LG Accessories

LGs  Application Store was launched just a couple of days ago on July 14th. If you are a proud owner of a GM730 or a KS20 handset recently launched by LG then you are sure to enjoy the over 1400 apps available for download. Out of these 100 applications are free too. But wait a sec, you can go ahead and do this only if you live in Singapore or Australia. Say what? The app store will soon be made available to 22 more countries with support for 14 languages. May be by then the number of apps will increase to 2000 or more making it all the more attractive. Also the company promises to add more handsets which can download the apps. As still in beta we can expect some changes in the Store. LG and content providers have ensure that all software undergo stringent quality testing before making them available on the app store. The LG App Store beta launch follows the launch of a new LG phone GM730. This is the latest LG smartphone. Go to LGApplication’s website and access the LG App Store to download your fav apps to your PC. You can also directly access the store from LG-GM730 by flicking horizontally on the “Quick Key Box” at the bottom of the home screen and tapping the app icon.

LG LX290 from Sprint  is an easy-to-use slider with four conveniently-located shortcut keys for quick access to texting, email, personal calendar and alarm. This compact wireless device features a 1.3 megapixel camera, 2.5mm headset jack, Picture Messaging as well as Sprint Navigation to get you there faster with full-feature GPS navigation, including voice and on screen turn-by-turn driving directions and more than 10 million business listings. Sprint Mobile Email provides easy one-touch access to personal and work email including AOL/AIM ® , Yahoo!, Windows Live™, Hotmail ® and more. SPECIFICATIONS Dimensions: 4.09 x 1.94 x 0.63 inches; 3.6 ounces Display: 1.33 x 1.77 inches TFT 240 x 320 pixels QVGA and 262K vibrant colors Standard Lithium LiIon battery: up to 6 hours continuous talk time

It is perhaps the time of the year when all cellphone makers are upgrading to the next level in touchscreen smartphone battle. Just as Apple lifts the curtain off its upgraded, next-generation iconic device, Nokia has a ready touchcreen rival to take it on. Not far is the Korean giant Samsung, which already boasts of many new high-end smartphones in its kitty. And the latest to join them is US-based Palm which recently showed its strong iPhone contender. Not to be left behind is HTC which has launched its upgraded Touch Diamond 2. All the companies are aiming to grab the growing touchscreen mobile marketshare, the segment created by Apple iPhone, which boasts of high-end multimedia features. Heres a compare meter that evaluates iPhone 3G S, Samsung Pixon, Nokia N97, Palm Pre, HTC Touch Diamond 2 and LG Arena on various yardsticks. Plam Pre: Measuring 59.5mm x 100.5mm x 16.95mm, the Palms latest entrant, Pre, weighs 135 grams. The phone boasts of 3.1-inch touchscreen with a 24-bit color 320x480 resolution HVGA display. The phone comes with a multi-touch screen as well as physical QWERTY keyboard that slides out. iPhone 3G S: iPhone 3G S offers nothing new in terms of looks. The phone looks exactly same like its predecessors with same dimensions and screen display. Both 16GB and 32GB models will be available in Black and white colour options. Pixon12: Measuring 108x53x13.8mm, Samsung Pixon12 features a 3.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen display. The screen boasts of a contrast ratio of 10,000:1. N97: The sleek handset pairs a 3.5 inch touchscreen with a QWERTY keyboard. The slide-out QWERTY keyboard is a full 3-row. The smartphone transforms from a touch slate to a landscape QWERTY device. The touchscreen has a 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels. HTC Touch Diamond2: The 13.7mm thick Touch Diamond2 has a 3.2-inch high-resolution wide-screen VGA display and packs a new touch sensitive zoom bar for faster zooming. LG Arena: The phone has a 3-inch WVGA screen with around 16M colours with 400 by 240 pixel resolution. Plam Pre: One of Pres most promising features is its integration with social networking services such as Facebook. The phone is also strong on multi-tasking, the ability to have different applications open at the same time. Pre allows users to zoom in and flip through applications without closing them. It lets text messages and calendar appointments appear as notifications at the bottom of the screen. iPhone 3G S: The new iPhone promises MMS capability allowing users to send each other photographs from the phone. Earlier, users could send text messages or snapshots via email only. The new version also has cut-copy-paste feature. The voice control feature in the iPhone 3G S allows users to dial by saying the name or number. Search features have also been enhanced in iPhone 3.0 with the addition of Spotlight. Pixon12: The phone packs features like GPS, Bluetooth and an FM radio with RDS. Pixon12 offers a fast image saving feature that allows users to capture next shot in less than 2-3 seconds. N97: The phone has a 3.5mm headset jack, microUSB port used for syncing and charging, Haptic feedback and 1500 mAh battery. The N97 introduces the concept of social location So-Lo. Using the GPS receiver and integrated compass, N97 has the capability to always know where it is located and with social networking integrated it can broadcast that position to authorised friends and family. Nokia claims that the N97 will use a browser that supports Flash and Flash video. HTC Touch Diamond2: One of the latest features that Diamond 2 packs is HTC Push Internet. It’s designed to ease slow downloading and rendering of Web pages on a mobile phone. LG Arena: The phone features a new 3D S-class user interface to provide quality audio and video output. Arena is said to be the first phone in the global market to use Dolby Mobile from Dolby Laboratories meant to deliver enhanced sound experience. Plam Pre: Pre has a 3 megapixel camera that can shoot in both horizontal and landscape mode. Pre is designed to let you scroll through your photos by dragging your finger across the screen. iPhone 3G S: With iPhone 3G S, Apple has finally fulfilled a long time wish of its fans by increasing the megapixel count of its iconic device. The new phone now packs an improved 3 megapixel camera with video capturing, auto-focus mechanism and editing capabilities. Pixon12: The phones USP is its 12 megapixel camera which puts it miles ahead of its competitors. Samsung claims that it is worlds first phone with 12 megapixel camera. Pixon packs a Xenon power LED flash and touch autofocus, which lets users decide the focal point with the touch of a finger. Pixon12 also has a 28mm wide angle lens and a Smart Auto feature. Pixon12 records with 720 by 480 resolution at 30 frames per second. N97: The phone packs 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash. HTC Touch Diamond2: Touch Diamond2 has 5 megapixel auto focus camera. LG Arena: Arena packs a 5 megapixel camera with auto focus. The company says the camera is capable of recording DVD resolution videos. Plam Pre: As for storage, Pre packs 8GB memory storage. It offers support for USB mass storage. iPhone 3G S: Apples latest version of iPhone has a higher 32GB memory capacity. The new model will come in choices of 16GB and 32GBmemory capacity. The iPhone 3G second generation comes in 8 and 16GB model versions. Pixon12: As for memory capacity, Pixon12 comes with 150MB of internal memory and supports up to 16GB of MicroSD cards. N97: Nokias second touchscreen phone offers a 32GB memory with microSD for adding 16GB more making it a staggering 48GB. HTC Touch Diamond2: The phone packs 512 MB ROM and 288 MB RAM. The phone supports microSD memory card for expansion. LG Arena: The phone has a 8GB of internal memory and a 32GB micro SD slot. Source: Ninja

