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LG Optimus 3D previewed in remarkably convincing teaser video
We just saw a brief teaser video for the LG Optimus 3D a few days ago, but another, longer one has now also surfaced that shows just how much the phone's glasses-free 3D display can help you in everyday situations -- like practicing yoga. As explained by LG, some things are simply too complicated to be conveyed by a two-dimensional medium like a big screen TV, and can only truly be grasped by holding a phone and looking at a 4.3-inch screen while standing on one leg. See for yourself after the break. [Thanks, M.]
LG Optimus 3D teased again, this time shows off its dual cameras (video)
We really should send a message to phone manufacturers and stop covering these tiny little leaks of controlled information, but when it's a phone with dual cameras and a 3D display we're talking about, we can't help it. Every minute detail must be digested and analyzed. There's a fast-moving video awaiting your Sherlockian wits after the break, or you can hit the source link for a gallery of screen captures that highlight the construction details of LG's upcoming Optimus 3D. Look for it to stop being a fancy render and become a corporeal entity at MWC early next week.
LG Optimus 2X review
The world cried out for a dual-core smartphone and LG and NVIDIA answered the call. Actually, the world only ever dreamt about multicore mobile architectures up until late last year, but sometimes that's all it takes to get those zany engineers engineering. So here we are, in early February 2011, beholding the world's first smartphone built around a dual-core processor, the Optimus 2X. This is a landmark handset in more ways than one, however, as its presence on the market signals LG's first sincere foray into the Android high end. Although the company delivered two thoroughly competent devices for the platform with the Optimus S and T in 2010, they were the very definition of mid-range smartphones and the truth is that Samsung, HTC and Motorola were left to fight among themselves for the most demanding Android users' hard-earned rubles. So now that LG's joined their ranks, was the wait worth it? %Gallery-115835%
HTC Desire 2, Flyer, Pyramid and LG Optimus 3D, Star Tab surface in Vodafone Germany inventory system
There are leaks, and then there are leaks. As you can probably glean from the headline, this is most certainly a case of the latter. FoneArena has received shots of what appears to be a Vodafone Germany inventory system, and it's a system currently overflowing with both rumored and heretofore unheard of product names. HTC's Flyer and Pyramid are all but confirmed for a MWC unveiling, while the Desire 2 is popping up on our radar for the first time. We've also been told that LG's Optimus 3D will be fully revealed next week in Barcelona, but the Star Tab? Now that's a new one. Of course, it shouldn't come as any surprise to see a swath of new names pop up just days before the year's most gargantuan mobile show, but it definitely brings about a metric ton of questions. Is the Star Tab a phone? A slate? A unicorn-based gaming console? Will the Desire 2 simply be more desirable than the original, or will it utilize one of those new screen technologies HTC is feverishly working on? Hard to say from a simple list of names, but you can bet we'll be keeping an ear to the ground for more as Mobile World Congress approaches. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc vs. LG Optimus 2X... fight!
Android is our future, the stat mavens all agree, but for all its rapid growth, Google's OS still suffers from a shortage of top tier differentiation. This has in part been down to LG and Sony -- two of the world's biggest phone makers -- spending the majority of 2010 watching the battle for Android supremacy from the sidelines (the X10 disqualified itself when it announced it neither knew nor cared what Froyo was). 2011 might just be the year of redemption for both, however, as LG will soon assault the European market with a pair of truly desirable and powerful Android smartphones in the Optimus 2X and Black, while Sony Ericsson's well leaked portfolio of new Xperias includes the Arc, Neo and Play, each one of them coming with Gingerbread preloaded. We've wrapped our mitts around a pair of these high-hope devices, one from each manufacturer, and photographed the living daylights out of them sat side by side. %Gallery-115722% We humbly submit that the Xperia Arc looks and feels far more refined than LG's admittedly well designed Optimus 2X. The Arc's curvature seriously makes it feel like the thinnest phone we've ever handled and its weight is also dramatically, unreasonably minimal. Another note of import is that the 2X comes with a 4-inch screen whereas the Arc offers a more generous 4.2-inch display, yet their overall dimensions are nearly identical. All in all, we'd hardly object to having either one in our pockets, but the Arc wins it for us in terms of aesthetic appeal. Of course, the Optimus 2X has a dual-core Tegra 2 heart beating within, it's not all about looks, though in the case of this hands-on comparison, it kind of was. We'll have a full review of LG's handset in the coming days, while Sony Ericsson promises the Xperia Arc will land in Europe by the end of March. You can see more of the prototype unit we got to handle in the gallery below and there's a video comparison of the two Android newcomers after the break as well. %Gallery-115723%
LG Optimus Pad (aka G-Slate) coming to MWC 2011 with Honeycomb, Tegra 2 and 3D display
The T-Mobile G-Slate may be fully official now, but the rest of the world needs love too, and LG's just announced it intends to deliver said loving at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a few days from now. The Optimus Pad, as this 8.9-inch tablet will be known outside the US, will offer Android Honeycomb as its OS, along with a 3D-capable 1280 x 768 display, dual-core Tegra 2 processor, a front-facing camera plus a pair of imagers on the back allowing for 3D picture-taking, 32GB of onboard storage, and a 6,400mAh battery. We should be getting to grips with the device at MWC in due course -- look for it to launch alongside or shortly after its US twin hits retail in March.
