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A marvellous year-starter from a consistent first class winner in innovation and marketing.

Read Engadget on the up-side and down side of MacBook Air.

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 08:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Internet breeds blogs, blogs breed a no-question-unasked culture among the citizens.

What happens when thoughts are bred and transmitted at the speed of light?

Try this, when cost is less prohibitive...
.

We are talking about optical communication in low-cost, low-loss conditions...

The Silicon Photonics Vision. The new haven.

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 09:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

PART I: Viewty... The Phone
PART II: Viewty... The Camera

How best should I look at LG Viewty? As a connectivity-dependent mobile user as much as a serious photographer? Whatever it takes, expectations will be high, naturally.

I first savoured a pre-launch engineering unit a month ago, and wrote about it briefly on how it enticed me, superficially, as a 5-megapixel cameraphone with a real camera. Now it's time to take a deeper look, up-close and personal.

The KU990 Viewty review will come in two parts, the phone and the camera.

Viewty uses a F/2.8 lens certified by Schneider-Kreuznach of Germany

LG raised the stake, and conquered sizeable global market share when it started the Black Label series, namely LG Chocolate and LG Shine. It came in strongly through the design segment and apparently wowed the world over. LG Viewty is a slight departure from the Black Label series -- the third and final model will only be unveiled sometime next year -- as it chose to impress mobile users from the feature segment.

After two years of brisk LG marketing and interfacing with consumer insights, especially the European market, we are convinced that the Black Series has given this Korean handset maker a different launchpad for future releases. That is to look out for more Blue Ocean product concepts and market clusters.

'Fact-based, not just image-driven marketing'

The entry points for the Black Label series, as exemplified by the immensely successful Chocolate and Shine, can be rationalised as having encapsulated the ideas and technology innovations that dictate certain nuances: Stylish, premium-grade, fashionable, trendy and an appearance that is impressionist. They target the trend-setters.

Viewty, on the other hand, bets on the feature segment of a high-grade handset: It commands the nuances of adopters who are professional, fact-based in approach, particular about core benefits, expecting practicality but do not mind advanced technology. The target audience are the experts who want convincing features, for example, a cameraphone must have a real camera in it and nothing less.

I had the opportunity to talk with Mr Chang Ma (picture below), vice president for strategic planning for LG Mobile for all its global market groups, during the Asian Media launch in Macau recently.

Chang Ma... New starting point after the Black Label series

"We need to find a different starting point from the Black Series," he said. "In Viewty, we are looking at rational and fact-based strategies, rather than the image-driven marketing."

Let's put it this way. 3G is getting more pervasive with the 3.6Mbps HSDPA to boot, what shall we do if we really need to pay for a cameraphone? We demand for a better, or a real professional camera-in-the-phone that good pictures like a full-blown point-and-shoot, pump the pictures across MMS or upload to a blog, and shoot up MPEG4 videos onto YouTube with a hot button. Experts, and bloggers, would love it.

I reckon LG read the tea-leaves very well, that most people are not satisfied with camera functions and quality of the regular 2MP or 3MP cameraphones. Taking pictures must mean taking real pictures as good as a regular digital camera. For video recording, it must be good for playback on the TV screen. And since it;s the age of HSDPA, let;s link the 3.5G network with the Internet.

That's the concept for a modern phone. The bar has raised because consumer expectation has been raised.

The camera portion of Viewty scores many first-in-class features, but let's not forget that it is equally impressive on the phone itself.

Viewty was launched in KL on November 23, ten days after the Asian debut in Macau.
It's also the first product launch for Mr TY Ko (second from left)
as the new MD for LG Electronics Malaysia
LensaPress photo by Jeff Ooi, using Viewty on manual focus, no flash

FORM FACTOR

Viewing the Viewty, you can't ignore the fact that, it is primarily a 3.5G phone, then comes the camera. So the form factor associated with the benchmark that the Black Label series initiated must radiate.

It's black, sleek and slim compared to the 5MP rivals available on the market, and it has a 3-inch LCD screen (Perfect for a camera, indeed).

Continue reading "Viewty: What can I say... the herald of next technology?" »

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 07:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bloggers, especially those who use picture power in their blogs, are cordially invited to the media launch of LG Viewty, a full touchscreen 5-megapixel 3.5G cameraphone.

DATE: Friday Nov 23, 2007
TIME: 3.00pm
PLACE: Mayang Sari Ballroom, JW Marriot, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur
ATTIRE: Smart casual

For preview, read this blog and LensaMalaysia.

For test-shots, please visit TV Smith's Photo Blog -- here and here and http://viewty.lensamalaysia.com.

