fps. It'll also geotag your snaps thanks to on-board GPS. Fine, just remember that 12 megapixel images shot at full quality will result in massive (up to 18MB) files that must then be stored and transmitted to your favorite image sharing sites -- a waste of time and treasure unless you plan to blow up and crop those well-lit images. Anywho, rounding out the specs are LG's S-Class featurephone UI running atop an auto-rotating 3.2-inch (16:9 aspect) touchscreen display, WiFi, Bluetooth, DivX and Xvid video support, a TV-out jack, and support for media sharing with DLNA standard devices. Picture of the backside camera just beyond the read link.
1st...
...to comment, last in life.
wow you're awesome...
Thats what she said.
The replys to "first" comments are almost as bad as the comments themselves :-P
But seriously, everyone KNOWS your only cool when you get "first" on a Apple or Microsoft article with 100+ comments.
picture of the backside just beyond the link... lol its like a demo porn site
The iPhone has officially been killed by the GC990. This beast, this monster of massively impressive hardware has finally put the final nail in the iPhone's coffin. You can barely say Schneider-Kreuznach optics in one breath without passing out. This handset will be sold to billions of users just from hardware specs alone. What can this super-tech handset not do better than the iPhone or any handset for that matter.
The name Louvre just gives me chills thinking about the wonderful trip I took to France. A handset with such an impressive name cannot possibly be a failure. Throw away your mp3 player, DVD player, HD camcorder and DSLR. This baby replaces them all and fits in your pocket with room to spare. What took LG so long?
That's it. The iPhone reign is over. Next up is the Louvre killer.
Absolutely unecessary megapixelage
Exactly, with 12MP and ISO 3200 - you'd be looking at so much noise no amount of photoshoping is gonna help. Completely pointless.
Agree. 12Mp iso 3200 is just ridiculous. But I'm all for it to launch.
At the moment point and shoot camera manufacturers as well as phone manufacturers are on a megapixel war. It will only end when most customers realise how ridiculous is to boast about 12MP in a tiny sensor. And the more we get these ridiculous 12MP phones the sooner it will happen. Then we might get a new war on some number that might matter, like noise.
LG fail.
12 MP of fail to be precise.
Problem is the average consumer see megapixals as image quality (Lens... Hello!). Until the consumer is educated, companies will still boost about there pixalage and the consumer will keep lapping it up!
Too bad the UI is so damn fugly.
Hrm, I think the icon pages look similar to the iPhone. Are you calling the iPhone's design "fugly"?
@Aaron - LOL those icons may look similar to iPhone icons, but in no way match up to the iPhone quality. Stop trolling.
That is not the problem. The problem is its featurephone OS - its a dumbphone. Not a smartphone, where you can replace parts of the UI with the ones you like. Its not Android, its Symbian, its not Windows Mobile. You can't change anything, you can only install Java apps and launch them from a separate folder. I only have hope Nokia will make something worth my interest this year or Samsung will actually make at least one more smartphone beast with good CPU and camera.
ISO 3200?! Oh, I can't wait to see how those shots look! LOL! Super high pixel density + high sensitivity = noise galore! No, seriously, the result will be pure noise!
Don't you know? The new digital technique that's sweeping the nation is to make your photos look more "analog", with noise, noise and more noise!
Unfortunately, the heavy chroma noise gives images a distinctly digital look. And in this case, when I say heavy chroma noise, I mean virtual kaleidoscope!
haha, good point.
Seriously though, I can't see how that's even practical. Even the marketing team must have to cringe a bit inside when they publish those specifications...
why all phones UI now are somehow base on the iphone? Are designers at LG not creative enough to comme up with their own?
I'm not a fanboy (don't actually own any Apple hardware) but the reason the software is heavily influenced from the iPhone is because the iPhone GUI is tried and tested. It works.
To be fair, Apple didn't exactly invent the idea of a grid of icons, you know.
@ Gad Get
Don't you know? Apple invented capacitance, touch screen technology, icon grids, smartphones and copy & paste. Anything else using similar technology on a competing device automatically equals an iPhone ripoff
@ Aaron
Wonderful, cutting, crushing sarcasm. I tip my hat to you.