LG Optimus V is seriously, officially official for Virgin Mobile at $150
It was apparently on sale in some locations if you looked hard enough last week, but the latest rendition of LG's ubiquitous Optimus series of midrange Android phones -- the Optimus V -- is now totally official for Virgin Mobile USA. Though it's basically a dead ringer for the Optimus S sold by parent company Sprint, Virgin has naturally red-ified the UI... and it has also inexplicably changed the order of the physical buttons, continuing Android's proud, longstanding tradition of hitting end users with every possible permutation of button order under the sun. It's available immediately online and from Radio Shack for $149.99 off-contract with other retailers picking up stock throughout the month. Follow the break for the full press release.
LG confirms Optimus 3D for MWC 2011: glasses-free screen and 3D camera
We've had a feeling that LG was going to tackle 3D smartphones heads-on sometime in February, and after a spat of rumors today purported to be showing off the Optimus 3D (rumored to be the device above, via Phandroid), the company's flat-out confirmed its Mobile World Congress debut. The Optimus 3D sports a dual-lens 3D camera, a glasses-free LCD display, and HDMI / DLNA for sharing on whatever 3D sets you have. A live demo will be at Barcelona, but whether that means we'll get to hold it in our own hands. Other specs? We'll have to wait and find out. Press release after the break.
LG Optimus 2X and Optimus Black priced at €499 by Amazon Germany, not yet available to buy
Amazon's German outlet has started listing LG's two latest and undoubtedly greatest phones: the Optimus 2X (seemingly renamed the Optimus Speed here) and the Optimus Black. Both run Android 2.2 on 4-inch screens, with the former offering a dual-core Tegra 2 processor capable of 1080p video recording and HDMI output, and the latter cranking up the display brightness to a quite unreasonable 700 nits. The Optimus Black also has one of the thinnest profiles on a smartphone of its class at 9.2mm, and will be one of the first phones to offer WiFi Direct connectivity. Intriguingly, Amazon's Optimus Speed / 2X listing also shows a brown color option for the handset, though only its black SKU is subject to a neat €50 discount bringing its price to €499, the same as the cost of the Optimus Black. We don't know when either one will drop, but you can go and reserve yourself one (or a dozen) at the links below. [Thanks, Julian]
LG prepping Optimus 3D for February announcement?
Talk of 3D features in LG's upcoming G-Slate are becoming less and less implausible-sounding by the day, capped off this week with a couple of doozies: first off, Carphone Warehouse's Dutch outpost -- called simply The Phone House there -- briefly posted a teaser for an upcoming "Optimus 3D" Android smartphone, though the page has since been removed. Secondly, the world's tech media (us included) just received an invite to LG's shindig at Mobile World Congress next month where it teases a new Optimus model that takes us "into the new dimension." Pretty strong foreshadowing there, wouldn't you say? This should all work itself out in the next couple weeks -- but we're warning you right now, LG: if any of this stuff isn't glasses-free, we're expecting you to buy us all Guccis (fortunately, odds are good they're using that 4.3-inch glasses-free unit demoed at CES this month).
Art Lebedev's Optimus Popularis delayed, but new Optimus Mini Six is on the way
We've always taken Art Lebedev's product launch forecasts with a grain handful of salt, so this doesn't come as a surprise: the firm's sub-$1,000 OLED keyboard won't be out anytime soon. However, the second thing the indie peripheral design house revealed today makes us giddy despite our misgivings -- before the full-sized Optimus Popularis comes to market, it's planning to release a new miniature keypad like the Optimus mini three (pictured above) but with six keys inside. Still... is it bad if all we really want is an Optimus Aux prototype?
