LG GC990 Louvre. Conceptilicious
Another day, another 12 megapixel camera phone touted. And, cynical as we may (very occasionally…) be, this one looks like it’s one of the better ones. Have a little scout around Google images and you’ll find that the back of the LG Louvre actually looks more like a camera than a phone, in fact. But, as always, it’s what’s inside that counts, and this thing is more than impressive there.
For example, this will be the first camera that combines the 12MP still imaging with the ability to record video in HD. Before, you’ve only had the latter in the Samsung i8910 Omnia, and the former in the likes of the Sony Ericsson Satio.
There’s also a rumoured 3200 ISO capability, meaning you’ll be able to take shots in very low light indeed. We’re slightly sceptical on this point (chances are there’ll be a hell of a lots of background noise – or fuzz, as we prefer to call it) but we’ll hold out tongues until the LG Louvre GC990 is actually released.
And that’s one of the most disappointing things about this phone actually: it’s still very much a concept, with LG refusing (so far) to even confirm it’ll ever make it into production. Well, so they say, in a kind of come hither, lip pouting way… we all know they’re rushing their little legs off to get this thing out, don’t we? Oh well, good luck to them, and in the meantime, satisfy your LG-urges with this list of LG mobile phones, or have a gander at this LG Louvre review.
The LG GT505. Or is it?
Sometimes we get confused here. Mostly this is to do with any one of, or more often a dangerous combination of, some of the following: hangovers, drunkeness, too much coffee, too little coffee, coffee with brandy in it, etc. and so on. However, sometimes we get headaches and little tweety birds flying round our heads through no fault of our own. Take, for example, the headache LG have given us today.
So, this blog post is about the LG GT505, which is almost identical to the GT500 except that while the GT500 is only available on T-Mobile, the GT505 is only available on Orange. The GT505 (and the GT500) are also closely related to the GW520, all three (the GT500, the GT505 and the GW520) sharing features such as push technology for better social networking and emailing, touch screens, GPS, Bluetooth etc. and so on. However, even though ostensibly identical, apart from the network provider, the GT505 is actually slightly different from the GT500 as it comes with a pre-loaded with a 30 day trial of a navigation solution called Wisepilot. Which, as far as our pounding brains can work out, if the only difference. See? Thought not. Us neither…
Anyway, Wisepilot is a turn-by-turn navigation program that even offers voice instruction and a choice of 2D and 3D mapping. Or at least that’s what the press release told us. If we tried to use anything involving 3D/2D/turn-by-turn navigation right now we’d probably start foaming at the mouth. See this LG GT505 review which should make more sense than we’re managing.
LG GW520. To me. To you.
“Think of the internet as a little but like the Chuckle Brothers” is not something we ever imagined writing. But when it came to explaining what’s (vaguely) interesting about the GW520, that’s the best we could manage.
So, think of the internet as a little bit like the Chuckle Brothers. Especially when they’re going through their “to me, to you, to me” routine. What you’re doing most of the time when you’re using the internet is something called ‘pulling’. You surf around, pinching and pulling bits and bobs of information from wherever your whim takes you. However, in recent years the phenomenon of ‘pushing’ has become more and more prevalent on desktop PCs. Pushing happens when things like RSS feeds or emails are instructed (by you) to alert you when updates occur or messages received. So rather than simply waiting dumbly for you to click through and check, your computers pushing out and alerts you whenever there’s something new that you should know about.
That technologies been around for a while in phones – the first Blackberries had it for example – but it has mostly been the preserve of high end devices. The GW520 is one of the first mid-range (i.e. not obscenely expensive) devices to offer push services. The LG GW520 can b set up to alert you to all kinds of emails, social networking updates and other similar web activities.
It looks kind of unwieldy with it’s huge QWERTY keyboard, but then if you’re an active Facebooker or email hound, then that might actually something that’s going to attract you. Check out a LG GW520 review here for more stats and specs. To me, to you…
LG GT500 (LG Puccini). Ain’t half bad
LG have pretty much admitted that this phone is nothing all that special and will be aimed squarely at the mass market. Nothing wrong with that in our book, and who’s to say there’s anything wrong with aiming to do something, and do it well, without having to do it flash-bang spectacularly well. Set to be released exclusively on T-Mobile, the LG GT500 Puccini – or the Puccini as it might well only be known as – will be hitting our shelves sometime very soon indeed. Although LG are pushing certain smart and business phone features in our faces – ultrafast EDGE technology giving broadband-esque speeds; integrated email checking; GPS; and so on and so forth – we’ve actually been most impressed by the camera on this thing. The GT500 Puccini boasts no fewer than ten – that’s 10, count ‘em if you don’t believe us – reasons why this is going to one of the best cameras out there:
- 5 megapixels
- Auto focus
- Image stabilization
- Blink Shot
- Digital zoom
- Effects
- Flash
- Geotagging
- Face recognition
- Video
So, super slick smartphone the LG GT500 Puccini ain’t. High-end business phone it definitely ain’t. But a neat little package with a surprisingly good camera it… wait, what’s the opposite of ain’t? Check out an LG Puccini review here for some more specs.
LG KC910i Renoir Makes a big Impression
The LG KC910i Renoir
was released on the birth anniversary of French artist, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and, like the artist, the phone makes quite an impression.
The LG KC910i Renoir is an improved version of the LG KC910 – with a sleek new black look. Undoubtedly one of the best camera phones around, the cellphone drops the mechanical lens cover from the previous version, but maintains the stellar specs. An 8 mega pixel, autofocus camera, with Schneider-Kreuznach optics (German manufacturers of industrial and photographic optics, famous for their lenses.) and built in xenon flash, theKC910i Renoir is a dream come true for professional photographers who need a quick test shot and amateur camera lovers alike. It also features face, blink, and smile detection, and geotagging options to boot.
The LG mobile phones also has an improved interface from the older version. The viewfinder no longer crops images in the frame, which makes a lot of difference if you’re trying to take a family photo and uncle Tim seems to be missing.
The LG KC910i Renoir seems to be a sturdy camera phone, a bit thicker than the older version at 107.8 x 55.9 x 14 mm (probably so that the lens doesn’t stick out as much as it used to) It weighs 114g, which I guess is decent for a camera phone, it has a TFT resistive touch-screen, which allows for very fast re-drawing of the display. The screen is 240 x 400 pixels, 3.0 inches, which is great to playback all the fabulous photographs that you take with the camera.
A pleasant surprise is the quality of the speakerphone, Dolby Mobile, which is loud and clear. I can see myself taking pictures and talking on the phone at the same time, especially during those particularly long periods of time when I’m on hold or in queue with my mobile service provider.
For network specific deals, follow the links below:
LG KC910i Renoir on Orange
LG KC910i Renoir on O2
LG KC910i Renoir on T-Mobile
LG KC910i Renoir on Vodafone
LG KC910i Renoir on 3 Mobile
LG KC910i Renoir on Virgin