The Inquisitr » lg

LG GW620 “Eve” Arrives In Canada Through Way Of Rogers

James Allen Johnson — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:31:48 +0000

The LG GW620 may not be getting the press received by the Motorola Droid or for that matter even the HTC Droid Eris, but it’s still a great Google Android based Smartphone and with it’s Qwerty keyboard and sleek design it’s a great option for Canadian customers on the Rogers Wireless Network.

The LG Eve features a very cool Social Network Services (SNS) Manager that auto pulls all of your Bebo, Facebook and Twitter updates, while the device also provides plenty of picture taking capabilities with the devices 5MP autofocus camera that also provides facial recognition that can take your photos and tie them into your contacts list based on already established pics.

The LG GW620 also comes equipped with a 3 inch resistive touchscreen (yeah we wanted a capacitive screen too), Quad-band GSM, Triband 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and an accelerometer.

It’s cheap at $49.99, but with a three year contract it’s quite a commitment to make for both voice and data services. BTW, it’s already listed as out of stock. [SlashGear]

Here’s the official and somewhat creepy commercial for the LG Eve:

LG GW620, Companies First Android Smartphone Gets Its Own “Website”

James Allen Johnson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:00:28 +0000

The LG GW620 until this point has been dwarfed by various other Android devices that are about to hit the market. It’s just hard to compete against the marketing that’s went into the Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris devices as of late. With that being said the GW620 now has its own official mini-site.

The page still needs some work, but there are several video demos of the Smartphone, a few standard stock photos, a user manual and a download friendly spec sheet.

The main specs that will interest most users are quad-band GSM, UMTS (900/2100), WiFi and Bluetooth. It also comes in two flavors of internal memory at 2GB and 4GB with a MicroSDHC card slot for 16GB upgrade possibilities.

The GW620 also features a 5MP autofocus camera with a built-in LED flash and offers a 3 inch HVGA resistive panel display (come on LG where’s the capacitive capabilities!). The system also features Google Android 1.5 with a specialized S-Class UI running on top courtesy of LG’s own programming team.

The device according to LG will arrive in “select European markets” before 2009 ends. [Slashgear via LG GW620]

LG Solar Powered Ebook Prototype Gets Revealed

James Allen Johnson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:31:32 +0000

LG has just announced their newest e-Book reader, a 6-inch solar powered unit that features it’s own device sized solar panel.

The “Solar Cell e-Book” helps provide an extra boost to the units battery with as little as a 9.6 percent efficient solar charge.

LG is estimating up to an additional full day of reading capabilities if the unit is exposed to as little as four to five hours of sunlight.

The unit has no expected release date as it still sits in the “prototype” stages, however the paneled device is part of LG’s efforts to improve efficiency by 12 percent in 2010 and up to 14 percent by 2012. [Electronista]

LG Gets Official With the LG BL20 Chocolate Phone

James Allen Johnson — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:18:03 +0000

The LG BL20 Chocolate takes with it the same type of design savvy that made the original Chocolate handsets so popular. LG hopes their new phone will become the must have “fashion accessory” for fashion conscience consumers. Personally I think it looks dated and out of touch.

The phone which features a slider built design with a standard keypad is definitely retro by today’s standards and unfortunately with sleek touchscreen devices it even seems out of touch, regardless of the touch panel frontside design and unique contours.

The BL20 also offers a 5mp camera which includes an LED Flash and Autofocus alongside a 2.4-inch display, Quad-band GSM and an 8GB microSDHC card for added expandable memory. It also supports 3G networks for high speed browsing and downloading.

The LG BL20 is set for an October release and will run $394 off contract. No word yet on a 2-year contract price. [SlipperyBrick]

LG Announces WIDEBOOK Notebook Series. Will Go On Sale This Month

James Allen Johnson — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:44:54 +0000

The newest notebooks from LG offer a display that cinema fans will swoon for. The cinematic widescreen ratio of 16:9 is available on the WIDEBOOK Notebook series which includes five models: R580/R560, R480/R460 and R380.

The displays are also LED backlit and all 5 units feature an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. There are also some differences between models, for example the R580 and R560 units come equipped with 15.6″ displays, while the R480 and R460 notebooks offer 14″ displays and the remaining R380 is the smallest display in the series with a 13.3″ surface.

The higher end R580 and R480 units also offers a stylish design that’s missing from the other units.

No pricing as of yet, but the units are expected for sale by months end. [via SlipperyBrick]

LG Chocolate BL40 Widescreen Phone Arrives This Month

James Allen Johnson — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:30:01 +0000

The LG Chocolate BL40 Widescreen phone has been leaked ahead of LG’s official announcement and it’s a great looking “widescreen” phone with plenty of screen realty.

