Our review LG GD900 Crystal arrived yesterday, and I’ve been using this since then, and wanted to share some of my initial thoughts on the device.  I haven’t really had time to spend with the device yet, so some thoughts and opinions may change as I use the phone more and more.

Before this, I was using an LG Renoir on a regular basis due to the nice 8 megapixel camera, but the LG Crystal combines that camera with the new S-Class UI from the LG Arena, and seems to do a good job too.  It’s a slider, and therefore features a keypad too, which I prefer.  However, the transparent keypad is more like a touchpad, so has no real keys; in fact, within certain parts of the UI, it actually acts as a touchpad, allowing you to scroll through screens (eg your contact list) with ease.  Closing the slider can also end a call (this can be turned off), which is a nice touch too.

The phone is a nice colour, and matches in with the stylish designer look LG seem to be perfecting with all of their recent phones.  It’s moved from a proprietary LG connector to microUSB, which is a good thing (although does mean a new investment in chargers), although LG are still sharing that single port with the headset, which I don’t personally like, but on this handset may well be acceptable…

Why do I say that; well, the main drain on the battery of a modern phone is using the GPS, and simply put, this phone doesn’t have a GPS.  So, no geotagging of photos and no moving maps in Google Maps (which is included as standard on the device, but with no GPS, and the version installed not supporting Cell ID location information nor Google Latitude, it’s a little limiting).  The phone does feature WiFi and Bluetooth though, so for those looking for a stylish feature rich phone, as opposed to a SatNav workhorse, this phone really does shine.

DivX support is there again, as is TV-out, although the Dolby Mobile features of the LG Renoir and LG Arena seem to be missing.

What else has impressed me so far with the phone?  I like the way the slider covers up the camera, thereby not needing a separate camera cover (which always seem to open on it’s own on the LG Renoir), and I like the way LG has put a nicely designed battery in there, which is on show when the transparent slider is shut.  However, it appears there’s no contact or calendar syncing built into the device, which for someone who normally keeps all that data synchronized across multiple devices via syncML is a shame, but probably not a key requirement for the target market for this device.

Oh, and I like the little slip case it ships with to keep the device in good condition; and although the touch keypad is made of tempered glass, I don’t think the actual main screen is, which, without that slip case, may make it more prone to scratches (the LG Renoir equally doesn’t have a tempered glass screen, and my model is looking quite scratched up now, whereas the LG Arena, and LG Secret before that, do have the tempered glass screen, and still look wonderful even after regular use).

More opinions on this device after I’d used it for a while, but right now, it’s looking a very stylish phone that should be popular.

Last week LG launched the LG Arena, and we were invited along by LG and the LG Blog.  The LG Arena is an interesting phone, it’s not quite one of their high end devices (that position is still held by the LG Renoir, with it’s 8megapixel camera), but actually, the LG Arena may well become a very popular phone.  The screen (with a similar tempered glass protection as used on the LG Secret) seems much clearer and the new S-Class UI is even easier to use, but builds on the previous LG touchphones so it’s still quite intuitive.

There are 4 home screens, which you can flick between by swiping your finger from side to side on the screen, allowing you direct access to various functions, including your music.  The spec of the device is quite impressive (covered in more detail here); 5megapixel camera, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, FM transmitter (although it’s a bit hidden down in the Tools menu).  Although the device is still not truly open in terms of supporting lots of installable applications, it does come with built in Google Maps (the LG Renoir had a built in GPS, but it was mainly used for geotagging photos), Google Mail, and even Blogger access. Our first try with Google Maps was a little challenging, as it struggled to locate us, but we’ll try it again and see if it was a one off problem.

The LG Arena has a real power button on the top (previous LG phones have been using the red call hangup key), which we liked, and the proprietary combined charging /headset port has returned to the nice sliding cover similar to that found on the LG Viewty.  It has 8GB of memory built in, and yet also supports a microSD port.

