LG BL40 hits FCC with US 3G seemingly disabled, ready for Telus?

Good news and bad news for US netizens waiting to hear more from LG's sexy new BL40. First, it just passed through the FCC thus confirming the model number on this oddball Black Label-series handset with what appears to be a 21:9 aspect ratio. And the fact that it's now FCC tested is also indicative that we're nearing launch with 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, FM transmitter, and 1000mAh Li-Ion battery confirmed within. Unfortunately, testing was limited to GSM 850/1900 and the device is repeatedly referred to as a GSM/EDGE phone -- in other words, no 3G. However, while most of the documents are withheld from public viewing at the request of LG, this particularly revealing exchange with the test lab was not:

Test lab: "While the licensed transmitter's Operational Description, for the most part, lists only non- U.S. bands for WCDMA, p.7/12 states that 'this design guideline shows UMTS 2100, UMTS1900 and UMTS850 applications.' Please clarify."

LG: "The main chipset supports GSM850/GSM1900/UMTS850/UMTS1900 but BL40 supports GSM850 & GSM1900."

Of course, UMTS850/1900 are the standard 3G bands used by AT&T in North America which makes this all the more perplexing. See the relevant screen-grab after the break.

Update: It just occurred to us what might be happening. Those 3G bands will be enabled when the LG BL40 launches on Telus' new HSPA network in Canada as its first GSM device. Hey, it's just a hunch but it certainly makes sense.

[Hitman @ Jul 17th 2009 3:59AM]

I'm still getting this beast! Nobody's gonna take 3 less shits(thinking about lack of 3G compatibility) while holding this phone...

[Quantumphysics @ Jul 17th 2009 10:05AM]

Crapgadget

[be fearless @ Jul 17th 2009 4:04AM]

it might come to att as the vu2...seeing the specs of the vu2 were 5 megapixel camera which this phone does have...

but im not holding my breath considering att hates 5mp phones (se k850a and lg secret were canceled by att just before they were released even though they went through testing and fcc reports)

[shpe11 @ Jul 17th 2009 4:45AM]

nice phone, but I'll stick with my nokia 5800

look what I have done in flash lite: http://work.shpe.ro/?id2=00030011 (I think this could this make a post for engadget.com?)

video demo here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDJPBnSv0wc

free download
key features:
-multi-touch alternative for single-touch mobile devices (zoom/rotate/pan controls)
-chaos order (thumbs allover the screen, like a pile of real photos thrown on a table)
-photo grouping (make groups, add/remove photos to groups)
-kinetic movements
-autoscroll when drag photos
-autosave custom arrangement (groups and photo arrangements)
-only photos loaded (from folder images/camera)

[mikethevee @ Jul 17th 2009 4:46AM]

ouch. no 3g is not a good idea. Hopefully there's a way to enable it again.

[Peter Fang @ Jul 17th 2009 4:52AM]

This thing reminds me of the mysterious satellite phone that appeared in the TV show "Lost".

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/bto/20070503/catch22-cap610_540x304.jpg

[bolmedias @ Jul 17th 2009 6:31AM]

Wow, you're right. I bet that someone's gonna make that a skin for this phone once it's released.

[TT @ Jul 17th 2009 5:00AM]

Hmm, only 1000mAh?
I can understand with their smaller handsets (Viewty, Prada, Arena, etc.).
But I kinda expected something more capacious with this one...

[iknowaeiou @ Jul 17th 2009 5:29AM]

Looks like something that comes out of Peter Weller's left leg.

[bolmedias @ Jul 17th 2009 6:27AM]

Nice reporting, Thomas. I know a lot of us gave you a lot of Schtick for the Nokia story yesterday, but this makes up for that.

As for the phone itself, I still don't get how people will be able to use a phone that is as long as the BL40 is. Not that I won't want it.

And there will definitely be a hack to re-enable the 3G bands.

[AVisgoth @ Jul 17th 2009 8:33AM]

Wait...what good is an FM transmitter? I'm genuinely curious. A receiver I could understand, but a transmitter?

[Jonathon @ Jul 17th 2009 9:53AM]

Have a FM radio in your car?

[Yaw Dapaah @ Jul 17th 2009 10:26AM]

where is that sexy ui from the video? :|

[Ruben @ Jul 17th 2009 10:55AM]

I don't get it, is this thing gonna have 3G or not in the US? and is the carrier gonna be AT&T, or will it be out for verizon too?

[Dez @ Jul 17th 2009 11:43AM]

^this^

please be out for ATT, I need to replace my blackjack 2 sometime =(

[Nightwing @ Jul 17th 2009 10:57AM]

This is getting interesting....

Any one know what the screen is... LCD or OLED? if OLED then 1 Amp battery makes sense... along with no 3g...

[ai4281 @ Jul 17th 2009 3:57PM]

But will Telus have a robust enough 3G network right out of the gate? And will this new network be used for anything other than roaming for the Olympics visitors for the first few months?

[stevenj @ Jul 18th 2009 2:42AM]

Telus already has a pretty robust 3g network considering how big Canada is.

[jason @ Jul 17th 2009 1:03PM]

Hey look, it's a TV remote that works as a phone.

[Joseph @ Jul 17th 2009 5:44PM]

As I said on engadgetmobile, let's forget about Telus, and bring this to Verizon!!

[Adam @ Jul 18th 2009 1:30AM]

Wrong. It won't be Telus' first GSM device. In fact, nothing will, because Telus isn't building a GSM network. Its building a HSPA network. There will be no GSM fallback.

Get your facts straight. HSPA != GSM.

[stevenj @ Jul 18th 2009 2:32AM]

Isn't Telus launching an LTE network not a HSPA(WCDMA) network? They already have CDMA 2000 EVDO 3g, and it wouldn't make sense to build a 2nd completely different 3g network when the LTE standard specifies co-existence with legacy standards so that users can transparently start a call or transfer of data in an area using an LTE standard, and, should coverage be unavailable, continue the operation without any action on their part using GSM/GPRS or W-CDMA-based UMTS or even 3GPP2 networks such as cdmaOne or CDMA2000.

[Doug @ Jul 18th 2009 2:07AM]

"It just occurred to us what might be happening. Those 3G bands will be enabled when the LG BL40 launches on Telus' new HSPA network in Canada as its first GSM device..."

That doesn't make any sense, it's not going to have 3G in US obviously because this is an FCC filing, meaning USA, so ya maybe it won't have 3G in Canada either, but it also isn't going to have it in the US or they would have to have it pass through FCC for approval.