For further information, please contact Tunku Putri or Lyn Chew at 03-79543569.

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I had dreamed of a 5-megapixel cameraphone when I first laid my hands on the LG Shine earlier this year.

I wanted the form factor, and LG Shine is just perfect for this. As a serious photographer, I also wanted a real camera that enables me do what I could do on a digital SLR, without the feeling of holding onto a brick when I speak across the airwave.

My wish was answered, barely six months after reviewing the LG Shine, and in fact with more features than I had dreamed for. Even a pro photographer will be delighted to have one... Welcome to LG Viewty LU990, 5-megapixel, l touch-screen and 120fps on videos!

(LG Viewty was inspired by an entry in urbandictionary.com for 'viewtiful', meaning "beyond cool, often stylish; excellent". It's a derivation from Atsushi Inaba's video game, Viewtiful Joe.)

Viewty preview

LG Viewty is a 3.5G phone that taps into the standard fast speed downloads and uploads over the mobile network. Or in techynical lingo, it handles three radio bands: HSDPA (3.6Mbps), WCDMA (3G), and Tri-band (GSM/GPRS/EDGE)

If you viewed the video I put on DailyMotion, here's a brief rundown of the features:

1 ) It's a professional-level camera phone, with features found on many high-end stand-alone cameras
2 ) It comes with a Xenon flash
3 ) There's a manual focus option for distinct shots
4 ) There an image stabiliser to mitigate blur images due to shaking hands
5 ) There is an array of options of ISO settings -- 100, 200, 400 and 800 -- for indoor or night shooting
6 ) It records video at up to 120 frames per second (fps), the highest frame speed ever for a handset camera
7 ) Videos can be edited and uploaded directly to YouTube
8 ) It has a 3-inch, 262K TFT-LCD touch screen powered by Mobile XD™ engine -- wider and more vivid display
9 ) There's a camera manual focus that acts as a jog wheel for scrolling and volume control on phone & MP3 modes
10 ) It's a full touch-screen, with a retractable stylus
11 ) Key-in can be doen on simulated keyboard and OCR recognition even for Chinese characters!
12 ) On-camera editing that allows users to digitally “write” on photos and edit their own files

The official launch of LG Viewty for Asia was held November 13 in conjunction with the GSMA's Mobile Asia Congress at the Venetian, Macao.

Bo Choi giving this blogger a demo of live upload of YouTube from LG Viewty

Mr Bo H. Choi, Vice President/Team Leader (Asia, Middle East & Africa Business Team) of LG Mobile was there to take my pictures and videos and upload them live to Google's Blogspot and YouTube, using the KU990..

I will write a detailed review when I get back.

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Three months after the official launch in Malaysia, LG Shine is now available for 3.5G connectivity that supports HSDPA download at 3.6Mbps.

LensaPress photos by Jeff Ooi

Image courtesy LG Electronics Malaysia

The Shine variant, model KU970, was launched by I.G. Kim, LG Electronics Malaysia MD and CEO, in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (picture above).

Kim said: "With the increasing number of 3G subscribers over the last one year, 2007 is a very critical period for LG to take leadership for the next-generation mobile phones."

He said LG aimed to become a leader in the 3G market with the launch of the premium LG Shine 3.5G phone.

While retaining most of the appealing features of classic Shine (KE970), the KU970 also marks LG's high-profile entry into the tri-band handset market that supports HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) at 3.6Mbps. It moves rich files over the UTMS 3.5G network, and it comes with a media browser that makes reading files on Microsoft Office applications rather user-friendly.

Operational profitability, worldwide

At a press conference held after the launch, Kim disclosed that despite its late entry into the Malaysian mobile communications (MC) market, sales of LG Shine for the past few months have entrenched its market share, which is currently at an unshakable 5% in Malaysia.

Shine is the second model in the LG Black Label series which was inaugurated by the legendary LG Chocolate.

Kim said LG Chocolate had helped propelled the operational profitability by Q3 2006, and current tracking indicates that profitability has improved to 11.3% worldwide by Q2 2007.

Kim said, to date, over 3 million units of LG Shine had been sold worldwide, with over 25,000 units sold in Malaysia.

LG Shine 3.5G, which is available throughout Malaysia starting yesterday, is retailed at RM1,399.00.

Meanwhile, LG Malaysia has also brought in a new colour variant of the classic Shine, modelled LG Shine KE970 Titanium, that this blogger had previewed in Seoul in march this year.

Kim introducing LG Shine Titanium

LG Shine Titanium, which sports a darker finish compared to the original silverish Shine, is retailed at RM1,299. Availability starts next month.

