GigaOM » LG

The internet of things: a market landscape

Jon Collins — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 06:55:20 +0000

What can we expect the IoT landscape to look like, and how will its impact be felt? And is the attention being given by governments, manufacturers, and industry players merited, or is this just a fad? In this paper we look at the trends leading the growth of the internet of things, its components, and its characteristics. We examine the scale of the different opportunities and early examples of use cases. Finally, we look at potential inhibitors to adoption and potential challenges, notably around security, privacy, and system failure.

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Where new opportunity lies in the mobile operating system space

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:55:09 +0000

Roughly half a dozen new mobile operating systems will come to market over the next 6 to 12 months. Many of these look to be more sophisticated than the older ones controlled by Apple and Google. This report will examine the most noteworthy of these new operating systems, Blackberry 10, Firefox, Tizen, and others. It will also document their competitive advantages and disadvantages and gauge what their chances of success — or even true disruption — might be.

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First impressions of a new flagship, the LG Optimus G Pro for AT&T

Kevin C. Tofel — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:56:31 +0000

Last week, AT&T announced it is exclusively selling the LG Optimus G Pro for $199 with contract. The phone can be pre-ordered now and is expected to be available on May 10. I received an early review unit and have spent just a little time so far using the phone. A few things already stand out to me: LG is mimicking Samsung’s large phone approach — both with hardware and software — and those looking for a flagship phone will have to add the Optimus G Pro to their list of potential candidates.

I’ll have a full review forthcoming — I never review a phone without at least five days use for testing battery life and other reasons — but for now, here are my first impressions, in no particular order, followed a some images of the phone.

When I first removed the phone from the box, I thought I was sent the wrong phone. It appears nearly identical to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, although LG’s new handset is roughly a quarter-inch narrower in width. And that small width shaving makes a big difference — for the better — when holding this phone.
Like the Note 2, the Optimus G Pro is all plastic and has a removable back cover. In all seriousness: If I didn’t see the LG branding on the top of the device, I would have sworn it was Samsung made.
The 5.5-inch 1080p display is excellent, easily rivaling those on the Galaxy S 4 and HTC One, both of which also have 1920 x 1080 resolution screens. There’s nary a pixel to be seen.
LG’s software is much improved over earlier efforts. Although this phone doesn’t run stock Android, LG’s skin is very minimal compared to similar phones. The home screens have a nice 3D effect: When swiping through them, everything on the display rotates around the left axis of the screen as if the icons and widgets were rotating around a flagpole.
Short of LG’s Tag+ NFC software and an IR remote control app, there are no other LG-specific apps. The same can’t be said of AT&T: I count at least nine bits of software from the carrier.
Similar to the Galaxy S 4, the Optimus G Pro has settings split up by four tabs. It’s not a confusing layout, but clearly the high-end Android phones are gaining more features that could add complexity. There are no hover gestures, but you can pause video by turning the phone over.
A quad-core 1.7 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 with 2 GB of memory powers the phone and for some reason it appears to perform a smidge better than the HTC One and Galaxy S 4 in my limited usage so far. I suspect the lack of a complex skin atop Android may be the reason, however, it’s too early to determine a performance winner.
I don’t mind a physical home button on Android phones although some do. The one on the Optimus G Pro isn’t my favorite though. I find it too small; it’s wide enough, but very thin. It does, however, have a nice LED ring around it with different colors for notifications and such. I also personally don’t like the placement of the two capacitive buttons: Back is on the left side of the Home button, while Menu is to the right. This may not bother others.
The phone comes with 32 GB of internal memory at this price; cheaper than the 32 GB Galaxy S 4. And you can expand it, unlike the HTC One, although some won’t have to. However, the total space available is 23.3 GB, which surprises me; I would have expected around 26 GB or so. Carrier bloatware, perhaps?
Like many new phones, the Optimus G Pro ships with Android 4.1.2. There is a bit of multitasking capability as some apps and widgets have a transparency slider. Use this and the app is see through so you can interact with other apps. Slide it back for the original app to regain focus.
Although there isn’t a stylus, the phone has a dedicated note-taking app called QuickMemo, which is available from the drop-down notifications shade. I almost wish there was a stylus because I don’t see many folks taking notes here with their fingers.
I haven’t taken many photos with the 13 megapixel rear camera yet. I did notice that there are only a few camera modes: Normal, HDR, Panorama, VR Panorama, Burst Shot and Beauty Shot. Perhaps that’s a good thing so consumers won’t get overwhelmed by a wider range of image modes.
It’s too early to determine battery life on a single charge. However, with a 3140 mAh battery, I’d be disappointed (and somewhat surprised) if this phone doesn’t easily last a full day for all but a very select number of power users.

