Samsung Galaxy S2 vs LG Optimus Black

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How will the LG Optimus Black fare against the Samsung Galaxy S2? We find out
We compare the LG Optimus Black to Samsung’s Galaxy S2.
Form:
Samsung Galaxy S2 - 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm, 116 g
LG Optimus Black - 122 x 64 x 9.2 mm, 109 g
You could be forgiven for thinking both phones were designed by the same person as each seems to be inspired by the trends set by the iPhone for neat, minimalist slabs topped with glass. Both these handsets are incredibly thin and light, in fact it takes some doing to get something lighter than the Galaxy S II and the Optimus Black has achieved that here, though the Samsung still maintains its position as the thinner of the two. We like the looks of both these phones and will have to look elsewhere to figure out which is superior.
Winner - Draw
Display:
The Optimus Black uses a 4-inch IPS LCD Nova capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and dots-per-inch (dpi) rating at 233. The phone has an accelerometer and comes loaded with the Optimus 2.0 user interface (UI) and the Gesture 2.0 UI.
The Samsung’s display setup is a more advanced affair with a 4.3-inch Super Amoled Plus capacitive touchscreen reinforced with ‘Gorilla Glass’.
The Super Amoled Plus technology offers better power efficiency as well as greater colour depth and image sharpness than standard LCD screens and the Gorilla Glass should keep it all in good condition.
The display comes in at 480 x 800 pixels and 218 dpi and features multi-touch input, accelerometer and gyro sensors.
The Galaxy S2 is loaded with the TouchWiz 4.0 UI.
It’s a fairly close one here, both screens offer the same resolution, the Samsung’s is slightly larger which is a positive point in its favour but the Optimus Black has a higher dpi, however, the Super Amoled Plus screen goes a long way to compensating for the Galaxy S II’s lower dpi rating and this, combined with the additional features with multi-touch and reinforced glass makes it a preferable choice for us.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy S2
Storage:
With 2 GB of storage the Optimus Black may not have a vast archive of space like some smartphones but it should be adequate for a reasonable amount of content and is certainly better than many other handsets with less than 1 GB. RAM is 512 MB and Micro SD cards are supported up to 32 GB.
The Samsung does have a lot of space by comparison with variants available for either 16 or 32 GB of internal storage, the Galaxy S II boasts 1 GB RAM and Micro SD support up to 32GB, while an 8 GB card is included as standard.
Again, the Optimus Black is better than most without being exceptional, the Samsung though really does give you a lot of space to play with as well as more RAM to help the processor out, for those reasons it wins this round.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy S2
Operating System:
The Samsung runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and while the LG comes with the earlier 2.2 Froyo build it is fortunately upgradeable to Gingerbread - but you'll have to wait for that.
There’s no real competition here with both phones having access to the same operating system, Gingerbread is the best choice for each handset as it offers enhanced multi-tasking over previous versions along with an advanced app management suite, an improved touch keyboard which offers excellent performance and responsiveness, and a generally upgraded, faster and more intuitive user interface.
Our only gripe is the web browsing which hasn’t received the attention we would like to bring it up-to-date with Honeycomb 3.0’s smooth and tabbed browsing experience.
Winner – Draw
Processor:
LG has given the Optimus Black a single core 1 GHz TI OMAP 3630 processor, the single core shows the Optimus Black as being more of a budget option with a lower spec, still with the TI technology clocked at 1 GHz it’ll give decent enough performance even if it doesn’t have the slickness of its dual core counterparts.
Speaking of which, the Samsung packs just such a dual core power plant with 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor running the Orion chipset. This is supported by a Mali-400MP graphics processing unit (GPU).
Naturally this stomps all over the Optimus Black’s relatively humble offering, we don’t wish to discredit it as it's a good processor in its own right but it simply can’t keep up with the Samsung’s performance.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy S2
Camera:
The Samsung Galaxy S II has a really nice camera setup with an 8-megapixel primary at 3264x2448 pixels, while video quality is at 1080p. Autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection and image stabilization complete the features line-up and there’s a secondary 2-megapixel camera too.
The Optimus Black has a 5-megapixel primary camera at 2592 x 1944 pixels with video at 720p, the secondary camera is the same as that on the Samsung at 2-megapixels. Features-wise it has autofocus, LED flash and geo-tagging along with face and smile detection.
An easy win for the Samsung here but that’s mainly due to its 8-megapixel camera is the exception rather than the norm and there’s still nothing wrong with the Optimus Black’s 5-megapixels, but the Galaxy S2’s setup is far superior.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy S2
Final Thoughts:
The Galaxy S2 tends to beat most competitors save for the LG Optimus 3D, HTC Evo 3D where it draws even, and the HTC Sensation and LG Optimus 2X where it is shaken slightly but not toppled.
In this case it’s not surprising that it outranks a mid-range phone like the LG Optimus Black, but that’s not meant as a slight to the LG, it’s a perfectly competent piece of kit and it isn’t pretending to be anything other than what it is, a slightly lower spec but more affordable smartphone. It isn’t as good as the Galaxy S2 but it’s a decent handset if the Samsung is out of your budget.
If you want the better of the two though it is definitely the Galaxy S2.

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T-Mobile G2x Issues And Resolutions Internal Document Leaked

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The T-Mobile G2x being pulled from the carriers online store recently spawned rumors that quality issues were behind it. But according to T-Mobile, they temporarily pulled the phone due to inventory constraints. However, they did admit to a having some issues that they plan to fix with an upcoming update. Now a leaked internal document reveals that they’re finally getting more serious about addressing them.


