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LG G3 review: the company's best phone yet
Bigger, higher resolution, simpler to use. That's how we described LG's latest flagship, the G3, when we finally got our hands on it last week. The headline feature is, without a doubt, that Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) screen. I've been gazing at it intensely since the review unit landed in my hand. But, the G3's not just a one-trick pony; there's a lot going on under that "metallic skin." Good thing there's a full Engadget review here to tell you all about it.
Weekends with Engadget: Apple buys Beats, LG unveils the G3 and more!
This week we watched Apple buy Beats for $3 billion, explored the inspiration behind the newly-announced LG G3, learned about Samsung's new partnership with Oculus VR, investigated the benefits of solar energy and much more. Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last seven days. Oh, and be sure to subscribe to our Flipboard magazine!
LG's G3 is surprisingly repairable for a smartphone
LG's new G3 has some impressive internals, but just how impressive can't be seen until you take the thing apart. That's just what the folks at UBreakIFix did: they got their collective hands on a newly released Korean G3 and couldn't seem to help themselves. Turns out, the G3 is incredibly easy to take apart (and more importantly, repair) as long as you've got a steady hand and just a little gumption. By their count, all that holds LG's finest flagship together are 14 screws that are revealed once you pry a bit of plastic casing off. The rest of the components are fastened to a single large board instead of multiple like in the G2, which UBreakIFix's Justin Wetherill says makes the prospect of fixing a busted G3 less of a headache. They're still doing a deeper dive on what makes this smartphone tick, but for now, here's a peek into its tightly packed innards.
Engadget Daily: Apple buys Beats, LG's G3 inspiration and more!
Today we watched Apple purchase Beats Electronics for $3 billion, investigated the benefits of solar energy, learned about LG's inspiration for the G3 and uncovered a few tricks to help you find new life in your old Wii. Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours.
The LG G3 has a keyboard that grows, shrinks and learns
Despite an occasionally groan-inducing press conference in London, there's little denying that LG's new G3 has plenty going for it (personal aside: I've never been more smitten by an LG phone). It's usually the little things that make the biggest difference, though, and the G3's thoughtful Smart Keyboard seems to fall right into that category. Why? Because it pays attention.
LG G3 leaks leave nothing to the imagination
LG hasn't been particularly guarded about its G3 smartphone, but the latest leak, coming from an official company site, really lets it all hang out. We've already seen plenty of the phone, slated for launch tomorrow, but this is by far the most detailed and official glimpse we've seen thus far. As previously reported, the phone will contain a 5.5-inch QuadHD display. According to the leaked product page, the phone will also contain a 12MP rear camera with optical image stabilization, a removable 3,000mAh battery and wireless charging support, and what appears to be an intuitive new software program called "Smart Notice."
LG offers first official glimpse of the upcoming G3
LG's G3 launch event is almost upon us, and the hype train is continuing to build momentum courtesy of a new, official teaser site. The highlight of this single page is three short clips that focus on what'll undoubtedly be some of the G3's biggest selling points. Yesterday, LG showed of its QuickCircle case for the handset, and now it's given us the first formal glance at the G3's design. The layout is no surprise, given we've seen leaked photos of the handset, but we're still left wondering whether brushed metal or a plastic imitation will be the main chassis material. The Quad HD display that's kinda old news is mentioned in another clip, while the camera is the focus of attention in the final video. Unfortunately, we don't speak Korean, but allegedly it confirms previous whispers of a laser-assisted focusing system, or heavily alludes to such a feature at any rate. Only the weekend (alright, and Monday) stands between us, the truth, and perhaps yet more proof that everything is better with lasers.
LG's 'QuickCircle' G3 case opens a window into your phone
LG hasn't officially revealed the G3 yet, but its new QuickCircle case gives you a pretty good idea of what the device can do. The QuickCircle, which the South Korean company just announced, features a circular cutout in front so you can access the UI's lock screen, take pictures, listen to music and even make calls even if you don't open up the case. It has other things going for it other than its tiny window, as well, such as Qi wireless charging standard compatibility and a Smart Lighting feature that emits a soft glow within the cutout whenever you get a call or a message. Next month, LG's also releasing an SDK for the case, and if you're lucky, someone out there has a brilliant idea just waiting to be made.
