LG introduces next Generation Smartphone design and display with LG OPTIMUS Black

New LG Optimus Black Delivers Breakthrough NOVA Display Technology in the World’s Slimmest Smartphone Device 

Las Vegas, 5 January, 2011 – LG Electronics (LG) announced today it will unveil a new Android smartphone, LG Optimus Black, at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) from January 6th in Las Vegas. Providing users with a dramatically brighter 4-inch NOVA display in the world’s slimmest 9.2 mm mobile device, LG Optimus Black creates a one-of-a-kind user experience unlike anything before.

Available for the first time in the mobile market, LG Optimus Black’s NOVA display is designed to be the brightest, clearest and most readable among mobile screens with 700 nits of brightness for optimal visibility. LG Optimus Black provides users with an easier and more natural experience when browsing the web, reading emails, or writing documents with higher levels of brightness and pure white tones that deliver true black and white colours for ideal handset viewing. NOVA technology featured on LG Optimus Black also enables users to maintain visibility whether indoors or outdoors under strong sunlight.

In addition to greater luminosity, the NOVA display on LG Optimus Black also radically reduces power consumption by 50 percent during general indoor use compared to a conventional LCD. Similarly, AMOLED consumes twice as much power as NOVA to display a full white screen, the most frequently used colour scheme for web browsing. Combined with the 1500 mAh battery of the LG Optimus Black, users will have enough power for their daily needs, even at maximum brightness settings.

Users will never be out of style with the LG Optimus Black’s ultra slim 9.2 mm design.

Making a strong visual statement, LG Optimus Black weighs only 109g and offers sleek lines and smooth edges that improve handheld grip. Tapering down to the world’s thinnest smartphone profile of 6.0 mm, LG Optimus Black’s subtle back arch helps to create the illusion of even greater slimness. Unique to the LG Optimus Black, the flush and flawless finish of the front display is achieved by innovatively hiding the Invisible Receiver behind the edges of the phone.

“We are excited to introduce this stylish new Android smartphone and expect the LG Optimus Black to play a key role in the mobile market,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “LG Optimus Black reflects our core strengths of advanced technology, in both display and design, offering the world’s brightest screen and the world’s slimmest design in an attractive and smart package.”

The LG Optimus Black also offers a set of smarter features designed for easy and faster access to important apps and content. Optimus UI 2.0 lets users directly access messages, emails and missed calls from the locked screen with just one single finger tap. The Gesture UI offers more intuitive commands, including lifting, shaking and tapping, for taking calls, entering camera mode, or enjoying music. LG Optimus Black also introduces the world’s first Wi-Fi Direct™ for quick and high-quality data transfer between mobile devices and adopts the world’s first 2MP front-facing camera.

All LG Optimus Black features are available on the Android 2.2 Froyo platform with Android 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade capability. Utilizing the 2MP front-facing camera, LG Optimus Black allows users to utilize video telephony functions of higher quality after upgrading to Android’s Gingerbread.

The LG Optimus Black will be rolled out globally in the first half of 2011.

Sony announces Bloggie Touch and Bloggie 3D : DigInfo

Ok, I posted this to the wrong blog before, but never mind. These look intersting, I wonder if the tech, including the 3D camera will make it's way into Sony Ericsson phones before too long?

Samsung expands Android family with new mp3 player

on Jan 06, 2011

Samsung brings first Android MP3 device to market with its Galaxy Player 50

Samsung Electronics today announces the launch of the Galaxy Player 50, the world’s first Android powered MP3 device. Available now from online and high street retailers, the Samsung Galaxy Player 50 offers more than just music, as people can use it to consume all their favourite entertainment and enjoy the benefits that come with Android Marketplace compatibility such as access to over 100000 apps, including a huge range of games.

Featuring a 3.2 inch touch screen, 2-megapixel camera, plus Wi-Fi and GPS, the Galaxy Player is the perfect portable companion for anyone who loves music and entertainment. This sleek, stylish device comes with an expandable memory, meaning the 8GB or 16GB internal memory can be expanded simply by adding a micro-SD card up to 32GB in size. So sharing and uploading different content has never been easier.

The browser on the Galaxy Player is compatible with Flash and its open operating system means people are able to play a variety of file types natively through drag-and-drop, including MPEG4, WMV and DivX / XviD video files. There is no hassle involved converting video and support is available for multiple music files. Film fanatics and music fans can therefore store and carry around their own personal entertainment library in a compact, lightweight portable player, irrespective of the file type.

Joining the Galaxy Player 50 and previously released Tic Toc in Samsung’s growing MP3 portfolio and already available to buy in the UK are the U6 and Q3 devices. The Samsung Q3, which is available in two colour variations (white and pink, and black and silver) and has a durable aluminum finish, is not only super stylish but is also easy to use. It comes with a Task Manager which allows people to easily switch from one screen to the next, so they can instantly move from listening to music to watching a video at the touch of just one button.