Since day one, the T-Mobile G2x had been plagued with problems such as random reboots, light leakage, and other quality issues. However, T-Mobile says that only a “small percentage” of its customers raised complaints, or in their words “commented about possible improvements.” The carrier did promise that it was working closely with LG to deliver an update to fix those issues.
An internal G2x Issues and Resolutions document surfaced today that shows that T-Mobile is finally trying to address a lot of the quirky problems. But many of the issues are still marked as pending resolution. Hopefully, the upcoming Gingerbread update will fix things. In the meantime, take a look at our G2x review.

[via TMoNews]

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T-Mobile: G2x Unavailable Due to Demand

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T-Mobile’s gotten back to the community regarding some rumors circulating related to the G2x. Yesterday, it was discovered that the G2x was removed from their online store and was hard to find on in-store shelves, with only traces of it ever existing being several accessories available for purchase.
The original rumor questioned whether or not it was due to quality issues. To be more specific, users have been complaining about random reboots and freezes since the device’s inception, a problem that plagued even the international version, the Optimus 2X. LG has since released an update to address these issues for the Optimus 2X, but couldn’t say if or when the G2x would get it.
Other issues include bad battery life and bad light bleeds at the corners of the device. T-Mobile’s chimed back in to say that it hasn’t been made unavailable due to these issues, though. Instead, it’s in such high demand that they can’t sell it. Here’s their official statement on the matter:

The T-Mobile G2X with Google has been a highly popular device with both customers and employees since its launch last month, and high demand has resulted in inventory constraints, which we are working with LG to address.

There it is, then. Let’s just hope they really are working on addressing the issues that many have been facing, though.

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LG Optimus 2X vs LG Optimus Black

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We compare the LG Optimus 2X and the LG Optimus Black to see which Optimus is truely prime

Infighting from LG this time as we compare the Optimus Black to the Optimus 2X.
Form:
LG Optimus Black - 122 x 64 x 9.2 mm, 109 g
LG Optimus 2X - 123.9 x 63.2 x 10.9 mm, 139 g
Being from the same manufacturer and indeed the same range there’s not a huge difference between these handsets and clearly they were both inspired by the same design ethos for sleek, black, slab-like smartphones.
The Optimus 2X is the higher-end device but it is in fact a little thicker and considerably heavier than the lower spec Optimus Black, which lends the Black a slightly nicer profile similar to the Samsung Galaxy II or iPhone 4. The 2X is a bit more angular and seems to have been designed to look more premium with the screen more closely hugging the edges of the bodywork than it does on the Optimus Black.
Both phones look equally nice in our view.
Winner - Draw
Display:
LG has fitted both handsets with the same screen, a 4-inch IPS LCD capacitive Nova touchscreen at a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. These handsets keep things basic on the display features side of things, the Black has the Optimus 2.0 user interface (UI) and the Gesture 2.0 touchscreen interface installed, while the 2X has a little more with a reinforced Gorilla Glass display and multi-touch, as well as accelerometer and gyro sensors.
The Optimus 2X’s extra display features make it the preferable model here.
Winner – LG Optimus 2X
Storage:
The Optimus Black has 2 GB of internal storage against the 2X’s 8 GB, but apart from this significant difference the two handsets are similarly equipped with 512 MB of RAM and identical card support up to 32 GB on Micro SD format. Of course the deciding factor here is the internal storage space and the 2X is leaps and bounds ahead of the Black making it a clear winner this round.
Winner – LG Optimus 2X

Processor:
The Black uses a single core 1 GHz TI OMAP 3630 processor which offers great performance but isn’t quite in the same league as the 2X’s dual core 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor. The Optimus 2X’s power plant runs on Nvidia technology with both the Tegra 2 chipset and a ULP GeForce graphics processing unit (GPU).
Once again the difference between mid-range and premium becomes apparent with the 2X’s dual core muscle putting the Optimus Black’s otherwise impressive processing power to shame.
Winner - LG Optimus 2X
Operating System:
Both handsets use Android 2.2 Froyo – although a Gingerbread update is expected very soon. In this sense, there's nothing to really separate the handsets.
Winner – Draw
Camera:
The Optimus 2 X comes with an 8-megapixel primary at 3264x2448 pixels resolution while video capture quality is 1080p. Features include autofocus, touch focus, LED flash, geo-tagging, image stabilisation and face and smile detection. A 1.3-megapixel secondary camera completes the package.
The Optimus Black falls behind a bit but is still a very nice setup with a 5-megapixel primary camera at 2592 x 1944 pixels. Video capture is 720p and strangely the secondary camera is better than its more expensive cousin at 2-megapixels. For camera features it has autofocus, LED flash and geo-tagging as well as face and smile detection. Not bad at all, but aside from the secondary the 2X still does better here.
Winner – LG Optimus 2X
Final Thoughts:
Both handsets are very well equipped but with the 2X clearly set up as the premium, high-end (non-3D) model of the Optimus range it comes out significantly better than its mid-range cousin.
There are a lot of similarities between the two here with the basic display, RAM, card support and operating system, but in one or two key areas the 2X really excels with a much, much faster dual core processor which leaves the Optimus Black’s single core in the dust. On top of this the 2X also has four times the internal storage of the Optimus Black and a much better camera too.