You know who else ripped off the iPhone's icon grid? Windows version 1.01-present, Mac OS version godonlyknows-present, OS2, Gnome, KDE, every other linux/unix GUI, Windows CE, PalmOS, the menu on my LCD tv...I could go on.
Aaron - You know, sarcasm only works if it's based on a premise that makes sense. To wit:
1. Apple has never said they invented any of those things. That's the first problem with your response.
2. Are you blind? Look at the interface on this phone, then look at an iPhone. If you don't see the resemblance you're either blind, stupid or intentionally obtuse. There are plenty of ways to make a phone UI that doesn't look like an iPhone (Palm Pre anyone?), but apparently LG is not capable of doing it.
You appear to have difficulty distinguishing between "similar" and "almost exactly the same". I mean seriously, come on. How dense do you have to be to not see it?
@Zak
Yeah i know http://gizmodo.com/343641/1960s-braun-products-hold-the-secrets-to-apples-future
how do you get back to the homescreen?
I might be wrong but I suggest pressing the "Homescreen" button that you can see in the picture :)
Crazy good specs though I guess when you put everything else you miss out somewhere, In this case the UI. Well at least there going with what works well for the masses so it'll have a better chance, Just hope that it's responsive and intuitive with the sub-menus and such.
Where's the 3.5mm jack so I can listen to tunes on my preferred headset and then snap away at the great view I discover while out riding my bike? Come on LG, you can do it, else I'll sacrifice 9mepgapixels and get that other phone...
LG and Samsung sure like to steal shit from each other lately (UI, phone designs etc..) FYI, "Samsung Louvre" is/was the name of the Samsung OmniaPRO (B7610).
This phone will be over priced and fail. It will probably launch with little or no apps at all.
Even without mentioning the iPhone, we can all tell you're a dumbass iFan.
Downranking imminent for such a cursory, ignorant comment.
Furthermore, you should really read the article:
"Update 08 July. LG GC990 is still a concept and 'Louvre' nickname is just an internal project name. Please check the official LG statement below.
"The GC900 or 'Louvre' mobile phone from LG, is a great example of the type of mobile technology innovation LG is developing. This is a concept model only however, and as such there are no confirmed plans to bring it to market. As we have further details on our camera-phone portfolio or other mobiles, LG will provide information on where and when they will be available to consumers.""
I can only imagine how fast the battery on this device will die. Such heavy specs usually ends up draining battery life real quick
Ugly phone is ugly. Good to know this won't get past production.
I reckon it will fail, just trying to hard to be everything and as a result will suit nobody. The phone would be more popular if it had an operating system shared with other phones, so that apps could run on it. I can hardly see developers queuing up to write apps for a phone that only a handful of people will buy.
Nice specs, but the hard-and-software design is dipping heavily into some pretty KIRF-y territory.
Now that's more like it!
@ Aaron
Wow you really have nothing better to do than monitoring this post for more than half an hour and posting mostly useless/stupid/aggressive replies to other's comments !? Get a life dude.
Yeah, it almost looks like a LG Prada.
This would be cool with Android on it
Didn't Samsung launch the Pixon12 recently? Here's another example of these Korean companies in direct competition. Their phones even look pretty much the same. Why not just go the whole hog and merge companies? Then we could have SaLsunG, or LamsunG...come on, help me out here
Haha, i vote LamsunG.
Android should be the new standard in all touch phones.
Its hilarious no one EVER reads the articles, just want to jump in the pre-pubescent comment bashing. As Aaron said, this is a CONCEPT phone, do you think a 12 MP camera phone would even come out, albeit at a decent price? I mean the only people to get fancy phones is the asian market, but our corrupt and aging Telcom corporations prevent such innovation, as they have such an Iron grip on who does what, and when.
I've never heard of a telephone company limiting phone camera megapixel. What would that do for them. They only limit things such as ability to load ringtones and transfer files directly to phone and data transfers because it affects them. They actually sell those services for additional cost. But they wouldn't care if you stuff your camera with pictures.
Zero shutter lag ? Are you serious LG i've lost complete faith in you damn liar.