02/13, 10:40am
LG Optimus 3D 2 may get visual, dimension upgrades
LG's CX2, possibly badged as the Optimus 3D 2 or Optimus 3D Max, was given possibly leaked details along with a new press render on Monday. The new version was now expected by ETNews to have a newly optimized, IPS-based 3D display. Accordingly, it would have "greatly enhanced" 3D photography, keeping the dual five-megapixel cameras (not two as machine-translated) but adding "easier" editing and more content.
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02/12, 7:25pm
Samsung tablets outsold by Apple in home turf
Industry insider estimates have claimed that the iPad 2 has reached the million-unit sales mark in South Korea. The milestone came after a late November 2010 launch and 700,000 iPads shipped just in 2011, leaving the remaining 300,000 to have been sold in two and a half months' time, the Korea Herald said. That number could be higher, Korean media thought, since many had bought iPads even before official approval.
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02/12, 12:45pm
Google TV gets teased update
Google made the unusual choice of a Facebook posting to hint at "big announcements" coming for Google TV on Monday. The company wouldn't give any clues as to its plans. It's unlikely to include any minor OS updates, since it recently updated to Android 3.2.
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02/10, 7:50pm
Samsung complains, refuses to negotiate
KT, Korea's largest wire-line operator and Internet services provider, has begun limiting web access to Samsung's Smart TVs. KT took the step a day after it warned Korean TV makers that it could not give Internet-enabled TVs a "free ride" over its network. The service provider wants compensation for the alleged heavy traffic the TVs create, claiming it slows down Internet service to its other customers.
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02/10, 7:05pm
LG Optimus Vu caught in the wild, wider than Note
The LG Optimus Vu has surfaced in live photos. The large ‘phablet’ centers on a 5-inch display that uses a 4:3 aspect ratio resulting in wider 90mm body than the 5.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Note, which comes in at 83mm wide. The device is expected to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress, which runs from February 27 through March 1.
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02/10, 2:55pm
LG Miracle given full look before MWC
LG's Miracle was given its first fully outlined look Friday after it was spotted in live photos. Briefly popping up on a Romanian auction site, the Windows Phone seen by GSMArena lined up with descriptions of a device with a four-inch screen. The device, clearly an escaped prototype, also verified the five-megapixel rear camera and what looked to be a front camera.
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02/09, 8:55am
Telus becomes 3rd Canadian carrier with LTE
Telus became the third Canadian carrier with an LTE-based 4G network on Thursday. Starting on February 10 in Halifax, the carrier will have the same 75Mbps peak download speeds and 12-25Mbps averages as the existing networks from rivals Bell and Rogers. It plans to kick off the network with the Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE, LG's Optimus LTE smartphone, and Novatel's Ovation MC679 modem; the Galaxy Note with LTE will be available on February 14.
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02/08, 7:50pm
DOJ may OK Google-Motorola with conditions
The Department of Justice is leaning towards approving Google's takeover of Motorola, insiders leaked Wednesday. It wasn't clear what the motivating reasons were in the Wall Street Journal tip, but the approval could be publicized as soon as next week. Regulators would mostly be watching to see if Google abused the patents it would get with Motorola to attack competitors.
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02/08, 11:25am
LG to bring Optimus Vu with 5-inch screen to MWC?
LG is teasing a new handset on the web, the Optimus Vu, which could make a debut at Mobile World Congress. The handset would be rather unique, and is LG's first to get a 4:3 aspect ratio for its large five-inch, 1024x768 IPS touchscreen. Otherwise, it shoud sport a 1.5GHz, dual-core Snapdragon chip and 1GB of RAM.
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02/08, 9:35am
Sprint gives more details of LTE, iPhone in call
Sprint in the wake of its fall results expanded its LTE plans and also touted the iPhone as a better option for its network than Android. The carrier now planned to add its original WiMAX city, Baltimore, to the cities getting LTE-based 4G by mid-2012. Sprint's home area of Kansas City was also new and would see a total of six cities getting the new network.