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LG Revolution 4G priced and dated for Verizon

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The Verizon Revolution by LG will arrive on May 26, the carrier has confirmed, the latest Android smartphone to offer 4G LTE connectivity. Based on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor with a 4.3-inch display, the LG Revolution has an HDMI output, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0, along with a 5-megapixel main camera that can record 720p HD video.

There’s also a front-facing 1.3-megapixel webcam for video calls. Verizon preloads Swype, Bing search and mapping, Netflix and an image-editing app, along with a Mobile Hotspot app that can share the 4G connection with up to eight WiFi clients (or a 3G connection with up to five).
Pricing will be $249.99 with a new, two-year agreement and a mandatory data plan. More details on the Revolution in our hands-on.



Press Release:

Revolution™ By LG Arrives For Verizon Wireless
Dynamic Trio of 4G LTE, Entertainment and Power Combine To Make Revolution™ by LG
BASKING RIDGE, NJ, and SAN DIEGO, CA — Verizon Wireless and LG Mobile Phones today announced Revolution™ by LG will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com on May 26.
An entertainment powerhouse, Revolution by LG is the first Android™ smartphone preloaded with the Neflix application, allowing Netflix subscribers access to movies and television shows. Revolution customers can capture and share HD images or videos on a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen. Built-in HDMI output and SmartShare capability allow customers to share multimedia content with HDMI capable displays, creating an exceptional entertainment experience.
Key features:
4G LTE – customers can expect download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G Mobile Broadband coverage areas 1 GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon® processor
Android™ 2.2 platform
Access to more than 200,000 apps available to download from Android Market™
Bing® Search and Maps
Adobe® Flash® Player
Rear-facing 5.0-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash
1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat
720p HD video recording and playback
Wi-Fi connectivity 802.11 b/g/n
Mobile Hotspot capability allows customers to share 4G LTE with up to 8 Wi-Fi-enabled devices or a 3G connection with up to 5 devices
Bluetooth® Version 3.0 Support Profiles: headset, hands-free, object push, advanced audio distribution (stereo), audio/video remote control, file transfer, phone book access
Additional features:
V CAST Apps
Virtual QWERTY keyboard with SWYPE technology
Equipped with Dolby® Mobile for rich listening experience
Extensive image editor includes: crop, rotate, resize, apply filters, image adjustments, draw, write, erase and add stamps
16 GB preinstalled microSD card™
Pricing and availability:
Revolution by LG will be available in Verizon Wireless Communication Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $249.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.
Revolution customers will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan and a data package. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 for monthly access. An unlimited data package is available for $29.99 for monthly access. The Mobile Hotspot feature will be included for a limited time at no additional charge.
The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network, launched in December 2010, is the fastest, most advanced 4G network in the United States, providing speeds up to 10 times faster than Verizon Wireless’ 3G network. Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network currently reaches one-third of all Americans, with plans to expand the network to the company’s entire 3G coverage area over the next three years.
For more information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

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LG Optimus Black vs HTC Sensation

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We take a look at how the new HTC Sensation stacks up against LG's new Optimus Black

We compare the LG Optimus Black to HTC’s Sensation.
Form:
LG Optimus Black - 122x64x9.2mm, 109g
HTC Sensation - 126.1x65.4x11.3mm, 148g
The Sensation is one of HTC’s most up-to-date looking handsets and the company seems to have paid attention to many of the current industry trend with more and more smartphones being thinner, longer and cleaner in design.
However, the Sensation still retains the distinctive HTC aesthetic and has opted for rounder corners rather than keeping everything angular. There’s not a great deal that can be said about the design, it’s not bad looking but it isn’t exactly ground-breaking either and at 148g it’s a reasonably heavy device too.
The LG is smaller, thinner and lighter as well as going the whole hog on the contemporary visuals front with its boxier, obelisk-like design, but we feel it has paid off and works very well in its favour.
It looks more premium and that’s what we like to see.
Winner – LG Optimus Black
Storage:
The LG has 2GB of internal storage for contacts, games, apps and multimedia while 512MB of RAM backs up the phone’s processor. Micro SD cards are supported up to 32GB.
Storage space isn’t the Sensation’s strong point and it falls down against many other current handsets here with only 1GB of onboard capacity, however, there is some slight redemption with the 768MB of RAM to make things run smoothly while card support is the same as the LG with Micro SD up to 32GB and an 8GB card provided as standard.
As both phones have less than 1GB of RAM we feel the internal storage space is the deciding factor and as the LG has twice that of the HTC it’s a clear winner in this round.
Winner – LG Optimus Black
Display:
The Optimus Black’s display is a 4-inch IPS LCD Nova capacitive touchscreen with a 480x800 pixels resolution and 233 pixels-per-inch (ppi). Features-wise it’s only got an accelerometer but has both the Optimus 2.0 user interface (UI) and the Gesture 2.0 touchscreen interface preloaded.
The Sensation uses a Sony-manufactured S-LCD capacitive touchscreen at a slightly larger 4.3-inches and with a resolution of 540x960 pixels at 256ppi. It’s a lot of numbers but they’re all a bit better than the LG’s stats. The display features toughened ‘Gorilla Glass’ while the phone comes preloaded with the HTC Sense 3.0 UI and features the usual multi-touch input, accelerometer and gyro sensors.
We think HTC has done quite a bit better than LG here and the Sensation’s display is the more desirable of the two.
Winner – HTC Sensation


