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Telus gets cozy with Skype, announces Optimus Black 'Skype edition' for summer release
Telus is looking to attract Skype's Canadian constituency by positioning itself as the nation's first carrier to easily enable the VoIP habit -- an addiction we're quite fond of, in fact. In a partnership with Microsoft's latest acquisition, Telus will allow its customers to purchase Skype credits directly from their wireless accounts -- meaning credit cards won't be necessary to call mates in distant locales. For newbies, the provider is announcing a "Skype edition" of the LG Optimus Black, featuring a shortcut to download the app (rather than pre-installing it), and a $2 credit for up to 60 minutes of international calls. If you're thinking a single toonie is a bit meager, we're suspecting Mr. Ballmer was glad to save coin anywhere he could -- after dropping $8.5 billion, that is. The specially-branded phone is set for a summer release and there's no hint at pricing, but if you get your jollies from reading press releases, just follow the break for the reveal. [Thanks, Justin]
LG Optimus Black arrives at T-Mobile UK for free (gasp!)
Sure, its 700 nit Nova Display is bright, but it doesn't quite approach Apple's excellence, and its 1GHz processor comes across a touch sluggish, but attach "Free" to LG's Optimus Black and instantly there's a whole lotta value crammed in these 9.2 millimeters. That's the story over at T-Mobile UK, anyway, which is giving the Android 2.2 handset away with any two-year plan over £25. Just think, once you convince a friend to also throw down nothing for this handset, you'll be exchanging laughs, tunes and memories over WiFi Direct -- once you find an app that supports it, anyway. As for mainland Europe, your Optimus Black will be arriving shortly, but don't get too huffy if your particular carrier isn't quite so philanthropic.
LG Optimus Black review
If you asked us to design our ideal Android phone, it might well end up looking like LG's Optimus Black. The handset that was once known under the codename "B" features a clean, elegant and exceedingly thin exterior, which is garnished with a 4-inch IPS display capable of generating 700 nits of brightness. There's the usual litany of added features, too, like a 5 megapixel shooter with the ability to record 720p video, a special G-Key for motion controls, and Wi-Fi Direct for peer-to-peer file transfers. Of course, looks and headline features are just the tip of the iceberg that is user experience, so if you want to know about the mountainous whole, join us after the break for a deep dive with LG's latest Android phone. %Gallery-123183%
LG Optimus Black vs. Galaxy S II and Xperia Arc... fight!
It's time for us to welcome yet another contender in the battle for world's slimmest Android phone: the LG Optimus Black. This 9.2mm-thick handset made its debut to oohs and aahs of admiration at CES earlier in the year, and is now on the very precipice of a global release. Admittedly, it's not quite slender enough to knock the 7.7mm-thick NEC MEDIAS N-04C off its perch as the absolute thinnest, but it is sufficiently slender to give Samsung's Galaxy S II and Sony Ericsson's Xperia Arc a good fright. That pair of smartphones offer thinner proportions on the spec sheet, but when rested on a flat surface they sit ever so slightly higher than the Optimus Black. This is because, unlike its tricky contemporaries, the Optimus Black keeps to the same thickness along its full length (don't laugh), which, technically speaking, makes it the thinnest Android handset on the European market. Check it out in the gallery below or video after the break -- and hold tight, we'll have a full review for you in the coming days! %Gallery-122723%
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]
Motorola's P970 dials up USB power
Of course Motorola would most prefer you buy its new Portable Power P970 battery pack to power its own devices -- not all of which, ironically, posses mini USB ports to draw power from -- but that doesn't mean you can't use their freshly minted 1700mAh device to charge up that handheld, media player, GPS unit, or whatever else it is you might have that could use a quick hit of juice. As for phones, well, we'd like to think more than Moto, HTC, and smattering of others would get their act together on mini USB ports in our wireless devices, but it's not like the P970 won't have its uses otherwise.
