Ahead of this weekend’s IFA 2012 tradeshow in Germany, LG has taken the wraps off of its next Android flagship smartphone in the LG Optimus G.
The Optimus G heralds a few new innovations for LG, as it will be the first phone completely developed internally utilizing technologies from two subsidiaries for the display and battery, with LG InnoTek providing the gapless display technology that the company claims will seamlessly diappear into the bezel when turned off and LG Chem providing a new battery with a claimed lifecycle of 800 complete charge/discharge cycles before needing replacement.
The new 4.7 inch IPS display on the Optimus G will also be the first smartphone display on an LG Android flagship to feature gapless integrated display technology that allows the display to be manufactured as thinly as possible while increasing the number of available capacitive touch points for increased input accuracy while interacting with the phone without the need for any glass bonding, which typically leaves a sizable gap between the glass front and the capacitive input layer, making devices thicker. The display resolution will also reflect the latest developments as it will carry the True HD IPS branding and run at 1280×768 resolution, another first for an LG Android flagship.
The rest of the phone’s specifications also reflect its status as the next major Android flagship from LG, with Android ICS, 2GB of RAM, a 13 megapixel rear camera with LED flash and 1080p video capture, 1.3 megapixel front camera and 2,100mAh fixed battery, with the bodyshell measuring 8mm thick at its thickest point.
The Optimus G is underpinned by a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with an Adreno 320 GPU and will also feature support for MHL video output/mirroring capability, built-in NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 and software enhancements for the camera such as Time Catch Shot picture selection and Cheese Shutter voice command along with the addition of a “live zoom” feature on video capture and new mirroring options via the new Dual Screen Dual Play functionality.
Currently, the phone will first be launched in Korea next month and Japan the following months, as NTT DoCoMo will launch the phone under its NEXT series smartphone line between October and November while more concrete international launch details outside of Asia are expected to be confirmed during its press conference at IFA 2012 this weekend.