Well, Samsung has really been cranking them out lately; four Samsung devices and one LG device are undergoing or have finished testing at the FCC. As usual, we should probably see these devices be released locally in the upcoming months. Unfortunately, the test shots of these devices havent been released, but I managed to find their actual models by using the FCC labels model tag. While the models are certainly real at the FCC, some of the specs listed below may not be exact with what we receive here in The States. GT-I6320C by Samsung: 3.2 Megapixel Camera, Slider, MicroSD slot, FM Radio GT-S3830U by Samsung: No Details known currently GT-S7520U by Samsung: 3G support, quad band, candybar design, 5 megapixel camera, touch screen S5200 by Samsung: Slider, no touchscreen, 3 megapixel camera pictured at the top of the page GT500 by LG AKA Puccini: Touchscreen, 5 Megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, GPS -Via FCC GT-I6320C, GT-S3830U, GT-S7520U, S5200, GT500 -Image via uberphones.com -GT500 info via mobilegazette

Well, the LG Viewty Smart has officially gone gold, and will be hitting European shelves in the coming month and then it will propagate outward to the rest of civilization. Unfortunately, exact dates, pricing and carriers are still missing. Notable features include an 8! megapixel camera with LED flash, 3 inch WVGA screen with 800 x 480 resolution touch screen, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, and 1.5 gigabytes of internal storage + MicroSD. Read the full press release after the jump.

