EISA 2010 Awards Announce Mobile Winners in All Categories

EISA - the European Imaging and Sound Association - announced its 2009-2010 awards for mobile devices and greenness. More than 50 prominent tech magazines from all over Europe got together to judge this and here are the results.

The European Camera Phone award was snatched by the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD. If you thought the Samsung Pixon12 was a sure-win - EISA was looking at overall performance, and 8 megapixels of still resolution and 720p/24fps video were enough to nail it. The 3.7" 360x640 pixels AMOLED screen was also noted among the phone's strongest point.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD

The European Music Phone is… the Sony Ericsson W995. EISA looks at not only combining the most desired and technologically advanced features but value for money as well, things most likely to be appreciated by enthusiastic public. It seems this is what tipped the scales towards the W995.

Sony Ericsson W995

The European Business Phone award went to the Nokia E75. We guess the E71 would have felt right at home the the top of the ladder in this category as well, but we guess technically it's not a 2009 model and the Nokia E75 was noted as extremely well designed and capable of fulfilling all communication needs. Robust build quality and long battery life were also major factors in the decision.

Nokia E75

The European Smartphone award may be a surprise to some - in this category the iPhone, and more specifically the iPhone 3GS, is King Kong standing on the Empire State Building, with countless of other phones buzzing around it while trying to shoot it down. Try as they might, the "iPhone-killers" still have a way to go, as the iPhone still clutches the beautiful maiden of user-friendly, simple but sleek UI. According to the EISA, the 3GS is a huge leap forward, even if it doesn't seem like it at first glance.

Apple iPhone 3GS (artwork has no connection to the official EISA awards panel and is purely fictional)

The ever-growing importance of companies becoming eco-friendly also got a nod from EISA, and while there were plenty of eco phones that were either light-weight versions of normal phones (mostly in packaging) or low-end phones, the LG KM900 Arena won the European Green award by being the "greenest fully featured mobile phone on the market today". The retail package is said to be the best in terms of eco friendliness as were the build components of the phone itself. The emphasis seems to be that "feature-rich" and "green" can fit very comfortably in the description of one phone, no compromises necessary.

LG KM900 Arena

Sure, some people won't agree with these awards. The iPhone platform for example was patted on the back for having its smart function upgraded. Indeed those were just holes in the core functionality that begged for plugging for quite some time now, but Apple have done a nice job in updating the software platform to a more mature level.

If you're interested, you might as well check out last year's EISA awards and see what we were up to last August.

Read more »

Wanna make a fast 1 Million Dollaaah? Come to my seminahhhh! Nahh, just be the fastest texter in the world.... Lg will pay out!

Today LG announced the initiation of the second Mobile Worldcup competition for fast and accurate texting. Mobile Worldcup 2009 is the official name of the contest that will have a stunning prize pool of 1 million US dollars.

This first round of this year's competition will start on 15th August in Indonesia, four weeks after the commencement of the national league and other related mobile events. 200 texters will battle it out in Jakarta Theater for the place in the finals and a prize of of 100 million rupiah (approximately 9,900 US dollars).

Similar events will be held in 13 more countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Russia, China and South Korea.

The winners from those will join the U.S. and Canada finalists, who have already been named, in the World Championship finals in the U.S. in November. There the participants will compete over several rounds for the title "The World’s Fastest Texter". The lucky winner will also walk away with 100 000 US dollars from the prize pool.

Last year, 700 000 people took part in the LG

Read more »

LG launches their own mobile apps store online!

Today, LG officially started their very own application store, where their customers can find fresh new content for their handsets. There are more than 1400 apps already available for download, with 100 of them coming for free.

Unfortunately the LG app store is only available in Australia and Singapore, but it will be launched in 22 more countries with 14 different languages supported by the end of the year. The number of available applications is also planned to grow beyond 2000 by that time.

Currently the LG app store only provides content for the two most recent WinMo-powered handsets of the Korean company - GM730 and KS20. The company promises, however, that more handsets will join the list in the coming months.

If you are the lucky owner of any of the two handsets mentioned above and if you reside in Australia or Singapore you can check out the LG application store over here. The rest of you will have to wait for a while longer until they can enjoy the app store goodies.