The phone which will be arriving in September at Carphone Warehouse via wireless carrier Orange, features a huge 4 inch widescreen display which LG has promised is optimized for all of your video game playing, video watching and web browsing thanks to a 21:9 aspect ratio.

The phone is also equipped with 7.2 HSDPA network connectivity and a dual UI which allows users to look at two different content types simultaneously. The curved glass on the BL40 is also scratch resistant as an added bonus.

No word yet on pricing or the exact date of release for the phone.

Silly lawsuit time with Apple & Microsoft in Tsera crosshairs

Steven Hodson — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:30:00 +0000

Here we go again folks, yet another frivolous lawsuit being filed in The Eastern District of Texas (Tyler) District court which as we all known is the favorite court of silly companies looking to get rich via questionable patent lawsuits. This time it is a company by the name of Tsera who are claiming that Apple, Microsoft and about twenty other companies named in the suit have been violating their patent for – “methods and apparatus for controlling a portable electronic device using a touchpad”.

Apparently their patent relates to a touchpad that understands input demands by detecting the pattern of strokes and gestures on the input surface by the user. Tsera claims that several devices that includes the complete line of Apple iPods, the Zune from Microsoft and LG’s Chocolate mobile phone infringe on this patent.

Apple has been singled out in the lawsuit as the worst offender. Tsera complains that Apple knew of the patent’s existence as long ago as September 2004, but has been and “continues to be wilful, wanton and deliberate” in its use of touchpad technology, “carried out with full knowledge and awareness of the Plaintiff’s patent rights and without license from the Plaintiff”.

Tsera is seeking triple damages from Apple as a result of this “deliberate and wilful” copyright infringement, and standard damages from the other companies it accuses of patent infringement. It is also asking the court to require all of the accused companies to pay compulsory future royalty payments for the ongoing use of touchpad technology in their products.

Source: Telegraph :: Apple and Microsoft sued over touchpad interface

The Future of Television has Arrived: CES Internet TV Roundup

Duncan Riley — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:25:55 +0000

As we covered extensively last year, most major TV manufacturers were planning to launch internet enabled television in 2009; the future is here.

Here’s a round up of what’s been released at CES. The biggest question last year was how open the platforms would be; or more precisely how closed they would be. Details included where available.

Sharp

Along with new screen technology, Sharp Internet enabled televisions will have access to the “Sharp Aquos Network portal” that will included widgets from includes a Navteq traffic report map. The Aquos Network doesn’t include web video yet, but there’s a reason: the new line of TV’s includes built in Bluray players.

Internet TV score: FAIL.

Toshiba

The new internet enabled televisions from Toshiba pack a punch: the cell processor best known for being the power behind the PlayStation 3. Primarily the chip will deliver ultra-high definition viewing, but it also opens the TV up to a number of other features. According to specs, as well as offering DVR functionality built in, the televisions will support the Intel/ Yahoo Widgets platform. The platform isn’t as open as say a web browser, but does allow developers to build on it, and when first launched last year included promised on video on demand. The down size is costs, with the new sets to be offered in the $5-10,000 price range. Toshiba though is going to offer a box to attach to existing sets, price isn’t known.

Internet TV score: Nice, but costly.

Panasonic

Panasonic was the first major manufacturer to launch an internet enabled television, although one model only in 2008. The lineup for 2009 expands three series – The Z1 series, the V10 series and the G10 series. Panasonic offers its own internet platform under the VEIRACAST brand. Content includes YouTube, Picasa Web Albums, Bloomberg and weather service; an newly announced HD movie rental via Amazon Video-on-Demand. Nice line up, but similar to the Apple TV, and sadly closed to general browsing

Internet TV score: a reasonable start well priced.

LG was the mystery playing coming in to CES. There was some rumors of that they’d play, and I’d speculated they would as well, although earlier announcements said they were more focused on internet enabling Bluray players. LG made the announcement of an internet enabled TV Jan 5 (details here). The sets will offer the Intel/ Yahoo Widget engine and content from YouTube and Netflix. Still a closed system, but appealing.

Internet TV score: win, but wish it wasn’t closed

Windows Media Extender

Add to the list Samsung and Toshiba’s pledge to support for Windows Media Extender, although it’s not clear if this will be available immediately. This will open up both to extra content, although a little fussy.

Conclusion

It’s a nice start to the beginning of the internet television era. The problem with all the sets so far though is that they remain closed; users can’t for example go to Hulu or a similar service for shows, and this will limit their appeal. However eventually having these features as standard means that they’ll be purchased anyway, and that’s where the space is headed. The only issue now is getting people to buy televisions at all given the economic crisis. The roll out will be slow, but it will happen.