Engadget Daily: Google's modular smartphone, Kevin Spacey stars in COD, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
LG's G3 breaks cover with narrow bezels, redesigned back button
Earlier this week, LG said that the G2 successor would be called the G3 and launch before July -- nothing terribly shocking. Now we get to see what the upcoming device (allegedly) looks like, thanks to leaks from GSM Arena and a Korean site called Seeko. The two images seem to show different body plastics, though the device shown by Seeko (at the source) has no logo and could be a prototype. Other notable design changes from the G2 are narrower bezels and new rear buttons. Spec-wise, GSM Arena's tipster said it'll have a 3,000mAh battery, microSD slot and come in 2GB and 3GB RAM versions with 16GB and 32GB of storage, respectively. We're also expecting a Quad HD display, so hopefully it's more grippy than it looks in the pics -- we'd hate to break that. [Image credits: Seeko, GSM Arena]
LG's probably going to announce the G3 and G Watch on May 27th
LG's new flagship phone is coming: the company told us to expect the G3 later this quarter, with a screen resolution going beyond the (increasingly standard) 1080p spec. New smartphone necessitates a glitzy press reveal, right? This time round, LG is going global, hitting up six different cities (San Francisco, New York, London, Seoul, Singapore, Istanbul) in the span of two days. "To be simple is to be Great" is the company's tagline, with that intentional capitalization likely pointing to said new smartphone, or dare we dream, the G Watch, one of the first smartwatches set to run Android Wear, Google's latest software effort aimed at making wearables a thing. We'll be in attendance at one or two of those aforementioned cities -- expect at least one product starting with the letter 'G'. Update: A French site, Les Numeriques, says it has confirmation that the G Watch will come out in June for 199 euros (around $199) -- if true, that's a hundred bucks less Samsung's Gear 2.
Leaks hint at a sleeker UI and a Google Now-like service on the LG G3
The latest rumors about LG's G3 handset have mentioned a Quad HD display, but now it's time to take a look at what you'll see on that screen. According to leaked screenshots acquired by Digital Trends, the upcoming smartphone will feature a completely new interface with a flat design and brighter icons, along with a revamped notification drawer with circular icons. The screens show a phone UI that's leaps and bounds sleeker than what you'll find on the G2, and it's a more than a tad reminiscent of Apple's aesthetics in iOS 7.
LG's top-end G3 phone will rock a Quad HD display
So far, we've only come across beyond-1080p panels in a couple of Chinese phones, like the Oppo Find 7 and the Vivo Xplay 3S. But the spec is definitely about to go mainstream, as LG has just confirmed to us that the successor to the G2 will deliver a "Quad HD" resolution, with four times as many pixels as 720p (that's 2,560 x 1,440, if you want to count 'em). Based on earlier leaks, it's likely that the G3 will have a 5.5-inch display, which means we'll be looking at a pixel density of around 530 ppi -- not far off double what you'd get from a printed glossy magazine.
OnLive extending LG partnership to G3 series televisions
Are you way into cloud gaming and own an LG Smart TV of the G3 series variety? You're in luck, as OnLive this morning announced support for that very line of Google TV-powered LG televisions, bringing a library of "over 300 titles" to the platform. The G2 series already got that support back in November, if you recall, but it appears that OnLive's reach is expanding across a variety of LG Smart televisions. Should you wish to get in on the action, you'll need a Universal OnLive Wireless controller to actually play any of the games available. We'll be giving it a look later on this week during CES 2013 to see what's different -- if anything -- from OnLive's presence on other platforms. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
Two more Archos Arnova tablets roll through the FCC
When it rains Archos tablets, it pours Archos tablets. A day after The Arnova A9 G3 tablet strutted its way through the commission's approval process and into our hearts, two more members of the line the are ready for their cold, governmental closeups. Archos's Arnova 7F G3 and 8C G3 have also found their way onto the the FCC's site, carrying on the company's long standing policy of making a heck of a lot of tablets -- these ones, most likely, are set to serve as the seven and eight-inch counterparts to their slightly larger, slightly older sibling.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 ups the interchangeable lens ante with fancy new touchscreen