Read more »

LG GC900 Viewty 2 turns official the Smart way, no xenon though

LG Viewty Smart (known as Viewty 2) is now official and very similar to the current LG flagman - the Arena. S-Class UI, 8 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS awaits you in the 12mm only thin body.

The popular LG Viewty has finally jumped into the next generation with its successor. Previously known as simply LG Viewty 2, the device is now cunningly called LG Viewty Smart.

The new LG Viewty Smart packs a 3-inch capacitive touch-display with WVGA resolution, an 8 megapixel camera with LED flash and D1 video recording, accelerometer, 3G support, Wi-Fi and GPS. It runs on the new S-Class 3D user interface and most probably will have the multi-touch functions. Dolby Mobile technology along with the DivX/XviD support is also on board.

LG Viewty Smart

It's business as usual for LG, which showcased the LG Viewty Smart behind glass at the MWC 2009, but didn't really bother to reveal any more details about it. Instead they focused on the LG Arena.

As you can see the similarity to the LG Arena is quite obvious except for the better camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics and the lack of huge storage. Unfortunately the rumored xenon flash is not present, instead the Viewty Smart has a LED one.

The 8 megapixel camera lacks a xenon flash

Just like the KM900 Arena, the GC900 Viewty Smart is only 12mm thin but its weight is even less - 90 grams.

The LG Viewty Smart practically leaked on the German LG blog but the information about it was quickly removed with a promise of publishing it officially soon. We guess it's going to be soon, as according to the leaked Orange UK release schedule it's due for market availability in June.

Read more »

Orange UK to heat up the summer with the new LG GC900 Viewty 2

ou’ve already seen the LG GC900 in our MWC 2009 coverage hung behind glass without a word on specs details. Dubbed as LG Viewty 2, this 8 megapixel fella is obviously set to arrive in Orange UK network some time in Q2 2009.

According to some leaked information (a sneak peak of Orange UK release schedule) the LG GC900 or otherwise known as LG Viewty 2 is planned to hit the shelves in June this year. We guess that means an official announcement is due quite soon.

The LG GC900 packs an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and face tracking and a 3" WVGA touchscreen display. The S-Class Touch UI will also be aboard along with DivX/Xvid support as well as the Dolby Mobile technology.

LG GC900 shot at the MWC 2009

According to a leaked specs list the LG Viewty II is expected to have a xenon flash (although one is not found on the unit at the MWC 2009), Wi-Fi and HSDPA support and GPS.

Sounds much like the Renoir, doesn't it? With the slight difference that the KC910 Renoir lacks the heavily promoted S-Class Touch UI and the practically endless 32 GB in-built memory the GC900 is rumored to come with.

LG GC900 specs sheet leaked not long ago

By the way, Samsung Omnia HD is also due in June along with the highly anticipated iPhone 2009, Nokia N97 and Sony Ericsson W995. Yep, this summer is about to be hotter than ever.

And while you're waiting for more details to pop up, take a look at our LG Arena preview for a complete scoop of the new S-class interface by LG.

Read more »

LG unveil GM310, GM210 and GM205 music phones

LG are releasing three music phones aimed at emerging markets - the LG GM310, GM210 and the GM205. They all feature Dolby Mobile and LG Sound Engine and have dedicated keys for the music player control. The three new devices are quite obviously targeted at the younger crowd.

LG GM310

The LG GM310 is a capable music phone in the slider form factor. It has 512 MB or 1 GB internal memory and support for up to 32 GB microSD cards. There's a 3.5 mm audio jack for compatibility with your favorite headphones. GM310 also sports a 3.15 megapixel camera with autofocus and Bluetooth 2.1.

LG GM310

The LG GM310 has a touch-sensitive navigation panel with dedicated music keys, located under the 2.2" display with QVGA resolution. On the connectivity side, the LG GM310 offers tri-band GSM and dual-band HSDPA for up to 1.8 Mbps downlink speeds.

LG GM210 and LG GM205

The LG GM210 and GM205 are a slider and a bar phone respectively and share a 2 megapixel camera in the specs list. The GM210 supports up to 4 GB microSD cards and USB 2.0, while the GM205 goes up to only 2 GB microSD cards but offers 2.1 channel speakers.

Meet the LG GM210, GM310 and GM205

The phones will initially be released in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America, including Mexico and Brazil. After that they will trickle down to other markets launching in 30 countries in total. No word on pricing but they should be in lower midrange market price-wise.