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02/07, 2:20pm
LG Miracle to carry Nova display, base specs
LG's plans to relaunch into Windows Phones became more definitive Tuesday after a sighting caught more definitive plans. The Miracle, seen by PocketNow in a press render, was previously known as the Fantasy and shows LG hoping to catch the relative low end. Its highlight should be a four-inch, extra-bright Nova LCD, although it's rumored to come with NFC that could demand the Tango update coming to the OS later this year.
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02/04, 4:05pm
Windows Phone Tango and Apollo dated
Microsoft's roadmap for Windows Phone was given a possible outline in a rumor Saturday. Tango, the first minor update, was pegged by Digitimes contacts as going live in March or April if Microsoft clinged to its roadmap. The rumored second Tango update would arrive in mid-year.
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02/04, 1:25pm
Motorola royalty demands of Apple uncovered
Newly uncovered documents from Apple's opposition to a Motorola attempt to silence its requests have uncovered Motorola's demands for a 3G patent license. In explaining why it needed to get details of Qualcomm's patent deal with Motorola, Apple mentioned that Motorola had wanted a 2.25 percent royalty on Apple product sales as its attempt at a FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) patent licensing offer. Florian Mueller, who unearthed the details, saw it as likely an excessive rate given that Apple wouldn't only be licensing from Motorola and that it could significantly raise the price of selling an iPhone or 3G iPad.
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02/02, 10:55pm
Apple TV set may miss Q2 without Sharp displays
Speculation that Apple might ship its own TV set as soon as the spring was cast into doubt by an unusual counter-rumor late Thursday. Supposed industry contacts told Digitimes that there weren't any signs Sharp was ready to ship the IGZO displays many believe Apple would be using for the device. Yields of workable displays were also considered a possible problem.
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02/02, 2:20pm
LG to bring P880, P700 Android 4 phones to MWC?
Specs for two upcoming LG smartphones have been spotted online by Italian site HDBlog. The phones are expected to show up at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona at the end of the month, and include the P880, with a 720p display, along with the unusual, 640x480 P700.
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02/02, 12:25pm
$40 LTE plan back at MetroPCS on more phones
MetroPCS this week brought back its Unlimited $40 per month plan for 4G handsets. It's available on the Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G, LG Esteem, and Samsung Galaxy Indulge smartphones, which were only previously available with the $50 or $60 LTE plans. The same unlimited web browsing and YouTube access in addition to the same unlimited talk and text as before is included.
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02/02, 9:10am
IDC says Apple past LG in Q4 and all of 2011
New IDC data has shown Apple's 37 million iPhone sales making it the third-largest cellphone maker in the world. More than doubling its shipments, in tandem with LG nearly cutting its shipments in half to 17.7 million, saw it move up a spot and stake out 8.7 percent of the entire cellphone space. The change in position carried through for all of 2011, with Apple's 93.2 million iPhones putting it at six percent of all phones sold that year while LG was down to 5.7 percent, or 88.1 million.
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02/01, 12:25am
LG smartphone team gets 10m in fall 2011
LG had mixed news on Wednesday that showed a possible turnaround of its long-suffering mobile group. Although the company as a whole posted a loss equivalent to $97.7 million, its mobile division turned a slight $10 million profit. Most of the recovery came on the back of the Optimus LTE and its US variant the Nitro HD.
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01/31, 1:50pm
Samsung 55-inch OLED TV to cost well under 8K
Samsung in a discussion weeks after CES gave positive signs that its 55-inch Super OLED TV will be within reach of everyday buyers. To be called the KN55ES9600 when it reaches the US, the exotic set should cost well under the 8,000 euros some had been expecting, Austria's OLED.at said, and by extension under the $8,000 many had expected for the US version. When it ships, the TV should only cost "slightly higher" than premium LED-backlit LCD sets.