LG have stated this phone is aimed at the “techno-chic”, and for those that want a good looking device with a good spec, but aren’t looking at the very top end smartphones, this phone might just suit…

We’re going to carry on testing this phone over the coming weeks, but in the meantime, here’s the new LG Arena TV advert which has just starting airing on UK TV…

(if you don’t see the video, click here)

As part of their MWC coverage, LG also announced plans for greener phones.  They plan to release a solar powered phone at the end of this year, which will feature a solar panel embedded in the battery cover, which they claim will give 3 minutes of talktime from a 10 minute solar charge.  Obviously, it will give a much longer standy time, and LG claim it should even be possible to not need to charge the phone from a conventional charger “if left in natural light for long periods”.

Interestingly, they showed the phone alongside an LG LC-910 (LG Renoir) box and user guide, but the actual phone looks more like an LG Secret to us.  We suspect that the picture is simply a mockup, and we’ll actually see the solar powered technology embedded into a currently-unreleased phone.

LG have also announced a Solar powered Bluetooth Handsfree Kit for the car, and are planning to move to greener packaging on all phones during 2009.

Last, but definitely not least, is the news from LG, who, although without as much fanfare as Nokia will achieve, have made a number of key announcements, including statements over their plans for the next year within the mobile space…

Firstly, as we have already covered, they have announced the LG Arena, which will take over from the LG Renoir as their lead phone.  This features the new 3D menu layout and UI, which is also said to be a lot faster than their current UI, and they seem to have made good use of this new interface and the 480 x 800 3″ touchscreen; for example, in the image gallery, if you move the phone from vertical to horizontal, it will make the photos cascade off the screen, and then reappear bigger.  Sliding a finger from top to bottom will show photos taken on different days, whereas sliding left to right scrolls through the pictures taken on the same day.  They’ve also used similar functionality in the Tactile Analogue Alarm Clock and Radio Tuner, where you get the sensation of moving the hands, or turning the dial.

More information in the rest of the article…

(more…)

We briefly covered this new phone on Friday night, but already more details have been announced, despite it’s official launch still being a week away…

This will be LG‘s flagship phone for 2009, and so looks to replace the LG Renoir over time.  It features LG‘s new 3D user interface, which provides 4 customisable home screens.  It will include DivX and Dolby Mobile (both features of the LG Renoir), it will support upto 7.2mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi, and A-GPS.

The full specification “and other surprises” will be released next Monday.

Thanks to the official LG Blog for the additional information.

We know nothing about the phone, except this picture, and we believe it will be called the LG Arena.  The picture has been released by LGBlog as a teaser, and a statement that more will be revealed at MWC (Mobile Web Congress) in mid February.  It looks similar in design to the LG Viewty and the LG Renoir, but it may be a more mid-spec phone (as the LG Renoir is still quite new to market).  More information within the next two weeks…

Gaj-It has managed to get hold of some exclusive leaked photos of the new Samsung i8910, which looks a very interesting S60 5th Edition touchscreen phone. It has a style that resembles the Samsung Omnia, or even the LG Renoir, but this particular phone has the latest Symbian OS inside, which makes it both good looking and a decent smartphone.  It looks like the phone will feature

• 8 megapixel camera
• GPS
• HDMI out and HD recording
• Wi-Fi
• a 3.5mm headphone socket
• DNLA and DivX compatible
• available in 8GB and 16GB versions

Although little more information is available right now, it certainly looks a very interesting, non-Nokia Symbian smartphone, and we’ll keep you updated as and when more information is available.

Story and picture courtesy of Gaj-It.

For a small little device (102 x 60 x 20mm and weighing 115g), it packs a hell of a punch!  This device takes a 3.5mm connection from your phone, your mp3 player, your DAB radio, anything really, and produces a very rich stereo sound from a single unit.  This is achieved by the companies’ airSOUND technology to achieve this.  The T3 is designed to either hang around your neck and use your chest cavity to enrich the sound, or you can place the device on a hard surface to achieve the same effect.