Read more »

AT&T gets heavy on messaging with 6 new QWERTY handsets

Samsung announced 6 new entries to its mobile phones portfolio today. The emphasis is quite obviously on texting with all 6 of their new offerings featuring full QWERTY keyboard. The leader of the pack is Nokia E71x, followed by three Samsung handsets - Propel Pro, Impression and Magnet and two LG devices - Neon and Xenon.The Nokia E71x isn't really any different from its European sibling, save for the new paintjob. The bar is the slimmest smartphone to date and sports a 2.36" 16M color QVGA display.

Nokia E71x

Nokia E71x

It will also feature a GPS receiver a 3 megapixel auto focus camera and of course - HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity. A built-in microSD card slot will allow expanding the internal memory with up to 16GB worth of additional storage.

The Nokia E71x will be available in the following weeks across AT&T stores for 150 US dollars on a 2 year contract.

Samsung Propel Pro

The Samsung Propel Pro comes as a direct successor of the Samsung A767 Propel, extending its functionality quite extensively. Running on the Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard it packs Wi-Fi, GPS and a 2.55" square display with a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels.

Samsung Propel Pro

The Samsung Propel Pro has a 528 MHz CPU and 128 MB of RAM. Its other important features include 3G with HSDPA support, microSD card slot, Bluetooth, USB and a 3 megapixel autofocus camera.

You can find the Propel Pro in the AT&T stores starting from April 14. In order to walk out with it you will have to part with 150 US dollars and sign a two-year contract.

Samsung Impression

Next in line is the side-slider Samsung Impression. Its highlight feature is the 3.2" AMOLED touchscreen of WQVGA resolution, which according to AT&T is a first for the US. In addition to it the handset comes with quad-band GSM and dual-band UMTS with HSDPA support.

Samsung Impression

The other key features of Samsung Impression are Bluetooth with A2DP, microSD card slot and a 3 megapixel camera with video recording capabilities.

The Samsung Impression will be available from April 7 for 200 US dollars on a two-year contract.

Samsung Magnet

The Samsung Magnet is a simple offering, targeted at the younger audience. Sporting great messaging capabilities thanks to the full QWERTY keyboard it will be the most affordable of the bunch. However AT&T haven't yet published the full specifications of the device so all we can tell you is that it will be an entry-level offering.

Samsung Magnet

The Samsung Magnet will hit the shelves in the coming weeks.

LG Neon

LG Neon is an exact replica of the LG KS360, which we reviewed not too long ago. It is a mid-ranger that catches the eye with bold colors and quirky controls. Its main features include a 2.4" display, a 2 megapixel snapper and Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support.

LG Neon

FM radio is also onboard and so are stereo Bluetooth, microSD card slot and FM radio.

The Neon will be available quite shortly for 100 US dollars on a two-year contract.

LG Xenon

The LG Xenon comes with haptic feedback for improving the touchscreen experience. The quad-band GSM and dual-band UMTS (with HSDPA support) handset sports a 2.8" 65K color WQVGA display.

LG Xenon

Its other features include 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, USB and a microSD card slot.

The LG Xenon will be available shortly across AT&T stores but its pricing still remains to be disclosed.

Read more »

LG GD900 Crystal S-Class UI and multi-touch support confirmed

Today LG unveiled some more details about the LG GD900 Crystal. The unique transparent keypad doubles as a touchpad and the handset will also support multi-touch. It also become clear that the keypad is made of glass, rather than plastic.

The LG GD900 Crystal will run the LG's S-Class UI with a lot of touch related goodies. The handset will feature multi-touch input as well as gesture support. This means that features like the two-finger zoom we saw on the Arena will be available for the Crystal users too.

There will also be some new staff on the LG Crystal. For example writing an 'M' would launch the MP3 player and drawing a circle controls the volume.

LG GD900: see-through keypad

We are also more than pleased to know that the GD900 will have haptic feedback. The LG GD900 also has handwriting recognition, which isn't too frequent on phones with capacitive screens.

Some improvement is done in the web browsing department too. The GD900 will offer 'mouse mode' for a more convenient browsing experience. This means that you will be able to control a virtual mouse with your touch keypad, much like you would do on a laptop.

The LG GD900 Crystal will hit the European and Asian shelves in May but its pricing is yet unknown.

Read more »