Processor:
LG has used a single core processor in the Optimus Black, a TI OMAP 3630 clocked at 1 GHz, it’s going to be less powerful than its dual-core cousin, the Optimus 2X, but it’s decent tech though and should give some pretty quick performance.
HTC, on the other hand, has gone all out with some fairly hefty dual core power, the Sensation features a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm processor on the MSM 8260 Snapdragon chipset and teamed together with an Adreno 220 graphics processing unit. What the Sensation has here is a powerful setup indeed and is certainly enough to blow the LG out of the water.
Winner – HTC Sensation
Operating System:
The HTC Sensation is on Android Gingerbread 2.3 and while the LG Optimus Black comes with 2.2 Froyo it is upgradeable to Gingerbread too, which is well worth doing.
As both handsets have access to Gingerbread they’re on an equal footing with the best Android smartphone build available, there really isn’t anything to differentiate them on operating systems so we’ll call this one a draw. Move along people, nothing to see here.
Winner - Draw
Camera:
LG has fitted the Optimus Black with a 5-megapixel primary camera at 2592x1944 pixels, video capture quality is 720p and there’s a 2-megapixel secondary camera. On the features side of things it’s got autofocus, LED flash and geo-tagging as well as face and smile detection.
The HTC is considerably better off here with an 8-megpixel primary at 3264x2448 pixels, video capture is 1080p and features stereo sound recording. Features-wise it’s got autofocus, dual LED flash, geo-tagging, touch focus, image stabilisation, face detection and instant capture while the secondary camera is VGA.
The Sensation has more camera features, a higher megapixel count and a higher resolution as well as better quality video capture, the secondary camera is a bit sloppier than the LG’s but it’s not enough to detract drastically from an otherwise sterling camera setup.
Winner – HTC Sensation
Final Thoughts:
The LG may have the looks but the HTC has it beat in most areas that count. The Sensation is a very well equipped, competitive and contemporary phone which we regard quite highly but on the other hand we feel it could have been so much better with a bit more RAM and internal storage.
It’s a great phone but it’s a shame to think what could have been and we hope HTC don’t repeat the same mistake with future handsets.
Apart from the memory issue it has a brilliant screen, an excellent processor, an up-to-date Android operating system and a fantastic camera – so there’s still a lot here to recommend.

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HTC Incredible S vs LG Optimus Black

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It's time for HTC's Incredible S to earn its moniker as it goes head-to-head with LG's bank balance friendly super phone, the Optimus Black

As the successor to the fantastic Desire HD, the HTC Incredible S has had some pretty big shoes to fill, but fill them it has. Now it's time for a new challenge as we pitch the Incredible S against LG's fantastic Optimus Black, a device which under promises and over delivers.
Screen
LG has imbued the Optimus Black with a stunning 4-inch IPS LCD display which, although it operates at a slightly lower resolution (480 x 800) has plenty in common with the iPhone 4 and its stunning Retina Display. The Optimus Black's screen is sharp, responsive and offers vivid colours and pin-sharp clarity.
The HTC Incredible S comes with a Super LCD display that operates at 480 x 800 and provides the user with everything they need to enjoy a full and rewarding multimedia experience. Colours are well rendered, blacks are deep(ish) and the screen is responsive and sharp but for all its virtues the Incredible S falls just short of the quality on offer in the Optimus Black.
Winner - LG Optimus Black
Power
The LG Optimus Black is powered by a Ti-OMAP 3630 CPU clocked at 1GHz and features 512MB RAM. Operation is pretty snappy and you won't find any lag or slow-down on the device. If we were nit-picking we'd say the device could do with some more memory to allow it to hold its own into the future but that's a small drawback to what is overall a pleasing and fast device to use.
The HTC Incredible S is similarly spec'd with a Qualcomm MSM8255 chipset that includes a 1GHz Scorpion CPU and Adreno 205 GPU, as well as 768MB RAM allowing the device to chug along at a good turn of pace. Even with the extra burden of HTC's Sense UI on its shoulders the device manages to run lag-free and cope with multi-tasking well, making it a pleasure to use.
Winner - HTC Incredible S
Form & Build
HTC Incredible S - 120 x 64 x 11.7 mm, 135.5g
LG Optimus Black - 120 x 64 x 11.7 mm, 109g
The Incredible S is based upon HTC's standard design and it proves the old adage 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' perfectly. The device is constructed of high-grade materials and feels comfortable in the hand, even if it is at the weightier end of the smartphone chart. The sweeping curves give it a sleek appearance which even the most fashion conscious user will be happy to whip-out at the pub and you'll find yourself operating the device one-handed without much difficulty (unless you're particularly small handed).