"LGs Viewty is Back and Better than Ever

Seoul, Korea, April 19, 2009 - LG Electronics LG, a global leader and technology innovator in mobile communications, announced today Viewty Smart LG-GC900, a brand new camera phone with an Intelligent Shot Mode that makes it easy to take great pictures by automatically analyzing scenes and adjusting camera settings accordingly. Viewty Smart carries on the heritage of the first LG Viewty, which sold over 6.5 million units. The second incarnation of Viewty offers even greater enjoyment while viewing and sharing, in addition to taking still and moving pictures, with a number of upgraded features in addition to its Intelligent Shot Mode. These include an 8 megapixel sensor with sensitivity up to ISO 1600, a higher resolution WVGA touchscreen, a more intelligent image processor and LG’s easy-to-use S-Class User Interface UI. “Viewty is back and better than ever, with new smart camera applications that take care of all the complicated camera adjustments and processing for you,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “Viewty Smart represents the next generation of LG camera phones, and will drive LG leadership in the industry with its innovative, smart technology.” Intelligent Shot Mode and Advanced Camera Features LG conducted consumer preference surveys in fourteen countries including the U.S., U.K., France, Brazil, Russia, India and China to learn what consumers wanted to see in the next generation mobile device and one key finding was that users thought current camera phones were too complicated to operate. LG’s engineers addressed this issue in the Viewty Smart with Intelligent Shot Mode, which analyzes the subject, background, and lighting conditions and compares the data against seven pre-programmed scenarios to take perfect pictures every time. This feature, still rare on high-end stand alone compact digital cameras, is a first for a camera phones and only available from LG. This hassle-free mode completely eliminates the need to check settings before taking a photo. It even provides instantaneous feedback, showing exactly how the camera is analyzing a particular scene with real-time indicator bars. With 8 megapixels of resolution, Viewty Smart’s pictures are not just great for sharing online, but are even sharp enough for printing and framing. With a maximum ISO setting of 1600, shots previously considered too dim or dark can now be captured even without a flash. This can be further augmented with the phone’s LED flash. Viewty Smart adds several new camera features including Multi-Face Detection and DVD-quality D1 video recording. It also carries over features such as Touch Shot, Art Shot, Beauty Shot, Panorama Shot and Continuous Shot. S-Class User Interface Enhanced for Camera Features Viewty Smart also includes the easy-to-use 3D S-Class UI, which debuted on LG’s ARENA earlier this year. LG has tailored S-Class around Viewty Smart’s camera features with an on-screen dial for instantly switching shot modes and a thumbnail viewer that shows recently taken photos without having to switch to the photo gallery. LG even included an easier way to zoom in and out: Simply move your finger in a clockwise circle on the touchscreen to zoom in, as if turning the zoom ring on an SLR camera. Zoom out by moving the finger in the opposite direction. Zooming in and out is also possible with multi-touch pinching and stretching. Viewty Smart is as good at sharing photos as it is at taking them. Its wide, sharp 3-inch WVGA screen provides full 800 x 480 resolution, great for seeing every detail in pictures and movies. With 7.2 Mbps HSDPA network and Wi-Fi compatibility, Viewty Smart can upload photos over the internet at broadband speeds. With A-GPS based geotagging, friends can even see the exact spot where a photo was taken. The Viewty Smart can also store photos on its 1.5 GB of internal memory or on MicroSD cards up to 32 GB. Extremely pocketable, Viewty Smart is just 12.4 mm deep, making it the slimmest 8 megapixel camera phone available. However, with its svelt camera-like design, few people will want to keep this phone hidden from view. “With Viewty we completely changed the way people looked at camera phones. For the first time, people didn’t have to put up with poor image quality for the convenience of using the cameras on their mobile phones,” said Dr. Ahn. “With Viewty Smart we’ll change perceptions again. It won’t be about having a camera phone that equals the quality of a standalone digital camera. It will be about having a smart camera phone that takes better pictures and is easier to use than a standalone digital camera.” LG Viewty Smart will be available through operators in Europe starting this May and then launch in other markets around the world. # # # About LG Electronics, Inc. LG Electronics, Inc. KSE: 066570.KS is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances, employing more than 84,000 people working in 115 operations including 84 subsidiaries around the world. With 2008 global sales of $44.7 billion, LG comprises of five business units – Home Entertainment, Mobile Communications, Home Appliance, Air Conditioning and Business Solutions. LG is one of the world’s leading producers of flat panel TVs, audio and video products, mobile handsets, air conditioners and washing machines. LG has signed a long-term agreement to become both A Global Partner of Formula 1™ and A Technology Partner of Formula 1™. As part of this top-level association, LG acquires exclusive designations and marketing rights as the official consumer electronics, mobile phone and data processor of this global sporting event. About LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company The LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company is a leading global mobile communications and information company. With its cutting-edge technology and innovative design capabilities, LG creates handsets that provide an optimized mobile experience to customers around the world. LG is pursuing convergence technology and mobile computing products, while continuing its leadership role in mobile communication with stylish designs and smart technology. For more information, please visit www.lge.com." -Via LG

Some interesting things over at the FCC today: a Samsung, LG and a Huawei device. Unfortunately, none of them really have much in the way of photographs...

