Posts Tagged ‘Optimus’
LG launches Optimux 2X with Android, world’s first dual-core smartphone
If you had asked me earlier this year which company would introduce a dual-core phone first, I certainly wouldn’t have guessed LG. But now that is indeed what we’re getting: The Korean company today launched the Android-powered Optimus 2X, the first phone ever to sport a dual-core processor.
The phone is a follow-up to . The 2X features Nvidia’s dual-core Tegra 2 processor running at 1 gigahertz, which promises to bring more horsepower to your phone than any single-core processor can provide. In , the 2X unsurprisingly blew past the Nexus One and Droid X in performance.
It packs a 4-inch display, 8 megapixel rear camera and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video conferencing. The phone will ship with Android 2.2, but LG says that it will be upgradeable to the newer 2.3 release. Notably, it can record 1080p high-definition video (most phones today are limited to 720p HD recording).
I’m personally not too keen on 1080p video recording on cellphones (even though it’s ). Cellphone camera sensors and lenses aren’t sophisticated enough to take advantage of the added resolution in 1080p files, plus storage space is still something that needs to be conserved. The Optimus 2X, for example, packs 8 gigabytes of on-board storage, and you can also add extra storage up to 32 gigabytes.
That’s not a lot of space for 1080p video, a few minutes of which could take up a significant chunk of space. Considering that the difference between professionally made 720p and 1080p HD video is still tough to discern on TV screens under 50 inches, putting 1080p recording on phones just seems like overkill.
The Optimus 2X also packs in a 1,500mAh battery, which is on-par with other high-powered Android smartphones. It’s unclear how that battery will fair with the 2X’s more power-hungry dual-core processor.
LG says the Optimus 2X will land in Korea next month, and it will hit countries in Europe and Asia afterward — markets where the company is likely more comfortable launching major products. There’s no word yet on when it will be available in the US.
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LG’s “iPad killer” Optimus tablet delayed for Android 3.0
Don’t make promises you can’t keep. South Korean electronics giant LG when it said its Android-based Optimus tablet “will be better than the iPad.” Now it appears that we won’t be seeing that tablet anytime soon, .
LG has apparently dropped (codenamed “Froyo”) — a decision which will likely delay its release from late this year to early 2011.
“We plan to introduce a tablet that runs on the most reliable Android version … We are in talks with Google to decide on the most suitable version for our tablet and that is not Froyo 2.2,” an LG official said.
The news comes just a few days after details of hit the Web. Motorola is looking to use Android 3.0 (codenamed “Gingerbread”, due for release later this year) in its tablet, and it’s aiming for an early 2011 release. LG will most likely wait for Android 3.0 as well — an update which is rumored to be more stable and better suited to tablets than current Android versions.
LG’s tablet may also be delayed so that the manufacturer can focus on its iPhone-rivaling Optimus smartphones, according to . The official also says that LG’s tablet hardware is ready to go — it’s the software that’s holding the company back. The tablet will probably be shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next January, he said.
The longer LG waits to get into the tablet game, the less likely it will be able to offer something that’s truly “better than the iPad.” Apple will most likely show off its second-generation iPad early next year, and it will probably include many of the hardware upgrades — like a camera for video conferencing — that LG is looking to include in its device.
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LG says its Android Optimus tablet will be better than the iPad
LG played the internet like a fiddle today when its VP of marketing, Chang Ma, that its upcoming Android Optimus tablet “will be better than the iPad.”
Clearly, this man is a marketing genius. What better way is there to get the word out about its device — which — than saying it’ll be better than a highly successful Apple product.
Surely none of the other hardware manufacturers preparing Android tablets — which at this point includes Asus, Acer, and Dell — actually think their devices stand a chance against the iPad. LG, through its complex oratory jiujitsu, has declared itself the next king of tablets — despite the fact that we know practically nothing about the Optimus tablet.
All we have to go on now are vague promises. “It’s going to be surprisingly productive,” Ma said. Users will be able to write documents, edit video, and it will have some “high-end features and new benefits” with a productivity bent.
He reiterated the sentiment of many iPad critics who deride the device as something primarily meant for content consumption, rather than productivity. But while I would agree that the iPad isn’t an ideal productivity device, nothing about LG’s Optimus tablet seems to be any more productive. iPad users can already create documents, and there are existing apps like for video editing (Apple will certainly release an iMovie app for the iPad as well).
There aren’t any hardware details for LG’s Optimus tablet yet, but you can expect a screen around 10 inches, and enough power under the hood to run Android 3.0 (to be released later this year). LG expects to launch the tablet worldwide by the fourth quarter.
In other news, the company is revamping its smartphone line in September with the release of the Android-powered Optimus One. The phone won’t be a hardware powerhouse, but LG expects it to be a “gateway smartphone” for new users. Eventually, the company will release more powerful Android devices. LG has plans to use Nvidia’s dual-core CPU in the fourth quarter, and it’s also gearing up for 4G phones running LTE technology in 2011.
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