The LG Optimus Black is a slim, light device which is pleasing to eye as well as the pocket and it's nice to see LG take a step in the right direction when it comes to design. The curved edges and bevel effect on the rear give the device a pleasant, unique feel and the variety of colours on offer (white, pink & graphite) will likely appeal to younger users.
Winner - Draw
Camera
The LG Optimus Black comes features dual cameras and we were pleasantly surprised to see the front facing, video -call shooter was a 2-megapixel offering! The rear-facing 5-megapixel snapper performs well and captures video at 720p as well as offering an LED flash, geo-tagging and face and smile detection, making the device very competitive.
The HTC Incredible S features a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and a top notch, 8-megapixel rear-facing effort with a dual-LED flash, geo-tagging, touch focus and image stabilisation as well as 720p video capture capable of some really impressive shots, making the Incredible S a shoo-in for this round.
Winner - HTC Incredible S
Software
The LG Optimus Black runs on version 2.2 (Froyo) of Google's Android OS with an upgrade to 2.3 (Gingerbread) planned for the near future, though there aren't many drawbacks with the installed software.
LG's customisations are a little thin on the ground though, which led us to wonder why the company didn't just leave things be and give the Optimus Black a vanilla install of the OS which would, of course, speed-up rollout times for planned software updates.
The HTC Incredible S comes with version 2.2 of Android too (though it will be updated to at least 2.4 in due course) but the icing on the Incredible S cake is the inclusion of the aforementioned Sense UI, HTC's stunning custom overlay, which includes apps, widgets, social networking integration and a raft of visual enhancements to make the user experience unparalleled in the world of Android.
Winner - HTC Incredible S
The totting up of the scores show a well deserved victory for HTC's Incredible S, a device which takes some beating. Even now, three months after its original release the device should be seriously considered if you're after a decent, mid-range Android smartphone.
The LG Optimus Black is a good device though, and with a few tweaks here and there would be close to perfect. Value-wise it's one to watch out for because it can be snapped up for some good deals, but if you're looking for the complete package we couldn't currently recommend it over the Incredible S.

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LG Optimus 3D Hands-On and Unboxing

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Woo look at this red hot goodness. It’s the LG Optimus 3D, an early developer version “intended for engineers” — take note of that for later. First let me comment on the box for a moment. It’s slick. One thing you can say about LG and the rest of the bigtime companies like HTC these days is that they’ve got their packaging game together. I see this box on a shelf and I instantly want to know what’s inside. Turns out what’s inside is the world’s first “Tri-Dual Technology”, that being dual-core, dual-channel, and dual-memory. See how it feels to the hands here and now.

This device comes with a big fat Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, a set of 5-megapixel cameras on the back capable of 1080p@24fps (2D), 720p@30fps (3D) for video, a slightly less impressive VGA camera on the front, PowerVR SGX540 GPU, TI OMAP4430 chipset, Android 2.2 Froyo (upgradable to Gingerbread sometime in the future, who knows when,) GSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 900/1900/2100, and a WVGA LCD display at 480 x 800 pixels and 4.3-inches. DTS 2.0 channel audio, glasses-free 3D, and a lovely lipped glass front provide icing on the cake.

The device feels extremely similar to the T-Mobile G2x (or the Optimus 2X, depending on where you live in the world,) in the hands. It’s got that same downward lip at the edge of the glass, the same metal strip (to a degree) and plastic back (though black here instead of a mocha,) defeating the G2x in both size and number of cameras. This device has no lack of new and odd features, having 3D content, the ability to capture 3D content, and an array of new user interface features on top of Google’s standard Froyo.

We’ll be taking this device on a ride through every test we’d have set up for the final version so that you get a taste before you’ve got the ability to purchase. Behold the sled on which the 3D content revolution may be sliding in on – we’ll see about that. Meanwhile dual-core glasses-free 3D here we come.
[VIDEO PROCESSING]
Unboxing and Hands-On

While we’re reviewing, please feel free to let us know what you’d like to know about this device. Any questions you’d like answered? Any sort of special tests you’d like us to take this device through? Ask away!

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LG P930 a new Android Phone sporting a Retina killing 1280×720 display

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What we have here seems to be a few lines in particular that looks a little odd from a LG XML file. They have a few Android phones out or on their way, and they’ve already released the Optimus Pad aka G-Slate on T-Mobile and that was their first tablet. For now most of the upcoming phones like the LG Revolution all sport the andy standard 800×480 resolution, so could this be a new 4, or 4.5″ high-res phone in the works, or possibly a 7″ Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablet, we don’t know but it looks to have the makings for a phone.

From past devices by LG we have a pretty good indication that this will in fact be a phone. The Optimus 2x internal model number was the P990, the G2x was the P999, then you have the LG Optimus Black P970, and many others like the Optimus 3D named the P920. When you look at tablets the LG Optimus Pad name or model number was the V900. So it is safe to say phones start with P, while slates or tablets will probably all start with V.

From the information in the XML file, and from our sources we do know that the P930 will be an Android device with a 1280 x 720 display, and brings with it GPRS/EDGE and HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity. Taking all of that into account with the P930 name it looks like we have a sweet 1280x720p LG phone in the works. Sounds like the iPhone 4 and upcoming qHD display phones will have something to look up to soon, that will be the P930 and any other phone with this high-res screen. We have recently heard about Toshiba having the same resolution on a 4″ display so this might be the same size, or something bigger. We don’t know much for now but feel free to look over the XML file.

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LG Optimus 3D Out in the Wild, on eBay

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It looks like more Google I/O gear is making its way on to eBay. I would keep the cool things like that for myself, but that is just me. From what we are hearing, and seeing there is now multiple LG Optimus 3D phones showing up on Ebay and they are listed as “dev” phones. Listed as new in box, and never used. From what we understand LG gave a few of these out to developers from Google I/O at a LG side event, and some are deciding to sell them rather than keep them… or develop for the device.