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01/30, 4:35pm
T-Mobile leak shows five phones phasing out
T-Mobile will soon phase out a number of Android smartphones, with a couple of fairly new ones among them. The list comes from an inventory screen capture shared by TMoNews. The handsets reaching their end-of-life status include the HTC Sensation 4G, HTC Amaze 4G, LG DoublePlay, LG myTouch Q and LG myTouch.
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01/27, 4:40pm
LG Optimus 3D successor to be called 3D Max?
The recently leaked CX2 handset from LG will be coming to the MWC show in Barcelona next month carrying the 3D Max name, the outlet GSM-Israeli reported. Whatever its final name, the phone would replace the Optimus 3D and sport a glasses-free 3D display. The name could also be Optimus 3D Max, though this might not apply to some regional versions.
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01/27, 11:50am
LG Display to make 48,000 flat panels per month
Flat panel supplier LG Display has revealed on Friday that it will begin production of its very impressive 55-inch OLED HDTV panel we got a close look at during CES in July. LG itself will put the panel into its 4mm thick, 55EM9600 HDTV, which was also introduced at CES. LG Display's prototype eight-generation production line will reportedly manufacture 48,000 of the panels per month.
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01/27, 11:10am
ABI says iPhone 4S rise led to Android loss
Apple's record iPhone sales have led to Android shrinking for the first time in its over three-year history, ABI Research estimated Friday. Operating on the belief that next-closest Samsung shipped 33 million smartphones, it had Android's collective share drop from 52.5 percent in the summer to 47 percent this fall. Apart from the iPhone 4S' launch effect, Android had 'sagging midsection' where LG, Motorola, and Sony had been fighting just to become profitable.
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01/25, 10:45am
LG beats own chest with 1m Optimus LTE sales
LG Electronics on Wednesday revealed that its Optimus LTE handsets have sold more than one million units. The Android 2.3 device, touted by its maker as the first that combines an HD touchscreen with LTE for 4G, is sold in Canada, Japan, South Korea, and the US, sometimes under different names. The device sold 600,000 in its first three months on the market in Korea after its October launch last year.
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01/24, 11:45am
Corporation leaps ahead of Samsung
Apple has become the biggest semiconductor buyer in the world, having spent $17 billion on chips in 2011, says Gartner. The research group notes that Apple spent 34.6 percent more last year than it did in 2010, leapfrogging out of third place to beat Samsung, which managed $16.7 billion for 2011. HP sits at third in the new results, having paid out $16.6 billion. Apple saw the fastest growth of any party in the top 10.
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01/23, 1:00pm
LG CX2 handset with 3D display, dual cams, leaked
A new set of leaked details from PocketNow show that LG may have more than one major smartphone update in the near future. The CX2 may replace the company's Optimus 3D, it would get a brighter Nova display but it will retain the 4.3-inch size and resolution. The 1GHz chip would be replaced by a faster, 1.2GHz chip.
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01/21, 3:30pm
iGR shows most Andorid phones bought without study
A new study from iGR has suggested that Android might be dominant in the US but that many of those buying weren't making a conscious choice for the platform. About 47 percent of the smartphone base in the country reportedly was using Android, but only 45 percent of those were knowledgeable about Google's OS and chose it by name. Another 27 percent picked their phones based on Google's reputation.
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01/20, 2:10pm
Quad-core LG phone shows in leaked image
LG's first quad-core handset, carrying the working name of X3 thus far, has been spotted by PocketNow. It would get the same NVIDIA Tegra 3 chip as used in the Transformer Prime tablet from ASUS and would run Android 4.0. Along with this, the early specs would give it a large 4.7-inch, 1280x720 display and a thickness of less than 0.35 inches.
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01/20, 11:20am
Touchtv for iPad and LG arrives
Startup firm SkyGrid has formally rolled out a platform for on-demand streaming of major TV networks. Touchtv, launching first on the iPad (free, App Store), includes TV from the four major broadcast networks as well as Discovery, ESPN, and others. Viewers make personalized channel listings in a format meant to partly replicate traditional TV.
