LG Delivers their new G3 Smartphone with a QHD 5.5" Display
Today LG introduced their new G3 smartphone at an event held in London, England. Just as we reported earlier this month, LG did in fact deliver their promised QHD 5.5 inch display that provides a 2560 x 1440 resolution. In February we first revealed Samsung's plan to deliver a similar type of display in a new "F-Series" Galaxy Model. That model has recently become the new rumored Galaxy S5-Prime smartphone. The race to deliver QHD displays on smartphones is now on and LG clearly beat Samsung to market. In fact, if anything was impressive about LG's new G3, it was definitely their new display. LG took the pains to carefully demonstrate the reinvention of their display in meaningful ways that dispelled the myth that the human eye could only see up to 300ppi. Their case was compelling which made the rumored 5.5 inch iPhone all that more exciting should it come to pass as we reported on earlier today. Our report presents you with a great number of photos from today's LG event and few other interesting factoids along the way.
1. LG G3: Quad HD IPS Display
LG's big announcement today was really all about their gorgeous new G3 smartphone 5.5" Quad HD Display. According to LG, the rule that the human eye can't see beyond 300ppi is nothing but a myth.
As you can see in the middle slide below, LG made their convincing case that the human eye can in fact see beyond 300 dpi. For the record, LG's new display delivers 538ppi with a resolution of 2560 x1440. The new display delivers 11,059,200 sub-pixels which is 1.8 times more than a full HD IPS display and 2.7 times more than a full HD AMOLED display. LG's new Quad HD provides the best color reproduction in the industry today according to their presenter.
In order to run such a high resolution display on a smartphone, LG had to improve their battery so as to not drain battery life. They introduced what they called the 3A Adaptive Optimization for controlling frame rate, optimization of CPU clocking and timing control to better control battery life.
The presenter made it clear that the new LG 5.5 inch display was the perfect smartphone size – adding that it came with a minimized bezel so that users could still use their smartphones with just one hand. This was a selling point that was first introduced by Apple's VP of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller during his iPhone 5 keynote.
2. LG G3: The New "Breakthrough" Camera
The next cornerstone feature in LG's keynote was all about their new and improved camera features. They framed it as being the new "Breakthrough" camera. Their top new feature revolved around their all new Laser Auto Focus that could take a photo in just 0.276 milliseconds. That's faster than a human eye blinking which takes 0.300 milliseconds. Such lasers are usually only found in police radar guns or high-end SLR cameras.
LG noted that they've also improved on their Optical image Stabilization under their OIS + Technology that is now 20 percent better at taking photos without shake or blur.
The New Selfie Feature
At this point, the presenter shifted gears and noted that in 2013 the Oxford English dictionary named "Selfie," as the word of the year. Taking selfies is an obsession today, the presenter noted, and LG wants to deliver a camera that could capture them better – even in challenging lighting. According to LG, the ultimate "Selfie Cam" was engineered to enlarge the image sensor and increase the number of lenses in the camera to ensure better image quality and improved resolution.
For those who love to take "Selfies", LG wanted to make that process more fun. So they created a feature that allow a user to simply raise their hand in front of the camera which triggers a new on screen "3..2..1 countdown" feature to kick in. It's designed to give the user just enough time to get their pose right and then it auto snaps.
For taking Videos, LG has focused on the ability of adding superior audio with a microphone with a new boost amp. Filming at concerts will provide superior playback performance. It will also provide users with automated ambient noise controls for better sound recordings.
3. LG Elevates their Smartphone GUI and User Experience Features
When describing their new G3 design they used Leonardo da Vinci's words that "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Supporting that, the presenter continually drove home the mantra that "Simple is the new Smart."
To be consistent with their new mantra, the presenter stated that "The front of the G3 is a sleek modern design that's suggests understated star power rather than shouting an ostentatious opulence."
Beyond the hardware features that the presenter illustrated, he shifted to changes to their GUI. Firstly, the presenter noted that the new G3 now offers GUI wallpapers that match the color of the smartphone so that they're color coordinated. Secondly, they've revamped their GUI with new simple flat graphics with no embossing or 3D accents so as to provide a clean and minimal look.
As that part of their presentation progressed along those lines, I simply couldn't help myself from laughing. I was hearing a mirroring of last year's WWDC keynote where Apple's Jony Ive introduced iOS's new "flat look."
Next, LG noted that they've reinvented their GUI color palette so as to reflect a more mature user interface with warmer colors that stayed away from bright primary colors. They also created five custom apps for the G3 reflecting their new color palette.
The presenter later noted that typing and texting is the number one activity on smartphones according to their research and so they made some refinements to their keyboard such as allowing the keyboard to be enlarged vertically making the keys larger and easier to use for some.
New Kill Switch
Finally, LG noted that the new G3 now comes with a new Kill Switch feature which governments around the world are pushing for. In London last year, 30,000 phones were lost or stolen. In April we reported that Apple will be introducing a Kill Switch in 2015. In that report we learned that 1.6 million Americans were victimized for their smartphones in 2012.
No Fingerprint Scanner
What LG's new smartphone didn't deliver this time around is a fingerprint scanner. Some may find that a disappointment while others will take it in stride. LG probably observed the mess that Samsung had created by rushing to match Apple's Touch ID and decided to delay their implementation of such a feature. Earlier this month Senator Al Franken questioned Samsung's fingerprint technology in conjunction with PayPal. I'm sure that Al Franken's latest actions will put pressure on many smartphone makers who have been contemplating the use of various modes of biometric security features in future mobile devices.
In the end LG's new G3 is a solid upgrade that delivers a new smarter and revamped user interface, improved camera features and a stunning display that will definitely excite their fan base to get out and buy one. I'm only hoping that Santa is working out a deal with Apple to get those new larger iPhones out in time for Christmas. How about you?
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