LG Unveils Internet-Enabled, Netflix-Connected TVs

JR — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:37:10 +0000

Netflix has partnered with LG Electronics to create a new line of Internet-enabled, HD video-streaming televisions.

The new TVs, announced Monday, will officially debut at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The sets will offer Ethernet connections built in to both plasma and LCD displays for high-definition content streaming. Users will be able to pick movies directly from an on-screen list without having to use a computer or access their Netflix “queues” of selected titles.

The new models are expected to cost about $300 more than similar televisions without the Internet option.

The move follows LG’s recent creation of the BD300 Internet-enabled Blu-ray player, which also offers users the option to download movies directly from Netflix. Past Netflix deals have made its videos available via the Xbox 360, certain TiVo DVR models, and Blu-ray players made by Samsung. Other electronics manufacturers, including Samsung, have recently come out with Internet-integrated TVs that are connected to other specific media services, including YouTube and Picasa.

Analysts have predicted the number of Internet-enabled televisions to grow massively over the coming years. Only 1 percent of TVs sold in the U.S. were Web-ready in 2008. By 2012, the number is expected to climb to 14 percent. Some accounts, including The Inquisitr’s own Duncan Riley’s, see the trend skyrocketing after that point, perhaps even as high to 100% by the year 2015.

By 2015, every new television will be internet enabled

Duncan Riley — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:00:34 +0000

From the sublime to the ridiculous, years of promise in bringing the internet to the television screen is finally starting to deliver. We’ve covered Sony and Samsung entering the race to deliver internet to the lounge room, now add Panasonic and Phillips to the list.

Panasonic’s VieraCast will incorporate content from EuroSport, Bloomberg, Google’s Picassa and YouTube, with more in the pipeline with the first sets to go on sale in the northern spring 2009. Phillips’ Net TV service will also be built into sets going on sale in 2009.

In terms of marketshare, the only company missing from the list is the US number three player LG. Although they have yet to demonstrate an internet enabled television, LG is the company that brought the world the internet refrigerator, and currently supports internet access in their Blu-ray players, allowing users to stream or download content from Netflix. It’s not a matter of if LG will join the party, it’s only a question of when.

2009 will be the year of internet television. All major players will offer internet connectivity in some form or another across parts of their product range.

But availability doesn’t deliver ubiquity.

Television sales are interesting in the context of the US downturn, actually rising as the economy slowed. Two factors today are driving sales: the affordability and desirability of large screen televisions, and the impeding switch to digital television. Both apply nearly equally across Western countries. We want our big screens, and word of mouth and clever marketing is driving demand for HD. Where as a television may have remained in the family for 20 years in the past, we willingly update our television sets every 5 years or so now to keep up with the Jones’.

The economics of replacement exist, if you don’t have a big screen now you may have budgeted it as a future purchase. If you have a big screen now, you may be wondering whether it’s big enough, a question I’ve already asked myself about our 18 month old 40″ Sony Bravia. I know I’m not about to go out and replace my set, but as prices continue to fall and screens get bigger, it’s conceivable that in the next 2-3 years, I’ll be upgrading again.

But what defines one set to another? Sony, Panasonic, Phillips and Samsung believe that internet access will be a selling point in driving future sales. Some will offer a more open platforms than others, and users will be given a variety of choices. If considering the same sized television, with the same screen resolution, inputs, at the same price, and one has internet access, it’s pretty obvious which one consumer will choose. The differentiation will then drive supply, as those not offering internet enabled televisions will scramble to match the competition. Features will improve, the range will expand, until ultimately we get to the point where every new television offered for sale will become internet enabled.

2015 will be 6 years after internet television hits the big time. Even if we take a television replacement cycle out to 6-8 years, enough people will be in the market to drive the adaption forward so that internet functionality won’t be a driver, it will become just another standard feature as technology such as OLED become the new focal points. Every television set will offer internet connectivity, as those that didn’t offer access have ceased selling, or been upgraded to keep up. In 2015, the idea that your new television set isn’t internet enabled will be foreign to general populous.

So long broadcast television

When I wrote about the death of broadcast television, I mentioned the rise of the internet enabled television as the driver of the nail into traditional televisions nail. What I didn’t know then was how quickly this change would come around, and even months ago I couldn’t have predicted that in 2009 internet enabled televisions would be everywhere. I’m still putting the death at 10 to 20 years, but what we are seeing now can only hasten the downfall of broadcast television. Take it as a given that by 2014 the majority of people will have an internet enabled television, and that by the end of the decade all bar a small few will have digital delivery of content in their lounge rooms. We can look no further than the content deals already being cut with this first generation of internet televisions that cable channels in particular are scrambling to offer their content on demand digitally, and smart television companies will follow, because they will realize that to reach their audience, digital content delivery will win out over broadcast television when everyone has access via their remote control.