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01/19, 1:40pm
LG Spectrum $200 at Verizon on $70 minimum plan
As expected the LG Spectrum we had a chance to check out at CES has launched at Verizon on Thursday. It sports a 4.5-inch, 720p display and connects to the carrier's 4G LTE network in areas that support it. The handset launches with Android 2.3.5 but will be upgraded to Android 4.0 in the future.
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01/19, 11:20am
T-Mobile UK to offer LG Prada 3.0 in February
The LG Prada phone 3.0 will soon arrive at T-Mobile UK, the carrier revealed. The date is sometime in February, though no other details were given. Third-party vendor already offers the handset with contracts through Vodafone and Orange starting at £31 (about $48) per month without a fee for the handset, so T-Mobile UK's price should be similar.
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01/17, 10:30pm
LG Optimus Pad LTE ramps clock speed, 4G
LG took its second shot at tablets in an unusual post-CES launch with the Optimus Pad LTE. A direct sequel to the original we reviewed, it keeps the 8.9-inch, 1280x768 IPS screen and jumps to its namesake 4G for Internet access. Added speed comes through a platform switch, with LG moving from the dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 to a similarly dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon.
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01/17, 11:20am
Sony hints at upcoming Dot Switch phone feature
Sony Japan has just released a teaser video touting a new Dot Switch feature or technology. It may be related to smartphones interacting with home entertainment gear such as TVs and receivers. Dot Switch is being dubbed as "new entertainment from Sony" in the clip.
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01/16, 11:30am
Pantech in talks with Microsoft over Android tech
South Korean cellphone maker Pantech revealed on Monday it is talking with Microsoft about if it should pay royalties for the patents the software giant holds on Android-powered devices. No specific details have been worked out yet, however, a spokesperson said. How much the patent license is worth hasn't been revealed either.
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01/13, 6:50pm
Company premiers 55" OLED model
LG showed off a range of new products this week at CES, including a number of new TVs. Electronista took an early look at the company's 2012 lineup, which includes many 3D models and a 55-inch OLED flagship that stunned the crowds with its extreme contrast ratio and color saturation.
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01/13, 11:40am
LG and Google may make reference Google TV device
A pair of sources claimed Friday that Google was partnering with LG to develop a refernece Google TV set. Much like the Galaxy Nexus or the Nexus One before it, the display outlined to Bloomberg would run the latest version of the Android-based interface, possibly before anyone else, and would go without any customizations. The set would be running the next major version, which Google has already said should arrive before the end of the year.
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01/12, 2:20pm
Phone $280 with $55 monthly plan
Boost Mobile, the non-contract service of wireless provider Sprint, will soon offer its version of the LG Marquee. The no-frills Android 2.3 smartphone incorporates a single-core 1GHz processor and a four-inch, 700-nit brightness Nova touchscreen. Sprint began offering the phone under its own brand with a two-year contract back in October.
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01/12, 1:20pm
Global roaming coming during 1st half of year
Earlier this week at CES, LG and Motorola unveiled two new phones destined for Verizon's 4G LTE network. Phone Scoop has learned that the two phones, the Motorola Droid 4 and LG Spectrum, will be able to roam globally using GSM as well as CDMA, Verizon's core wireless technology. This capability should be available sometime during the first half of this year.
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01/12, 12:45pm
LG licenses Microsoft patents, explores partners
LG on Thursday became the latest company steered into signing a patent license deal with Microsoft. The Spectrum designer has agreed to pay Microsoft an unknown amount for "broad coverage" both on Android and Chrome OS despite LG not yet having a Chromebook on the market. Unlike past such licenses, however, Microsoft didn't issue a boilerplate observation that LG was paying royalties, leaving the door open to a lump sum.
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01/11, 9:00pm
Dual-core 1.5GHz CPU paired with 720p display
Among the high-end smartphones introduced at CES, LG added its Spectrum handset to the crowd of upcoming Android devices. Electronista took a closer look at the company's new Android flagship, which features 4G LTE connectivity, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a 720p HD display.