It has two switches, the first a power switch to turn the unit on or off (the device has a rechargeable Lithium battery built in giving up to 10 hours music), whereas the second sets the airSOUND to either Off, Normal, or High.  The volume is controlled by the device it’s been connected to, as it has no direct volume control.  We found the neckstrap a little small, so left the device on a solid wooden desk for a few hours, and connected it up to the LG Renoir, which sports Dolby Mobile as well, and wow, what a nice rich sound we heard from the selection of mp3 tracks we had on the LG Renoir.

Keeping the Dolby Mobile turned on seemed to make the sound even richer, and allowed us to hear additional background lyrics that we had never even noticed before when using in ear headphones, or playing the same tracks through a normal music system.

Orbitsound explain their airSOUND technology with the following:

“The problem with personal music systems like the iPod® or the Walkman® is that you have to wear headphones. And the trouble with headphones is that they are not really stereo – just two separated mono signals clamped to your ears.”

“Listening to stereo means hearing the sound from both speakers with both ears – that’s what gives you the stereo soundfield in between the speakers. With headphones you can only hear the left speaker signal in the left ear and the right speaker in the right: most people therefore hear the sound in the middle or back of their head, as opposed to in front and around you where the soundstage is supposed to be. With the orbitsound T3, the music is literally in the air, all around your head. This means that the sound from the T3 is a real spatial stereo soundfield. With the T3 you are not isolated from the environmental sounds around you, as you are with headphones; you can listen to your entertainment and still be aware of traffic noise and people around or behind you in the street.”

To be honest, that’s the only downside we see to the unit; not everyone wants to hear other people’s music, and so for situations like a train, this device will not be popular, but for listening or sharing the music with others, we think it gives a good sound.

We’re going to give this device some more testing, including looking at battery life, as well as giving it a greater variety of music and connect it to more devices and will report back.

The device costs £49 (which includes the device, neckstrap, mains charger and a short 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable) and is available direct from orbitsound’s online store.

Although we would normally attribute articles like this to the original author, it appears a number of websites are claiming they originally “discovered” this leaked Nokia device plan, making it difficult to correctly give thanks.  What’s interesting is a number of the new devices that are due to be announced before the end of this year, and what might be coming for next year (the list was obviously compiled some time back, and the full list includes a number of “Cancelled” phones, so just because a device appears on this list doesn’t mean it will actually get released (or on time)…

• The E63 was released yesterday, and meets the above specs
• The IP08 (internal codename) looks very interesting, and should be announced (if the dates are still valid) in the next week or two
• The Sharika will probably be a 56xx model
• The Stella and Terra will be interesting ESeries phones, especially with the “Hybrid” QWERTY keyboard
• The Ivalo will be the last phone announced this year.  Both the IP08 and the Ivalo feature widescreen touchscreens, although we predict we won’t actually see either in the shops in the UK until well into 2009
• Starting the 2009 device announcements is the Victoria, or the E75 we have covered before.
• The Corolla will be the first 8 megapixel cameraphone from Nokia, keeping up with the likes of the LG Renoir.
• The Madeleine has a side-sliding QWERTY keyboard and N-Gage gaming keys…
• Finally the Eitri sounds very interesting, it appears to be an E71-like phone with a QWERTY keyboard and a touchscreen.

Of course, that last phone, though interesting, is not due to be announced until Week 17 in 2009, which is April, so it’s likely we won’t see it until much later in the Summer, so I wouldn’t hold off on that phone purchase right now, but use this list more as a shopping list for your next upgrade!

Majority of the table from Engadget Mobile.

LG are producing 3 good ranges of phones nowadays.  Firstly, you’ve got the Black Label range (LG Secret), then you’ve got the high spec camera models (LG Viewty and now the LG Renoir), and finally you have the Prada range, with the new LG Prada model.  This adds a QWERTY keyboard to the slimline touchscreen phone, and also packs a good range of functions:

• 3G compatibility with video calling
• 7.2Mbps HSDPA
• a 5 mega pixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach certified lens
• full HTML browser and Wi-Fi

This phone should be on sale in the UK before Xmas, although the exact price is not clear right now (it will be roughly €600 across Europe), and is likely to be available on various networks soon too.

Story courtesy of LG Blog.