We reached out to our contact at LG and were informed that it was an Analysts only event and should there be any media there, they were sure lucky. Especially lucky if they’re getting prices like these for a phone that’ll certainly be out quite soon for a lot less cash. One is listed and currently the bidding sits around $535, but the rest are over $700. Still a decent price for the hardware and technology you are getting early. Or for those that don’t like the bidding and waiting game one is listed Buy It Now for the low low price of $900. That is one expensive smartphone, I hope it will make my coffee.
For those that might not know a lot about the Optimus 3D we have a hands-on here as well as full specs at that same link. It boasts a dual-core TI OMAP 4 processor, not a Tegra 2 and it will be sporting a 4.3″ glasses free 3D display, as well as the same powerful PowerVR SGX540 GPU in all those Galaxy S phones, as well as those other exciting features like dual 5MP cameras on back to record 3D, as well as HDMI out. Basically it is a beastly workhorse of a phone.
Obviously buying something like this from Ebay will have its risks, I’d use some caution and email the seller with any questions. A few are reporting the phone as quad-band and working on AT&T as well as T-Mobile so that is interesting to read, but I’d take that with a grain of salt. Here is a link to all the listing currently up, click here.

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LG G2x Overclocked to 1.5 Ghz, scores almost 4600 in Quadrant

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I know we talk about overclocking and benchmarks quite often, but it is a little exciting you have to admit. Seeing what the amazing developers and kernel builders can squeeze out of these devices, all that extra power they can unlock and keep the device stable. Today I have some benchmarks I have done myself this morning on my T-Mobile G2x running at 1.5 Ghz on a EXT4 kernel by Morfic, and I was getting some pretty huge benchmark results.


With a little tweaking and overclocking I was able to get 4570 in quadrant, almost breaking 4600. I pretty impressive considering the scores it was getting on stock. Even the Galaxy S II benchmarks we posted last month were only around 3100, but that is at stock CPU speeds.
To achieve the speedy results I’ve posted above head over to XDA and dive into some of the amazing kernels that are now showing up for these Tegra 2 devices. If anyone follows the developer morphic and his Trinity kernels for devices like the Nexus S, you’ll be glad to hear that is what I’m running on my G2x. Morphic has a single thread on XDA that is for all of his Trinity kernels for the G2x, so instead of linking to one, I’ll just direct you to that thread. I am running the CM7 build for the G2x, and Morphic’s CM7 EXT4 1.5 Ghz kernel myself and boy it is fast.
Make sure you use caution and select the right kernel for the rom you are running, as he has many types and versions posted. If you flash the wrong one you will run into issues. As always, do a nandroid backup before any large changes or flashing things in recovery. Enjoy the speed boost and please come back and leave a comment if you beat my score.

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LG Revolution May 26 Launch with Netflix, Froyo, and LTE

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Have a peek at this, one official looking two-sided sheet showing off basically everything you could possibly want to know about the brand new LG Revolution. This device will launch on the 26th of May right next to both the DROIDX2 and the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY – which one will you choose? We’re hoping to catch em all. This device will be only the third Android device to work with Verizon’s 4G LTE network and the first selection from LG. And it’s in all black instead of the silver we saw back at CES.

This device hasn’t seen a whole heck of a lot of changes since it was shown off at the mother of all tech shows, this 4.3-inch display having Android 2.2 device with LG’s User Interface, a 5-megapixel camera on the back and a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front. It’s got a 16GB pre-installed microSD card, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, HDMI-out, and wireless charging.

Wireless charging?! Hooray forever! This device appears to be a shoe-in for being the first to use Qi wireless charginve, making it clearly the best LTE device to be released thus far. No? Let’s take a look at the rest of the specs and see what we see. This device uses Bing instead of Google, has a battery they say will last 335 hours on standby, and its display is a 16.7M Color TFT LCD at 800 x 480 pixels. Remind you of anyone you know?

We’ll see how this sassy lady measures up against the T-Mobile G2x when the time comes, but for now, lets just salivate and wait. 

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LG Optimus Pad arrives in UK today

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The HTC Flyer isn’t the only tablet arriving in the UK today. Carphone Warehouse has confirmed that the LG Optimus Pad – aka the T-Mobile G-Slate in the US – is now on sale, offering Android 3.0 Honeycomb and a 3D camera array for stills and video.

Your money gets you a 10.1-inch display – which can show 3D footage, as long as you wear the bundled red/cyan glasses – along with twin cameras, WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth. Inside is NVIDIA’s dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 chipset.
The Optimus Pad will be available from £299.99 on a £25 per month (24 month) contract, which includes 5GB of data, or for £749.99 stand alone. 

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Galaxy S II vs Qualcomm MDP vs G2x Dual-Core Battle of Quadrant Benchmark Doom

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Behold a simple test of wills. A test of benchmarking, a test of numbers adding up to one simple factoid – which device is best at taking the test? We’ve got three massively powerful devices here, one with bigger GHz than the last. The Samsung Galaxy S II has, prepare yourself for all these letters an numbers: a 1.2 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 SoC processor; Samsung Exynos (GT-i9100). The Qualcomm MDP rolls out with Qualcomm’s dual-core MSM8660 running at up to 1.5GHz (with an Adreno 220 GPU, for fun!) Finally, the T-Mobile G2x has the lovely NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz Dual-core processor. How in the world can each of these titans be asked to come soundly to a fight, a fight that pits all against one another?

First, let’s take a look at the lowest scoring device. It makes me weep a little bit because the G2x is such a lovely little device and I’ve got a couple heart strings attached to the fact that Android Community had it basically before everyone else and still dominates the review circuit (try looking up “G2x Review” in Google, for example,) so this is super sad and let’s all cry about it. The lowest of the three scores in Quadrant is 2659. This is the T-Mobile G2x and it’s the lowest by almost 1000 points.

