LG Electronics got rolling at 2011 Consumer Electronics
Show by introducing a haul of new devices, including nine phones,
Bluetooth headsets, a wireless charging pad and two USB modems—the
company’s first devices to work with 4G networks.
"In an ever-changing wireless industry, it is vital that
we continue to listen to the voice of our consumers and develop devices
that meet their growing needs," Tim O'Brien, LG’s vice president of
marketing, said in a statement. "LG is dedicated to providing users
with products that embody the latest in innovation and consumer
benefits.”
Starting from the top, the LG Quantum runs Windows Phone
7—another first for LG—and features a 1GHz processor, a
5-megapixel camera with video and the ability to stream media content
directly to DLNA-DMR (Digital Living Network Alliance) devices. It can
connect over WiFi and Bluetooth, and with ActiveSync technology can
synchronize e-mail, contact and calendar information. The Quantum also
includes Zune Xbox Live gaming and Microsoft Office Mobile 2010.
For first-time Verizon smartphone owners, the
Android-running LG Vortex can connect over 3G or WiFi, features a
3.2-inch touch screen with tactile feedback and has seven customizable
home screens. There’s a 3.2-megapixel camera with video capabilities,
and the Vortex can act as a mobile hotspot to other devices.
Another Android smartphone, the LG Optimus T, for
T-Mobile (there are four Optimus phones, get ready), is again for
first-time smartphone folks wanting an affordable, easy-to-use option.
It features Voice Actions for Android, so users can instruct it through
voice commands to send a text or e-mail, call a contact, listen to music
and more. It also provides access to the Android market and popular
social-networking sites.
The LG Optimus S, for Sprint, comes with Sprint ID, a new
way of customizing Android devices. It’s also the only Sprint ID phone,
LG officials said, to launch with Android 2.2 and offer “hotspot
functionality.” Users can also download ID packs—up to five per
phone—which enable the phone to be customized with
grouped-together widgets, ringtones, wallpapers and applications,
catered around a particular interest. Sports, say, or dogs.
Looking just about identical to the Optimus S, the LG
Optimus U, for U.S. Cellular, again runs Android 2.2 and features
a 3.2-inch touch screen with Swype—a “superfast” way, according to LG
officials, to navigate around the display. The Optimus U can also act
as a hotspot, comes with a 3.2-megapixel camera and offers up to
seven customizable home screens.
The fourth of the Optimus phones is the Optimus M—for MetroPCS owners. Like the others, it runs Android 2.2 and
includes the 3.2-inch display, lots of options for customization and
access to the Android Market’s 100,000-plus options.
Lucky number seven is the LG Neon II, headed for
AT&T. Designed to put users at the center of their social circle,
per LG, it features a touch screen paired with AT&T Social Net—a
sort of social mission control that streams together data from
Facebook, Twitter and other social-networking and news sites into a
single application. The Neon II also features a slide-out QWERTY
keypad, an MP3 player, a built-in camcorder, the ability to quickly
upload video and a microSD slot for saving it. LG suggests you might
record and upload footage of yourself dancing, but really, let us be
your better friend and say: This is a good idea for very, very few
people.
The LG Octane, again for the gaming- and socially
inclined, opens on a double hinge to reveal a QWERTY keyboard and comes
with Facebook, MySpace and Twitter integrated. Also on board are V CAST
Music with Rhapsody, voice commands, a Mobile E-mail Client 4.0, a
3.2-megapixel camera, a Web browser and Visual Voicemail.
And finally, the ninth new LG phone is the rather refined
looking Cosmos Touch. It pairs a 2.8-inch WQVGA touch screen with a
slide-out, four-row QWERTY keyboard. Three home screens can be
customized with widgets, and it supports voice commands, and mobile
instant messaging, Web and e-mail.
On to the accessories, the LG HBM-810 is, in LG’s
opinion, the “ultimate road warrior’s headset.” Slim, with a
brushed-silver exterior, it can sit in a speaker phone cradle, when
users are in a car or otherwise alone, or snap off and be popped into
the ear, for private conversations (at least on one end). It offers up
to 5 hours of talk time and 150 hours of standby—and when the
juice finally does run low, the cradle can charge via solar power.
Additional features include auto reconnect, voice dialing, caller ID
and A2DP, for listening to music.
Looking more like something for a futuristic Sony
Walkman, the LG HBS-700 is a stereo Bluetooth headset for talking and
music listening. Controls on the headset’s slim frame allow for
answering calls or skipping songs.
The new LG Wireless Charging Pad is exactly that—a
pad that users can place phones on, to charge them without external
connections. On average, a “standard smartphone” should charge in two
hours.
Finally, LG also introduced two USB 4G modems. For
Verizon Wireless subscribers, there’s the LG VL600 LTE USB modem, for
connecting to Verizon’s new 4G LTE network, and for AT&T
subscribers is the LG Adrenaline, for connecting to AT&T’s EDGE,
HSPA and soon-to-launch LTE network. Both modems feature little
flip-top caps that cover over the business end of the devices when
they’re not in use.
LG has yet to announce when these new devices will
launch, and chances are excellent that pricing will vary according to
carrier.
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