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Android this week: Nexus 11 leaked; Wii Fit turns into smart scale; LG Optimus Pro here

Kevin C. Tofel — Sat, 04 May 2013 14:35:04 +0000

Google’s I/O Developer event is fast approaching and expectations of a showcase new device are riding high. It’s likely that Google’s Nexus 7 tablet will see a refresh at the very least. And based on information of an alleged Samsung road map leak, Google could be introducing a new Nexus 11 tablet.

The details were found this week by the SamMobile site, which has a good track record for Samsung’s upcoming plans. According to the road map, the 11-inch tablet will use Samsung’s Exynos 5410 chip, which has one high performance quad-core processor for heavy duty tasks and a lesser quad-core processor for lighter tasks. This approach should offer power when apps demand it but be light on battery life due to offloading simpler tasks.

No indication of the screen resolution appeared in the leaked data, but Google’s current Nexus 10 tablet offers a 2560 x 1600 resolution display. At the very least, I’d expect Google to use a 1920 x 1200 resolution screen for a Nexus 11, if not the same as what the Nexus 10 currently offers. The only reason I can think of using a lesser resolution is to keep the price down. The tablet will reportedly also offer a pair of cameras and — in a first for a Nexus device since the original Nexus One in 2010 — a micro SD expansion card slot.

Fans of Android hardware will have to wait until May 15 to see if Google releases a new Nexus, but those looking for a new phone have another choice now. AT&T introduced the LG Optimus G Pro as an exclusive this week. I just received a review unit and my initial impressions are very positive.

I can already say this is the nicest phone hardware LG has designed and built. The device also reminds me of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 that I own: Both have similar screen sizes, for example, although the LG Optimus G Pro is slightly narrower and has a full HD screen. LG’s user interface is also quite nice and polished. I’ll have a full review in the near future, but so far, LG has shown me it can build an Android phone that competes with the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and HTC One.

New hardware is always nice but sometimes it’s better to re-purpose old devices. That’s exactly what I did with an old Nintendo Wii Fit Balance Board thanks to a free Android app called FitScales.

The software lets you wirelessly connect an Android phone to the Balance Board via Bluetooth. When standing on the board, your weight and BMI are sent to your phone, where the data can be automatically synchronized with either a RunKeeper or FitBit account: no need to buy a new Wi-Fi scale!

This post was updated at 7:00 am, May 6, to reflect that Google’s Nexus One had a micro SD slot.

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Apple builds on its lead as top U.S. smartphone maker; HTC takes biggest dip [chart]

Rani Molla — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:18:48 +0000

Apple has padded its lead as the top U.S. smartphone manufacturer in the first quarter of this year, according to comScore data released Thursday. Samsung, the world’s top smartphone manufacturer, also had slight growth in its share of U.S. smartphone subscribers from the final quarter of last year.

All other major manufacturers lost share in a market that includes 133.7 million American smartphone owners. HTC, which Thursday debuted HTC First, a phone that comes pre-installed with Facebook custom launcher Facebook Home, had the biggest decline, with its share of smartphone users dropping 1.7 percent. Apple, meanwhile, was up almost 3.9 percentage points.

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Flash analysis: smart watches

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:05:51 +0000

With the continued miniaturization of technology, the rise of flexible software frameworks, and the growing interest in technologies such as biomonitoring and location-based services, the smart watch is fast becoming technology’s next big thing. We asked GigaOM readers to weigh in on the future of the device. Here are the results.

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Survey: Tell us your thoughts on the future of the smart watch

Jenn Marston — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 06:55:20 +0000

Wearable computing continues its trek towards the mainstream. Smart watches, in particular, are generating many a headline these days. Apple and Samsung are battling for dominance, Google is rumored to be making one, and the Pebble watch is already a hot item on the market. With that in mind, we invite GigaOM readers to fill out the questions below and share their thoughts on whether they would buy a watch, which features they want, and who will ultimately rule this space.

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Smart TV forecast: gigabit Wi-Fi in the living room

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 06:55:28 +0000

The smart TV market will grow from 67 million units shipped in 2012 to 134 million shipped in 2015. As it expands, a simultaneous transition to higher-speed Wi-Fi connections based on a new standard — 802.11ac — will translate to fast growth for the new wireless technology in the TV space.