Huawei U3315h - HSDPA/UMTA/GPR3/GSm/Edge Mobile Phone with Bluetooth. Unfortunately, nothing information wise about this phone exists. There is a mock up back panel shot,  but it really only serves to elimiate it from being the Huawei Android phone due to the fact that it has buttons on both sides whereas the Android phone does not. Its compared in the documents to the U3307q, and considering its shape, its probably just a newer version of that still unreleased device, meaning its probably just a regular phone with some email and music player functionality. Samsung SCH-R560 - Digital tri-band phone. No information available on this one either. Oddly, Samsung has released a R560 before, but it was a laptop. If this phone follows up in the R5 series, youre probably looking at something pretty bland, but real thin. LG LX370 - An update to a previous FCC submission, this is the second time the LG LX370 has been modified. According to phonearena, this phone is a media player/slider. The phone has apparently been redesigned a bit though, with some case modifications and some circuitry changes. Considering how long the LX370 has stagnated since its inception, hopefully these will mean some big improvements.

Slow day at the FCC today, a slew of devices, but a lot of run of the mill low end phones, but there is one standout in the crowd of mediocrity, the LG GW520. Well, maybe. Unfortunately, like the typical new FCC releases, it does not include either photos or a manual, and for once and a bit suspicious, I cant really find any information at all about this device except two things: the title Calisto, and the release date sometime in June. It was originally rumored at the same time as the Viewty 2, so it should definitely fall into the smartphone category. Good job to LG for keeping a device a secret even to the point where the device is already ready for testing.

If you are an avid text messaging geek then the LG Xenon phone is for you. It is a quick messaging handset with 2.8-inch touch screen display and QWERTY keyboard facilitating voice, video, picture or text messaging. You can move seamlessly between touch screen to QWERTY keypad to music player to camera. From the widgets-based full-touch home screen you can go to Favorites Contact screen which lets you categorize and sort contacts. The combined touch screen and QWERTY keyboard and the UI with widgets are sure to optimize your communication experience. Launched by AT&T the LG Xenon features GPS, Stereo Bluetooth, MP3 player, 2 megapixel camera with video recording and speakerphone. That’s not all it also includes support for microSDHC cards and quad band GSM/EDGE and dual band HSPA connectivity. It also offers access to AT&T services like mail, IM, XM, Music, CV, mobiTV and Navigator. It can be called an All-in-One-Phone.

Of the biggest note of new releases from Sprint, the Treo Pro is n0w available effective yesterday. Fortunately, it managed to escape another push back, even if it did lag behind altell a bit. While, it may not be the Pre, it looks to be strong enough to stand on its own in the market. I just hope it wont fail simply because of everyone looking to the horizon for hotter, upcoming products. Regardless, for Palm lovers still carrying around their aging Treos, it should prove to be a worthwhile upgrade, even if it has a pretty hefty price tag at $200 after the usual stuff. The Rumor 2 will probably do fairly well considering the popularity of its predecessor model being used with the teenage croud, even if it isnt a significant upgrade to the original unit. At a pretty low price point of $50, it should not have much trouble enticing customers. Last, but not least is the Stature, a flip phone with a lot of features. While it supports most modern features, it lacks any kind of real keyboard which makes it lose a lot of points even if it does have things like e-mail, browsing and GPS. And even if it did feature a keyboard, it still loses points for a fairly poor browser and no wi-fi or 3g. Its not a bad, compact phone, but most people have come to expect a little more. With the same price tag as the new Treo, its definitely a tough sell.

The LG Viewy now has a true successor, the LG Viewty II, while not exactly an original name, if it can bypass its predecessor, itll be a success, but the bar is set pretty high and the competition is fierce. While there is not many details about the device yet, all we really have to go on is this sheet that gsmhelpdesk released from a show in the Netherlands. Hopefully more details will soon be to follow. Even if you dont know Dutch, the spec sheet is pretty clear about most of the features. But if you need a little help, here you go:

-Innovative, 3d S-Class User Interface -3" Full WVGA Touchscreen -8.0 Megapixel camera with professional functionality. Photo; Xenon flash, manual & automatic focus, image stabilizer, face tracking, multiple prerecorded modes, touchshot photography, ISO 1600, geo tagging Video; Slow motion & high speed video modes, noise-free video recording DivX & Xvid video playback -Push E-Mail -32GB of expandable memory -HSDPA 7.2, WiFi & GPS -Automatic rotating display

-Image from GSMHelpdesk