Mobile World Congress 2012: Nokia, Asus, Intel, Samsung, And LG

LG's Unlikely Smartphone/Tablet

No matter whose smartphone you purchase, there's a decent chance that LG or Samsung manufactures the screen. For anyone curious about how AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) display technology compares to regular LED IPS, LG had a great demonstration intended to highlight the dramatic difference.

LG also had its answer to Samsung's Galaxy Note. Dubbed the Optimus Vu, LG considers this a smartphone with a 5.0" XGA display. It's big enough to be used as an e-book, but not quite large enough to function as a tablet. But that's the market LG seems to be gunning for. On one hand, the screen is large for a phone, which could make it inconvenient to cram into your pocket. Conversely, browsing the Web and composing messages is that much easier with larger virtual keys.

A more performance-oriented design, the new Optimus 4X HD represents LG's first quad-core offering. Sporting Nvidia's Tegra 3 SoC, this smartphone has a gorgeous 4.7" TrueIPS display, and it's also a super-thin 0.35".

Last year, LG announced its Optimus 3D, which offered a glasses-free stereoscopic experience. That product was updated, and is now available as the Optimus 3D Max, which is almost identical to its predecessor aside from a slightly larger 4.3" display. Presently, it ships with Gingerbread, but we're told that an ICS update will be coming soon.

The stereoscopic features of this product are very cool. By using LG's 3D Converter, you can take take 2D content from an application like Google Maps and view it in 3D. The same principle applies to games. To be fair, though, we tried a few different titles and the 3D effect didn't always look outstanding. 

That pretty much wraps up what we saw during the first day of MWC. We've finished all of our scheduled press conferences and are almost done with private meetings. Tomorrow we're be on the show floor for the rest of our time in Barcelona. If you want us to track down something specific for you, let us know in the comments section!

  • Bloob
    "Interestingly, Nokia isn't completely dropping its Symbian-based products. Instead, it's launching the Asha 203, 202, and 302."

    S40 has nothing to do with Symbian.
    Reply
  • acku
    9527864 said:
    "Interestingly, Nokia isn't completely dropping its Symbian-based products. Instead, it's launching the Asha 203, 202, and 302."

    S40 has nothing to do with Symbian.

    You're right its not strictly Symbian but it comes from that heritage line. I'll make that clarification. Thanks for the heads up!

    Cheers,
    Andrew Ku
    TomsHardware.com
    Reply
  • JPForums
    I guess I'm going to have to see the "TrueHD" IPS screen in person, because these pictures certainly don't help their case. It's true AMOLED is at a disadvantage in resolution, but rather than over-saturated, these pictures make the "TrueHD" screen look slightly washed out.

    Comparing the purple shoes:
    The white trim is clearly defined against an off-white material on the AMOLED screen.
    The white trim tends to fade into the off-white material leaving a less clear outline on the TrueHD screen.
    I'd need to see the original image to pass judgement, but most similar shoes I've seen have a clear contrast between trim and the material it is set on.

    Comparing the faces:
    On the AMOLED screen, the whites in the shirt and eyes are white with perhaps a tinge of blue. The background is a very light gray. There is a clear contrast between the hair and the background. Freckles on the face are clearly defined. The eye color looks correct. There is a slightly red hue to the skin and lips.
    On the TrueHD screen, the shirt strap is white, the white in the eyes has a little yellow in it. The background is white. The boarder between the hair and the background is fuzzy. The freckles and areas of the hair look as if there was a smoothing filter applied. The eyes appear to have an slight yellow undertone. The lips are less red.
    Again, I'd have to see the source photo to pass final judgement. I'm admittedly biased on this one as I know someone who looks very similar and her skin tone is only slightly less red than the AMOLED image. The TrueHD image seems a little yellowed and very slightly smoothed and/or washed out.
    Reply
  • Bloob
    Now it reads:
    "Interestingly, Nokia isn't completely dropping its S40-based products. Instead, it's launching the Asha 203, 202, and 302. These phones are aimed at users who don't really need premium features, but still want basic online connectivity."

    Which isn't that interesting after realizing that the S40 and S30 phones are the best selling phones in the world. I'm coming off as an ass here, but it is what it is.

    S40 and S30 are based on Nokia OS, and although they might share some past with Symbian ( not sure if they do ), they are a totally different branch.
    Reply
  • X-GAMER
    Nokia is the best of the best in my openion correct me if i am wrong
    Reply