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What LG’s webOS buy means for Google TV

Janko Roettgers — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:11:53 +0000

LG is buying HP’s troubled mobile operating system webOS, according to reports from CNET and the Verge. However, the company doesn’t want to put the system to use in any of its phones: Instead, LG plans to use webOS to power its smart TVs. That could be bad news for Google, which has been cooperating with LG on getting Google TV into the hands of consumers.

The deal between LG and HP includes the webOS source code, documentation, websites and what’s remaining of the webOS team. Cloud components such as the webOS app store technology as well as all of the patents will remain with HP, but are going to be licensed to LG. There’s no word on the purchase price.

Most of LG’s smart TVs have been powered by the company’s own app platform, which was originally called NetCast and has been ripe for a refresh for some time. The company also has an ongoing partnership with Google to sell Google TV devices, and in fact has been expanding this partnership in recent months.

LG started to sell two high-end Google TV sets in 2012. In 2013, it will come out with a total of seven models. But consider how LG CTO Skott Ahn announced these models at the company’s 2013 press conference:

“We will continue to serve our Android fans with an extended lineup of Google TV.”

In other words: LG’s Google TVs are, at least for now, niche products for enthusiasts, and LG apparently doesn’t think that will change anytime soon. That’s why the company is looking to replace its own smart TV operating system with webOS, instead of relying 100 percent on Google TV.

That’s bad news for Google TV, but it also shows how Google’s living room play has been changing over recent months. Google originally courted a number of big TV manufacturers for Google TV, with the idea of having the system embedded in a wide variety of TV sets. Sony was one of the first to make Google TVs, LG came on board for the second generation, and Samsung seemed to be ready to go Google as well by early 2012.

A year later, things look very different: Samsung’s Google TV never materialized. Sony stopped selling Google TV sets and instead opted for a companion box. And now, LG is buying its own smart TV operating system.

Does that mean Google TV is doomed? Hardly. The platform has seen some significant adoption in recent months: Asus, Netgear, Hisense and TCL all showed off new Google TV devices at CES, and WD is apparently working on its own Google TV box as well. Earlier this month, a total of 20 hardware partners came together in Seoul to collaborate on the future of Google TV.

But it looks like Google TV settling into a role as a companion box solution, as opposed to a default smart TV choice for the big manufacturers.

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LG reveals 5.5-inch Optimus Pro G, taking on Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2

David Meyer — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 11:21:13 +0000

LG has outed its new high-end Android device, the 5-5-inch Optimus G Pro, a week ahead of Mobile World Congress’s predicted slew of handset announcements.

The Optimus Pro G goes on sale this week in South Korea, carrying Android “Jelly Bean” 4.1.2. According to a release in Korean, it will then make its way to North America and Japan in the second quarter of this year. An LG spokeswoman in London was unable to confirm European availability plans.

So, what are we looking at? Size-wise, the Optimus Pro G is an ever-so-slightly smaller rival to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 — same thickness and screen size, but 0.9mm narrower and a good 4.4mm shorter. However, LG has made the jump to full HD: with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, the Pro G has a pixel density of 400ppi, versus the Note 2′s 267ppi. It lack’s the Note 2′s stylus, though.

Inside, the Pro G uses a 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset; a slight step up from the 1.6GHz processor in the Note 2. Incidentally, this is the first outing for the Snapdragon 600, which is a successor to last year’s Snapdragon S4 series (its twin, the sequel to the S4 Pro, will be called the Snapdragon 800).

More pixels and processing power usually mean more power-drain. On this front, LG is touting the “largest battery capacity in its class” at 3,140mAh, but that’s not really much more than the Note 2′s 3,100mAh. LG also hasn’t quoted the device’s weight yet, so it’s hard to see how that compares with the Note 2′s 183g. The Note 2 has an 8MP camera and the Pro G a 13MP affair, but, given the size of a smartphone camera’s sensor, image quality will be more down to the lens and software than the megapixel count here.

Custom tweaks include “an upgraded QSlide” (LG’s answer to Samsung’s multitasking Pop-up Play feature), QuickMemo and a feature called Virtual Reality Panorama, which looks on paper to be precisely the same as Android’s stock 360-degree Photo Sphere function. The Pro G can also record video through both front- and rear-facing camera simultaneously, and it also features wireless charging.

How does this all compare with Samsung’s largest smartphone / smallest tablet? On paper, certainly, this looks to be an improvement on the Note 2, but then again there will probably be a Note 3 this year, also capitalizing on the latest chipsets and quite probably also upping the pixel count. It certainly doesn’t look like LG has done anything particularly groundbreaking here, so the real test of the Pro G’s success or otherwise will be its as-yet-unannounced pricing.

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