The other two scores are much closer to one another than the G2x is to either of them. It may surprise you that it isn’t the Qualcomm MDP that comes out on top here. This massively powerful developer-oriented device comes in at 3527, a mere 150 or so behind the top player, but lower nonetheless. If you came to this post looking for price value in Quadrant scores, you might also want to think twice before purchasing the $1300 Qualcomm MDP – that’s not what it’s made for though, so think thrice.

Finally, the king, the powerhouse, the phone that by all means may well break all the records in the world with its awesomeness, the Samsung Galaxy S II. This phone is the next step in Samsung’s epic family of Galaxy devices (right after the very similar looking Samsung Infuse 4G,) and will not take a second chair to noone, nohow! Samsung Galaxy S II, (and remember this is still the Euro version,) grabs top spot with 3707 in Quadrant.

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LG Optimus Black Debuts In Europe This Month

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GoAndroid first leaked the LG B on in December and a month later it was officially announced as the the LG Optimus Black at CES in Las Vegas, following up with an appearance at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It has yet to find its way to store shelves, but LG just published a press release announcing it’s in-transit to Europe and will be available later this month, having already received pre-orders in 50 different countries.

The LG Optimus Black is ridiculously thin, measuring only .36-inches thick, and rocking a super bright screen, 1GHz processor, and 5MP camera. Full press release follows:

SEOUL, May 8, 2011 - The LG Optimus Black, the stylishly slim and lightweight Android smartphone featuring the unique NOVA display, will make its international debut in Europe later this month.
Following successful unveilings at the Consumer Electronics Show and the Mobile World Congress, the LG Optimus Black has attracted pre-orders from 56 network carriers in 50 different countries. The phone will be available globally across six continents beginning in Europe before heading to North America and Asia.
"For smartphone users who appreciate both style and substance, the LG Optimus Black offers beauty, performance and mobility in one smart package," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "LG Optimus Black is a significant addition to our global Optimus portfolio and we think it’ll prove to be one of our most popular phones."
Introducing LG’s new NOVA display technology, the LG Optimus Black provides optimal brightness and clarity that allows for enhanced readability. With higher levels of brightness and true blacks and whites for ideal handset viewing, the NOVA screen provides a more natural experience for web browsing while reducing power consumption by 50 percent during general indoor use compared to conventional LCDs.
The sleek design of the phone is accentuated by the flush finish of the seamless 4-inch display to offer a smooth, undisrupted surface. This is complemented by the slim 9.2mm body and its unparalleled weight of only 109g.
The black version of LG Optimus Black will be available first followed by white and pink versions which will be introduced next month.
For more information and product images, please visit www.lgnewsroom.com.
Key Specifications:
* 4-inch NOVA Display (700 nits brightness)
* Dimensions:122 x 64 x 9.2mm
* Weight: 109g
* 1GHz processor (Texas Instruments OMAP3)
* Wi-Fi Direct
* 5MP Rear Camera / 2MP Front Facing Camera
* Gesture UI powered by Gyro-sensor
* 2GB Internal Memory and Micro SD up to 32GB
* 1,500 mAh Battery

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T-Mobile G2x Gingerbread Leak [Apparently the Real Deal]

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What we’ve got here, courtest of Paul from MoDaCo is what appears to be the Gingerbread build that will eventually be the one send out to G2x users across the USA. This build is release-key signed, which generally means that it’s the real deal, and the file you’re about to download is both pre-rooted and is a repacked ROM so you’ll be able to flash it easily – just so long as your device is rooted, of course. We’ve got full instructions on how to do this here plus a quick look at the insides.

The video you’re about to see goes through a few tiny areas that are indicative of Gingerbread-ness and will inevitably be showing up in Android 2.3 for your G2x, but take it with a grain of salt. Most everything can be faked, and who the heck knows for sure? That said, it appears to yours truly to be legit, and aside from the external SD card not mounting properly (still working on it) and benchmarks not turning up so sweet thus far. It does smell like Gingerbread, at least!



There’s a couple of points that I’d like to pass on to you from Paul about the build, the first of which being that this release does NOT include an updated baseband – Paul notes that he’ll provide it too once he’s got it (secret mafia business!) Next, that this release is repacked the ROM to update zip format for your ease in flashing and it’s pre-rooted, other than that, it’s 100% the way he found it. The following process will void your warrantee with T-Mobile and you’ll be very very sad if you mess it up because you’ll have to buy a new phone. That said, have fun!
This guide starts at an out-of-the-box state with the G2x, so if you’re already rooted and have ROM Manager set up, skip to Part 2.
PART 1
1. Follow Directions A/L for rooting on Apple or Linux computers, Directions W for Windows machines.
2. Once you are rooted, download ROM Manager.
3. If you are correctly rooted, you should be able to open ROM Manager with no problems, if you did not attain root correctly, ROM Manager will pop up a window that tells you so.
4. Flash ClockworkMod Recovery. This is the top button in ROM Manager and should only take a minute or two if you’re on a fast data connection.
Part 2
5. Upon successful flashing of ClockworkMod Recovery, head to this MoDaCo thread and grab the download at the end of the first post called “DOWNLOAD (ROMraid Load Balancing) – MD5: 5992d38b6427c06a2ce0bfeb259d201c”
6. Move this file to your SD card. The easiest way to do this is to download Android SDK, install all the most recent updates via the “Android” tool in the “tools” folder, and open the “DDMS” tool. Once you’ve got DDMS open, go to Settings – Applications – Development – and activate USB debugging, followed by plugging in your device to your computer via USB. Your device should show up in your DDMS window – highlight it by clicking and go to Device – File Explorer. From there you should be able to locate your SD card and place the .zip file you downloaded in step 5 inside.
7. Unplug your device from USB.
8. Open ROM Manager.
9. Supposing you’ve already flashed the most recent version of ClockworkMod Recovery, you can now locate the zip file with the button “Install ROM from SD card.”
10. Be sure to have “Backup Existing ROM” clicked, then click the other two options for good measure.
11. Press OK.
12. Supposing you did everything correctly, your device will be rebooting, backing up your current setup, and loading the new Gingerbread ROM.
13. You’re set!
Confused at all? Ask a question below and I’ll do my best to answer it!

