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MWC: LG showcases four Optimus devices in four-pronged strategy

Alex Walls
February 25, 2013

At Mobile World Congress, LG is showcasing four Optimus devices due to roll out in a four-tier strategy.

The company called its smartphone strategy its most ambitious to date, with an initial target of 10 million smartphones sold each quarter and double sales of LTE devices in 2013.

LG’s 2012 fourth quarter results saw smartphone shipments of 8.6 million devices, up from 7 million in the third quarter, an increase of 23%.  A target of 10 million smartphones sold each quarter is not too large a stretch provided LG maintains its growth (a key point), representing a 16% increase on Q4 2012.

One of the devices was the already announced Optimus G, which debuted in  United States, Canada, Korea and Japan last September and will now roll out to more than 50 countries starting with Singapore at the end of January, LG said.  It was LG’s most advanced LTE 4G device and runs a Qualcomm S4 Pro quad-core processor.

The G Pro was launched recently in Korea but no word yet on a UK release.

Welcome to my smartphone attack zone

The four Optimus series devices were the Optimus G, Vu: tablet, the Optimus F and LII.  The former two would be the flagship models for LG, the manufacturer said, while the latter would be positioned as mass audience smartphones, with the Optimus F targeting 4G LTE markets.

The F series was also announced a few days before Mobile World Congress, with LG saying it was designed to bring 4G LTE to a mass audience.  Two devices, the F5 and the F7 would make their debut at MWC, it said.

The F5 ran a 1.2GHz dual core processor with 4.3 inch display and 2150mAh battery while the F7 ran a 1.5GHz dual core processor with a 4.7 inch display and a 2540mAh battery.  Both would run Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), the manufacturer said.

The L series was also announced a few days before MWC, with the L3 II, L5 II and L7 II on display at MWC.

The Vu: tablet was a hybrid LTE device and had a 5 inch display.  With the Vu: 2 launched in Korea recently, the Vu: series comprised two devices, LG said.

Wireless HD streaming from phone to TV

LG is also debuting its Wireless Ultra High Definition (HD) Transmission technology at MWC, a feature which allows users to view games and other content on an Ultra HD TV in real time, via wireless data transfer – so users can stream games or movies from their phone to an Ultra HD Tv.

The technology involved “minimal lag and data loss”, LG said, and used “ubiquitous WiFi connections, whatever that may mean.  During transmission, multimedia content was automatically adjusted to match the receiving TV’s resolution – but how, LG?! How?!

The technology consumed less than half the power of similar transmission technologies, LG said, achieving this by reducing the burden on the smartphone’s CPU and other hardware.

I guess for more details, we’ll just have to stay tuned.

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