The Samsung U6 meanwhile boasts a premium metallic design in both black and hot pink, and comes with an inbuilt 'slide and hide' USB connector, so people can upload their favourite tunes simply by connecting the device to a computer, making it one of the easiest MP3 players to use. The U6 also features SoundAlive which provides a sound quality that is second to none.

Simon Stanford, Managing Director, Mobile, Samsung UK and Ireland said, “Samsung is excited to be announcing the launch of the Galaxy Player 50, a new addition to our MP3 portfolio, and an extension to the popular Galaxy family. That, combined with the recently launched U6 and Q3 means that whether it’s music, games or videos people are into, there really is something for everyone from our range of products.”

The Samsung Galaxy Player 50 is available to buy now from retailers including, Amazon, Play.com and Argos at a cost of £149 RRP. The Samsung U6 is available with a choice of 2GB and 4GB memory and retailing from £39 RRP whilst the Samsung Q3, also in store now, can be bought from £59 RRP in both 4GB and 8GB variants.

The sleek super-slim Sony Ericsson Xperia™ arc

You know what, this could be a decent one from Sony. Looks good, has the right operating system and they've got rid of the wart like Fastport connector that has blighted the majority of Sony phones since as long as I can remember. I may have found my upgrade candidate for the end of the year!

E-Readers

OK, here we go with a quick round-up of the top e-readers on Amazon at the moment. These are interesting devices that fill an interesting niche at the moment. They're a reading tablet with a low power LCD screen that's designed for maximum battery life and to look as much like a sheet of paper as possible. Many are purely off-line meaning you have to upload content to them from a PC, although some are now available with Wifi and 3G connectivity so you can download new reading material while out and about. Most of the original and most popular ones sported a monochrome display that was designed to look more like paper, the distinction between an e-reader and a tablet PC are merging with the emergence of full colour displays and the use of the Android operating system that turns the humble e-reader into a fully fledged internet tablet. Here is just a few suggestions that came to the top of the Amazon search I just ran.

Windows running on chips designed by UK firm Arm marks a "milestone" for the firm says its boss.

Microsoft demonstrated a full version of Windows running on Arm chips at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.Arm boss Warren East said the demonstration grew out of a long-standing relationship between the two firms.He said it was part of a broader strategy to grow the number of places in which Arm-derived chips are used.

News about Microsoft's successful attempt to get a full version of Windows running on Arm chips - which are more usually found powering mobile phones - dominated the opening day of CES.

The demonstration is seen as significant because before until now the full version of Windows has run on processors built around Intel's X86 architecture. "It was a milestone day for Arm," Warren East, chief executive of the Cambridge-based firm. "It puts Arm in a better position than we were yesterday."

"There's a whole swathe of the market that's been cut off from us and that's been Windows," he said. The opportunity to take some of that market share as tablets, slates and other portable computers become more popular was "very attractive" to Arm, he added. In the demonstration, Windows was shown running on chips made by Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Nvidia. Mr East said he expected many of the 220 licensees of its technology to produce gadgets that run Windows.

He would not be drawn on when the first products would appear on shop shelves, but said standard estimates of product development suggest the first are 18 - 24 months away.

Mr East said the company's relationship with Microsoft began 15 years ago, when the pair collaborated on early versions of Windows for portable devices. That work has continued into its most current version Windows Phone 7, he said.

Arm also works with Microsoft on a version of its software that runs on embedded devices used in industrial machines.

However, it is likely that the devices likely to emerge from this most recent work will be tablets and slates running Windows 8, which is expected to be able to work with multi-touch screens far better than its predecessor. Mr East also pointed out that getting a full version of Windows running on Arm expands the places that Microsoft can look to run its software too.

"They are ambitious to put that operating system everywhere," he said. "It works for both of us."

At the moment, said Mr East, Arm chips were found in a range of gadgets that broadly occupied the middle-ground of the computer hardware market. Arm's strategy, of which the work with Microsoft was a part, is to expand at the top and bottom ends of that hardware spectrum.

For instance, he said, Arm was keen to make servers that can be used in large data centres but use far less power than those based on Intel or AMD chips. "If you look at the costs of running a data centre," he said, "space is a constraint and getting power in and power out is a costly and difficult problem."

"If you can halve the energy consumption by moving to a low power architecture you can quarter your costs because it costs as much to cool the thing as it does to run the thing," he said. Arm has been working on designs for server chips for about 18 months, he said, and is now moving from the experimental stage to more serious tests.

At the lower end, said Mr East, Arm is also keen to get its chip designs used to control the motors used in increasing numbers of household goods. To get the best out of the brushless motors that are becoming common requires a significant amount of processing, he said.

"Most electric motors could be made twice as efficient with intelligent controls," he said. "Some of that you cannot do with eight-bit micro-controllers because they cannot do the sums fast enough."

iPad real brushes

Here's a really interesting one, real brush stylus for the iPad. Now you can paint realistically straight onto the iPad. We've all used finger painting apps on the iPad and iPhone, but how about brush styli that work like real brushes! A major step up from all those graphics tablets we're using!


Nomad Brush for the iPad from Don Lee on Vimeo.