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LG Optimus 2X lands Guinness World Record

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I would bet that most of you at one point or another have thumbed through the Guinness Book of World records. This book is jam packed with records for all sorts of things. I once read that the book started by the makers of the Guinness beer as a book to end disputes at the bar over silly facts that drunkards often argue over. The LG Optimus 2X smartphone has landed itself in the record book.

The record is granted to the smartphone for being the first mobile phone to use a dual core processor. The smartphone landed on South Korea on January 25 2011 packing in that dual core processor. The market if flooded what smartphone packing two cores today, but this was the first and has the record to prove it. We got our hands on the T-Mobile version of this smartphone last month to see what it was all about.
The smartphone has a 4-inch screen with a 480 x 800 resolution. It measures in at 4.9″ x 2.5″ x 0.4″ and weighs about 5-ounces. The rear camera is an 8MP unit and it has image stabilization, smile detection and a lot more. The camera will record 1080p HD video as well. It even has a front camera for video chats. We really liked the device when it was first launched (and still do).

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Android Gingerbread for T-Mobile myTouch 4G and G2x: Preview Videos

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As you know there are still a few Android smartphones out there that run Android 2.2 Froyo and wait to get updated to Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Well two such Android devices will soon gain the Gingerbread update, the T-Mobile G2x and the T-Mobile myTouch 4G, and we have a couple of preview videos for your viewing pleasure below.
The Android Gingerbread on the T-Mobile myTouch 4G and T-Mobile G2x come our way courtesy of Engadget Mobile and by way of Android Central and This Is My Next, this first of which is the T-Mobile myTouch 4G lasting almost 2 minutes while the T-Mobile G2x lasts 7 minutes.
Apparently the T-Mobile myTouch 4G is a development copy of Android 2.3.3 from LG while the T-Mobile G2x is a not fully baked release of a development version.
So rather than me type out the details, if you own a T-Mobile myTouch 4G or T-Mobile G2x head on down and mash the play buttons to check out some Android Gingerbread goodness…enjoy.

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Triple threat: Motorola Droid X2, LG Revolution, and HTC Trophy to launch May 12 on Verizon Wireless

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A month ago we told you that Verizon was going to have some nice releases for April and May. It looks like the Motorola Droid X2 and the LG Revolution are on schedule and will be released next Thursday, May 12. The HTC Trophy (WP7) which was originally expected to hit in April, will now be released next Thursday as well.
For those waiting for the Sony Xperia PLAY, you will be happy to know that it has been scheduled for Thursday, May 26th. This phone was also originally scheduled for April, but due to some bugs it was pushed back.
The Droid X2 will be Verizon’s first dual-core Tegra 2 phone. The LG Revolution will be a 4G LTE phone and be the first Android phone with Netflix support.  The HTC Trophy will be Verizon’s first Windows Phone 7 device.
It looks like the Verizon stores will be pretty busy next Thursday.

 

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T-Mobile G2x Android 2.3 Gingerbread Preview

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Well what do you know? Looks like someone got their hands on an early build of Android 2.3 Gingerbread for T-Mobile’s G2x. It’s Chris Ziegler of This is My Next and by the looks of it, there’s not a whole heck of a lot of surprises, but increased enjoyability nonetheless. Have a look and let us know if you’ll be backing out of Cyanogen long enough to get yourself the official real deal Gingerbread when the time comes.

As you may already be aware, the G2x comes stocked with Android 2.2 Froyo in a vanilla flavoring. This tasty combination means that aside from a few apps here and there, this version of Android is in the original Google-made state. There’s no custom user interface sitting on top of it – you know what that means? It means a much easier path to getting an update to the next version of Android. This means that the device will have Android 2.3 Gingerbread sooner than later.
Now you’re already essentially able to get Gingerbread if you’re the hacking type by heading over to the CyanogenMod 7 for G2x post from a few days ago. If you’re into the real deal from Google, do press on:
Factoids gleaned from Ziegler at TIMN:

• This update will be Android 2.3.3, not Android 2.3.4 with Google Talk Video Calling.
• Scrolling and touch sensitivity appear to be notably improved.
• Gingerbread keyboard, improved text highlighting
• No Tags app, Nexus S Gingerbread system sounds not present
• Gingerbread UI in menus, status bar, dialer, and in glow at the end of lists – buzz!
• Stock Gingerbread camera app (replacing LG’s custom Froyo camera app)
[Source :Androidcommunity]

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