LG: Windows Phone 7 launch did not meet expectations, still a fine OS for 'a huge segment'
The only hard news we've seen from Microsoft regarding Windows Phone 7 sales was less than revealing, but it seems that LG is stepping out from the behind the curtain a bit to let us in on how things are going -- from its perspective, anyway. In a sit-down with the folks over at Pocket-lint, LG's marketing strategy and planning team director James Choi noted: "From an industry perspective we had a high expectation, but from a consumer point of view the visibility is less than we expected." Nothing too shocking there, but he followed up by noting that LG feels Windows Phone 7 "is absolutely perfect for a huge segment out there." Perhaps more shocking was this tidbit: "What we feel is that some people believe that some operating systems, mainly Google, are extremely complicated for them; but Windows Phone 7 is very intuitive and easy to use." He followed his not-terribly-subtle Android jab with a WP7 jab, oddly enough, noting that "for tech guys, [WP7] might be a little bit boring after a week or two, but there are certain segments that it really appeals to." What's left unclear is exactly how much support LG is going to give Microsoft after launching the Optimus 7, but we're guessing that next month's outlay at Mobile World Congress will be a huge indication. Naturally, we'll be there with our eyes peeled.
LG's CES 2011 booth tour
If there is one booth at CES this year that is going all out, it's arguably LG's. The massive, supermarket-sized chunk of show floor real estate showcases everything from the manufacturer's latest phones -- like the Revolution, Optimus Black and Optimus 2X -- to SmartTV devices, network Blu-ray players and HDTVs. You'll also find smart appliances linked with WiFi and smartphone apps using LG Thinq, and even a scanner mouse -- not to mention a mesmerizing display wall. Sample the insanity in the gallery below, and in the video after the break. %Gallery-113532%
NVIDIA makes GeForce GT 500M family official, introduces GTX 485M as its fastest mobile GPU
Yes, NVIDIA's naming scheme really is all over the place, but here's what you need to know: as of today, the fastest mobile GPU coming from Jen-Hsun Huang's team will be the GeForce GTX 485. That chip will be equipped with a 256-bit memory interface and GDDR5 RAM and succeed the GTX 480M as the king of the (relatively) mobile castle. Moving up in numbers, but not performance, the new GT 520M, 525M, 540M, 550M, and 555M represent very mild refreshes of their 400M series counterparts. We were initially unimpressed by NVIDIA's decision to keep things stagnant but for some more aggressive clock speeds at the same TDP envelopes, but a recent review of the earlier-launched GT 540M showed appreciable gains from its predecessor, so maybe these graphics gurus actually know what they're doing. We've gathered some imagery of early units sporting NVIDIA's new graphics hardware -- notably paired with Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs -- in the galleries below, but we'll surely have more for you as we explore the halls of CES. After all, NVIDIA has an awesome 200 design wins combining its tech with Intel's latest, there should be plenty of previously unseen hardware for us to find. In the mean time, skip past the break to see a couple of benchmark runs showing off NVIDIA's new graphics processors. %Gallery-112252%%Gallery-112060%
LG announces super slim Optimus Black with NOVA display
It may have already tipped its hand, but LG has now just gotten fully official with its latest flagship Android phone, the Optimus Black (previously known as the LG "B"), which packs a 4-inch NOVA display that promises to be both bright (700 nits) and energy efficient. What's more, despite being just 9.2 mm slim (and tapering down to 6 mm), the phone also packs 1,500mAh battery that promises a full day of use, and you'll get a 2 megapixel front-facing camera in addition to another one of unspecified resolution presumably 'round back. According to LG, the phone will ship with Android 2.2 (plus LG's Optimus UI 2.0), but get a Gingerbread update at some point in the future. Head on past the break for the complete press release, and look for the phone itself to roll out globally in the first half of the year.