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01/11, 8:00pm
LG's latest premium notebooks
LG is among several computer makers that have unveiled ultrabooks this week at CES in Las Vegas. Electronista had a chance to try out the company's new premium notebooks, the Z330 and Z430, which are labeled "super ultrabooks" and feature compact housings and a metallic silver finish.
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01/10, 2:15pm
LG Display gives us a glimpse of future products
LG Display (LGD) offered us a personal look into their future products at CES and we came away quite impressed with what we saw. OLED, particularly White Organic Light Emitting Diode (WOLED) is what the supplier is betting on for its future flagship displays as part of a mission to become the industry leader in displays. There are numerous reasons but chief among them is performance and price and how they relate to each other specifically.
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01/09, 4:50pm
Sprint unveils first LTE devices
Sprint on Monday ended some rumors and detailed its first three LTE devices. At the front is its own version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The Android 4.0 flagship will be identical to the Verizon model but will be the only version so far to be officially blessed with Google Wallet support, letting it use its NFC to pay at MasterCard's PayPass readers in the US.
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01/09, 12:55pm
LG prices Spectrum, talks TVs, fridges, more
At its press conference at CES on Monday morning, LG revealed details on much of it key upcoming gear and plans, including a commitment to cut greenhouse gases by 2020 and its Cinema 3D Smart TV range, including the thinnest and lightest 55-inch OLED TV. They will grow, and include 55-, 60-, 72- and 84-inch screen sizes. All will have 1mm thick bezels and be 28mm thick.
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01/08, 12:35am
LG outlines more details of 2012 TV and audio tech
LG continued building up to its full CES unveilings by expanding on the technology behind its new TVs and surround sound. Its Internet-capable Cinema 3D TVs will have Cinema Screen, a new design that virtually gets rid of the whole bezel and makes it just 1mm (0.04 inches) thick, thinner still than its 55-inch OLED set. Many of the sets will also cater to gamers through Dual Play: much like Sony's PlayStation-focused TV, it can show a different picture to two players to let them share one screen at full size for both.
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01/07, 7:45pm
Samsung to out Super OLED at CES while Sony exits
Very early visitors to the Las Vegas Convention Center for CES have spotted a sign that Samsung is fully committing to OLED TVs just as Sony was getting out. A banner seen by The Verge pitches Super OLED as making for the "Ultimate TV" and a "Super OLED Sensation." What it involves isn't, clear, but it may be a parallel to LG's 55-inch OLED set in having color accuracy and a comparatively cheap to make technology.
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01/07, 7:25pm
Intel teases much wider WiDi use for CES
Intel in a quick blurb has said it would expand Wireless Display (WiDi) soon, most likely at CES. Along with computers and TV adapters, it was also coming to game consoles, projectors, fully integrated TVs, and "other devices." Several chip designers were involved, such as Cavium, Mstar Semiconductor, Sigma Designs, Realtek, and Wondermedia.
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01/05, 7:35pm
Appliances tied with home energy management system
LG has announced that it is set to unveil new 'Smart ThinQ' appliances next week at CES in Las Vegas. The introductions will expand upon the company's existing lineup of connected appliances, which were brought to CES last year. The appliances will be able to take advantage of LG's new Home Energy Management System (HeMS).
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01/05, 7:20pm
LG Google TV features previewed
LG gave a quick glimpse at its first Google TVs on Thursday. The sets will work with voice commands much like Voice Actions on mobile devices. Hands-on control will get its own special treatment: a keyboard-equipped version of the Magic Motion Remote should come with a QWERTY keyboard built-in for faster text.
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01/05, 5:50pm
Google TV partners at CES 2012 already revealed
Google has removed the mystery from who its Google TV partners will be at CES with a full listing ahead of the show. Some using chips from Marvell and MediaTek, TVs from LG, Samsung, Sony, and Vizio will all run the Android-based TV OS. Vizio's sets will be behind closed doors, but the rest should be public.
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