Talking to Pocket-lint at the pre-MWC launch event for the G Pro 2 and G2 mini smartphones, a spokesman for the company confirmed that there are no Windows Phone devices on the roadmap at the moment. Difference between being a Windows Phone "partner" and "company which actually churns them out on the production line" becomes apparent.]]>
They say that sales of the G2 have barely broken 600,000 units in South Korea during the product’s first four months of availability. To put that into some perspective, the company’s 2012 flagship phone, the Optimus G Pro, sold 540,000 units during the same span of time.
Moving on to international figures, the company had set itself an internal goal of selling 3m units of the G2 during the third quarter, but instead, sales were somewhere in the range of sub=2.3m. Add to this the increased marketing spend LG has committed to in order to get their name out there, and it looks like there will definitely be some management reshuffling by the time this year comes to a close.]]>
Other owners of Google's smartphone have reported terrible battery drain since updating, laggy keyboard performance and some users have even reported that their device is now shutting down of its own accord.
Not all users are affected by issues, but it's a real mess for Google - especially given that early updates to new Android platforms are often highlighted as major selling points of Nexus devices.
What to do if affected?
Google are aware of the problem and they are already thought to working a new update to resolve the issues (KitKat 4.4.1). Waiting it out is an option, but Google are yet to comment when the new patch is likely to made available. Puts something of a crimp on the promises of the Nexus line getting pure, untroubled Android.]]>
While LG Display's screens will be fixed to curved surfaces – they'll be permanently bent into a curved phone rather than being freely bendable – when someone sits on them or squeezes them, they'll flex rather than snap. You wait ages for a phone with a curved screen to come along... (Thanks #uncollective for the link.)]]>
This year’s mobile phone sales in Korea are expected to reach 27.3m units, 16.3% down from 32.6m of last year. The Korean mobile phone market has steadily grown since 2010. Prior to 2010, mobile phone sales continued to grow in overall, with a slight letup in some years. Therefore, the abrupt drop in mobile phone sales this year is deemed to be unprecedented. Reasons are reckoned to be widespread penetration of smartphones, and availability of LTE - but also to the reduction of subsidies. How is that going to affect LG and Samusung if their home market shrinks?]]>
"As of right now, LG doesn’t have any plans for a Google Play Edition. The focus for the G2 is penetration through carriers. That however could change down the road.” –Ken Hong, LG PR" No plans *yet*. But do those Google Play editions sell in numbers making them worth producing?]]>
Its rear keys can be used to adjust its volume or - if pressed for a longer time - to activate the device's camera and note-taking software.
LG suggests that using a back-button to take a self-portrait with the front camera also makes it easier to take a steady shot.
"Moving the main buttons to the back of the phone gave users more control since this place was where individuals' index fingers are naturally located," it said.
"Researchers also found that moving the buttons also resulted in fewer dropped phones when adjusting the volume while talking." Novel, and rather clever, idea.]]>
The company’s mobile unit shipped 12.1m smartphones during the April-June period, the highest-ever quarterly figure throughout its history, and recorded revenue of KRW3.12try ($2.78 bn), up 34.5% from the same period a year earlier. And operating income too. LG seems to be the counterexample to the idea that you can't come back from a loss.]]>
Meanwhile, South Korea-based LG Electronics plans to showcase the Optimus G2 Android smartphone, with a 5.5in screen, and Qualcomm quad-core S4 Prime MSM8974.
Sony Mobile Communication will hold a press conference on 7 January to introduce its Xperia Z, a new product that has the same panel and processor as HTC's Butterfly/Droid DNA but with a higher-end camera.
Market observers believe sales of 5in smartphones among total smartphone sales will increase from below 5% in 2012 to 10-15% in 2013, or around 100m units. Could make life interesting for Samsung.]]>
The injunction request is the latest development in the ongoing patent brawl between LG Display and the affiliate of Samsung Electronics that manufactures screens used in smartphones, tablets and televisions. It also signals intensifying competition as the two companies jostle for market share.
The injunction follows a lawsuit filed by Samsung Display Co. on 7 December, which alleged that LG infringed seven of Samsung's liquid crystal display patents. LG, which filed the injunction with the Seoul District Court on Wednesday, is aiming to block the sales of the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet computer. So the maker of the Nexus 4 is trying to block sales of the (Nexus) Note 10.1 in the home country of both makers. Google, looking on, perhaps trying to figure out which is its least favourite child. And of course this is another Android v Android lawsuit - Huawei and ZTE are already fighting.]]>
However, through day-to-day use I noticed strange lines appearing on the screen. First, when the unlock-screen presented itself, it seems to have a slight transparency to the desktop.
Once I noticed it, it seemed to get worse, though this might be because I knew about it & saw it more often, or because it did actually get worse. Either way I was getting less and less happy with my new shiny thing. I would work on a document, flick to working on some photos & there would be not-so-mysterious lines appear 'over' the images.
It wasn't long before I did some searches and found out that this was in fact something known as ghosting - a problem occurring with some of the retina MBPs. Half of all the screens are made by LG; half by Samsung. The LG ones have the problems, the commenters say. (They also offer a simple Terminal script to find out which screen a "retina" laptop has.)]]>
The other - made for Google by LG Electronics as a showcase for Android 4.2 (a.k.a. Jelly Bean) - has become an object lesson in how not to stage a roll-out in advance of the holidays. Then again, either Google or LG will learn valuable lessons from this. But which one?]]>
Samsung originally accounted for a large portion of iPad panel shipments and was shipping over one million iPad panels in July. However, as of August the company had dropped to roughly 700,000 in iPad panel shipments and that number may decrease even more, added the sources.
The decrease is a significant drop from Samsung's monthly average of 2.5m iPad panel shipments during the first half of 2012, said the sources. The sources did not specify specific reasons for the drop in shipments but market observers suspect it has to do with disputes between Apple and Samsung.]]>
"None of it is true. Korea Herald is showing its speculative side again," a spokesman for the company in Korea exclusively told Pocket-lint before adding, "We are still on board with Windows Phone, but right now, we're focusing on Android because that's where the demand is." Translation: LG isn't giving up making Windows Phone devices. Then again, it isn't very interested in making them either.]]>