LG Etna Metamorphoses as LG’s First Android Phone - the LG GW620

Oct. 9, 2009 - PRLog -- After some months of speculation on the net about its Etna smartphones, we finally get confirmation that LG is releasing it as the new LG GW620.  What is making waves is that it’s LG’s first Android-based smartphone.

After announcing three Window Mobile handsets that will be released soon, LG surprised its markets with the first Android smartphone that’s expected to hit the markets by end of 2009.  We know that the Korean mobile phone giant, now the number three among the “big five” is planning in excess of 12 Windows Mobile phones schedules for release over the next 16 months.  

What we don’t know are its plans for the Android phone which, based on its press release, hints at making a diversified product strategy aimed at meeting new market needs spawned by the emergence of Android markets.  For the LG GW620, it could very well be its entry-level Android phone meant to introduce the brand to Android fans, so we don’t expect its price to be near that of upscale models.

Smartphone Features Speculated

While still waiting for the official data sheet, a lot of speculation on the new LG Android has been on the net for its production phone codenamed LG Etna.  So far, other than the fact that it is LG’s new Android phone, its specifications remain unchallenged.  It does sport a full QWERTY slider touchscreen form akin to current LG and Motorola QWERTY slider phones.  It’s no stand-out in the features department and we see some watered down traits that tend to suggest that LG has deliberately pulled back on the features to bring the price down.  

For a start, its 3” HVGA LCD display uses a cheaper resistive screen and has support for just 256k colors.  Not that it doesn’t do its job well, it’s just not at par with other mobile handset sporting 16 million colors with a capacitive screen.

It’s your typical quad band GSM that gets a better internet surfing and downloading experience with its high speed 3G and HSDPA/JSUPA data connectivity features – a must for many smartphone users who prefer not to waist their time waiting on slow 2G networks.
It also features the usual high speed wireless data connectivity with WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support.  Its 5.0 megapixel autofocus camera sounds impressive but no details yet.  Other features include stereo FM radio with RDS, support for up to 16 GB of memory expansion via its microSD slot.  GPS support is also there.

Availability

As we can see, this is a vanilla of a smartphone with features that we’ve seen elsewhere, whether it’s an Android, Windows, Symbian or some other proprietary operating system.  As LG’s first foray into the Android territory, we expect this to be an entry level phone to make its introductory presence felt in the Android market felt.  Anticipated to appear in the market towards the end of the year, its price point shouldn’t be in the upscale range and we hope to see that confirmed with LG in the days ahead.


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http://www.lggw620deals.co.uk
http://www.lggw620deals.co.uk/lg-gw620-18-month-contracts
http://www.lggw620deals.co.uk/lg-gw620-sim-free