Right on schedule, Panasonic's gone and made its thinly-veiled Lumix DMC-G3 Micro Four Thirds shooter official. The camera succeeds the G2 with a 16 megapixel sensor, support for 1080p AVCHD video recording with stereo audio, 4fps burst shooting at full resolution, and an articulating, 3-inch touchscreen that supplants some of the dials adorning the last-gen model. In addition to poking around menus, you can touch that display to focus on your subject, and slide your finger to tweak exposure, white balance, and depth of field -- all in all, not unlike how you might interact with a smartphone camera. And, at 11.8 ounces, the aluminum-clad body weighs about ten percent less than its predecessor. Look for it in June for $700 in brown, red, and white -- in addition to your garden-variety black. In the market for something more compact? Panny also trotted out the Lumix-FH7, a 16 megapixel point-and-shoot with 4x optical zoom and 720p movie recording. Oodles of photos below with a press release after the break. %Gallery-123430% %Gallery-123421%
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 leaked, expected to launch tomorrow
Panasonic is rumored to be launching the Lumix DMC-G3 tomorrow, the update to its Micro Four Thirds G2. According to 43 Rumors, the new cam will be 25 percent smaller than its predecessor, and will include a 15.8 megapixel sensor and a 3-inch articulating LCD. Overall, the camera appears to have a very similar form factor to the G2, but scraps the left dial, presumably shifting those controls to the touch-enabled display. The site lists the launch rumor at its highest accuracy level (think DHS threat levels, but for camera rumors), so they're pretty sure we'll have all the details come tomorrow morning.
TenFourFox brings Firefox 4 to PPC Macs
Firefox 4 received quite a bit of fanfare when it finally rolled out of beta. Unfortunately for some Mac users, Mozilla decided to drop support for PowerPC processors and therefore Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger from FF4, meaning that G3, G4 and G5 users were left out in the cold. If you're one of these users lovingly still using PPC Macs, the folks behind the Mac Classic browser, Classilla, have come to your rescue and brought Firefox 4, with nearly all the trimmings, to the now discarded Mac architecture. TenFourFox takes code from Firefox 4 and tunes it for OS X 10.4 (compatible with 10.5) and the PPC-architecture. In fact, TenFourFox is offered in hand-tuned builds for each PPC processor: the G3, the G4/7400 and /7450 and, of course, the G5. With the upgrade from Firefox 3.6, you get all the JavaScript speed improvements that Mozilla rolled into Firefox 4, making it by far the fastest browser available for the PPC-Mac. You'll also get WebM video support, access to most of the Firefox 4 add-ons and, of course, HTML5 and CSS3 support. If you're using a perfectly decent and still loved PPC Mac, now is the time to furnish it with a modern browser and extend its life on the Web for years to come. [via MacStories]
iTunes versions older than 10.0 now incompatible with iTunes Store
A 9to5Mac tipster has discovered that Apple is apparently not officially supporting the iTunes Store for older G3 iMacs and any Macs that need to run older versions of iTunes. This isn't really surprising; if Apple won't support software for those older computers, it's unlikely that the company would bother to make sure its store was compatible with them. But what's interesting here is that it's only the store that's incompatible. As you can see from the screenshot above, the rest of the old iTunes 8.2.1 works as expected. It seems like Apple just created a new page for the latest version of the iTunes Store and redirected older versions to this one, asking customers to install iTunes 10. You'd think the company would want to at least let customers using older Macs spend their money buying iTunes audio and video, but apparently any potential sales from the older versions are outweighed by the costs of keeping the old site around.
SanDisk ships 60GB / 120GB G3 SSD to North America and Europe
Lookin' to get your flash on, are you? Fret not, as SanDisk has just announced that its 60GB and 120GB G3 solid state drives are headed out to retailers as we speak. Both North America and Europe are getting served simultaneously, with the drives promising sequential performance of up to 220MB/sec on the read side and up to 120MB/sec on the write side. You'll also be thrilled to know that the G3 range supports the newest Windows 7 TRIM feature, which enables the drive to "continuously manage its resources and retain optimized performance throughout its lifespan." Those anxious to supplant their existing 2.5-inch HDD can snag one now from the web for $229.99 (60GB) / $399.99 (120GB), while those who prefer ye old B&M sales will have to wait a few weeks still.