LG Optimus Black and LTE-equipped Revolution coming to CES
LG is busily preparing its CES presentation area right now, where the well known Optimus 2X is being joined by a pair of intriguing new devices, the Revolution you see above, an LTE-connected handset that seems destined to ride Verizon's minty fresh 4G network, and an Optimus Black (pictured after the break). The latter handset promises the "power of light" housed within an "innovatively slim smartphone with the best display clarity." Both the allusions to slimness -- we've found specs listing it as a 9.2mm-thick device with a 4-inch screen -- and display prowess match up to the LG "B" device we've seen leak out previously, which LG itself promised will be launching at CES. Other details include Wi-Fi Direct certification and the world's first two megapixel front-facing camera. It's gonna be a fun week, to be sure. %Gallery-112541%
Digital Storm's xm15 gaming laptop rolls with NVIDIA's Optimus
Lookin' to straddle the fence with your next laptop purchase? Or maybe you're just lookin' to conserve battery life when not picking off enemies in Counter-Strike. Either way, Digital Storm's new xm15 (not to be confused with Alienware's M15x) can satisfy the yearning, as the $999 base configuration comes equipped with a 2.4GHz Core i5-520M, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320GB HDD and NVIDIA's GT 425M (1GB). Naturally, Intel's integrated graphics chipset is also included for less demanding times, and if you're in need of a little more oomph, a $1,086 build jumps to a 2.53GHz Core i5-540M and a $1,367 model steps up to a 2.8GHz Core i7-640M. 'Course, far nicer editions are available if you're got the cash to customize, but we'll leave all that between you and your wallet. And whoever fills your wallet.
LG commits to major smartphone, tablet, and smart TV investments for New Year's resolution
LG's set aside quite a big chunk of change -- 21 trillion won (about $18 billion) -- for investments next year, almost 12 percent higher than its 2010 allowance. And a good chunk of that, 14.2 trillion won, is going to electronics: smartphones, tablets, advanced TVs and components for 3DTVs, according to the Wall Street Journal. (The rest, if you're curious, is going into medical products, electric vehicle batteries, and an assortment of other businesses.) True, LG's position in the smartphone market isn't quite what it wanted -- its now-former CEO Nam Yong claimed responsibility and retired in September -- but we'd be lying if we said we haven't been smitten with its Optimus lineup of Android handsets lately, and already we've seen some impressive future devices. Now, those tablet investments... figure out an OS yet? Can we make suggestions?
LG Optimus 2X: first dual-core smartphone launches with Android, 4-inch display, 1080p video recording
That's right, it's official. Needless to say, that LG Star we recently got our paws on is very real, though it won't go by that name at retail -- just as LG's own release materials had suggested, this monster has picked up the Optimus 2X name as it morphs from a prototype into brutally fast, overpowered reality. At the phone's heart beats a dual-core Tegra 2 processor running at 1GHz, the first such configuration to be officially announced by any smartphone manufacturer (though we're expecting others any day now). In case you're wondering how such power might be used, well, for starters, you've got both full 1080p TV-out via HDMI and video capture through an 8 megapixel primary camera paired with a 1.3 megapixel cam up front for face-to-face calling. A 4-inch WVGA display is along for the ride along with 8GB of on-board storage (expandable with up to 32GB of microSD) and a 1,500mAh battery -- no larger than most single-core smartphones these days, so it'll be interesting to see if the final retail units hold up through a day of typical use. Unfortunately, the Optimus 2X is launching out of the gate with Android 2.2, but LG's already committing to releasing Gingerbread updates "in due course." It hits first in LG's home market of Korea next month, followed by Europe and other Asian locales in the coming weeks; we're sure you can hardly wait, so why don't you check out some eye candy from our preview while you pass the time? Follow the break for the press release. %Gallery-110305%
LG Optimus 2X looks like a dual-core Star, shows off HDMI-out while embarrassing the Galaxy S on video
LG has, in the most casual fashion possible, revealed the name of a new smartphone it intends to launch in the Korean market: the Optimus 2X. That brand name was buried deep in a release yesterday about exclusive Ennio Morricone content bundled with the Optimus Mach, though some studious folks have unearthed it and subsequently found YouTube content showing off the handset. Codenamed the SU660, the 2X looks almost identical to the LG Star we handled for ourselves recently, with the only differences being in product code (the Star was dubbed P990) and the button array at the bottom. Looking at the videos after the break, most of the onboard content bears LG's local branding of Cyon, leading us to suspect the 660 is just the Korean variant of the Star. Either way, that LG presser also notes that the Optimus 2X should be launching within the next couple of months -- just in time to take the Nexus S down a notch or two, eh LG?