LG had planned to introduce about 20 models of mobile phones, covering the top-end and baseline market segments, for the entire of 2007. Eighteen had been launched so far.

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I knew Rocky is among the rare few in Malaysia who uses a Panasonic Toughbook to blog. It's a petite toughnut, the sub 1.25kg Panasonic CF-W4, packing a Pentium-M chip, which sounds a little like Jurassic Park in these days of duo-core processor. Nevertheless, it was RM9,500.00 when Rocky plucked it off the shelf some 15 months ago. He needed that anti-shake lightweight business notebook when he was still biking to work (I don't mean that now that he's a blogger he doesn't have to bike to work)

A replacement has since come out. It's CF-W5, which retains all the predecessor's slim curves and sexiness, and yes, with a duo-core processor to boot, and Windows Vista pre-installed. Pricetag: S$3,699.00 (RM8,877.00).

One beautiful thing about W5 is the battery-life on the go. It's now extended to 8 hours though the brochure claims it to be usable up to 10.5 hours.

But what awes the both of us was the ruggedized CF-30. Obviously, it was made for field trips the scale of Operation Desert Storm-Operation Iraqi Freedom, for troopers manoeuering in challenging terrains. It withstands pressure, it's anti vibration and anti-shocks. It's tough, it's mean!

Ruggedized... Linus Lim of Panasonic Asia Pacific and Darlene Myles of MediaConnect, Sydney

It didn't take many pitches from Linus Lim, the sales and marketing guy from Panasonic Asia Pacific -- also a biker like Rocky -- to convince us. Seeing is believing so they say. And it's true. OK, stop that devil grin will you, Zailani (I know you are Linus's colleague in Singapore, so what?)

They boast that the CF-30 was built to take abuses, including a free-fall from a height of 30cm, and a 100kg direct load on it, without cracking the LCD screen or smashing up the entire casing or chassis of the notebook.

In fact, we were asked to step on it, both legs, and shake our booty.

OK, seeing is believing yeah? I got the 40kg Darlene Myles to do it, to see if the CF-30 comes down on a Sydney gal.

The Toughbook survived.

Then it was my turn, packing it with my full load of 78kg.

No shit. I then got the 6-footer, 98-kg hunk to reprise it. Rocky's boots weigh another 5kg, probably.

The same CF-30 stood up to the weight. The LCD screen and the chassis remained intact. No wobbles.

Two instant conclusions. It's just perfect if you only want to use it as a legit self-defence weapon to fend off any unfriendly stalkers-attackers when you are walking out of the Press Club at three in the morning. Or use it for field work if you are running for Parliament this general election -- remember the Mat and Mek Rempits who threw bottles of mineral water at you!

Just one problem. The pricetag.

But I was told Panasonic Toughbook is totally manufactured and assembled in Japan. No sweat shops in Taiwan, Shenzhen or Maxicali. (How much is my bank balance now?)

Continue reading "'Ruggedized' Toughbook" »

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 07:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (24) | TrackBacks (0)

All the boxes of LG Shine must have been snapped up the very moment shipment reached our shores? It seems to take a little longer than usual for the review units to reach my hands. I previewed it on May 3, and it took this long to whet my appetite!

LG Shine featured in CommunicAsia 2007, Singapore

On first look, a lot of thoughts have obviously gone around packaging it, inside out. Even the gift-box that wrapped it did not come in the regular al-cheapo art card finishing. It's got style, my friend, this LG Shine KE970!

But what caught me by surprise was the tremendously improvement LG packed it in for Shine compared to what it did in Chocolate -- over so short a time! Both are Black Series adopting the simplistic yet elegant designs, but the moods and style are distinctively different. You can't help feeling that, overall, LG Shine is far more advanced than its predecessor in the Black Series.

THE OUTLOOK. It's a slider, full metal, masculinely solid with the silverish, it feels heavy. It's a total departure from the touch-pad buttons of the Chocolate KG800, and in its place are the solid buttons.

It's cool when idle. In the off mode, the display screen on LG Shine reverts into a fashion mirror.

What I find refreshing is the scroll wheel below the the screen. It navigates smartly, especially you are scrolling for the contact list, and it also acts as a press-down button for you to make the ‘select’ command.

Accompanying the scroll wheel are two little buttons on both its right and left. I later found out that, when used in a combination, they effectively turn into an up-down-left-right scrolling pad when you happen to access the menu or utilise the enabling software that comes with LG Shine.

You simply have to place it in your palms to realise the marvel how a scroll wheel and four buttons -- and the two blue pilot lights -- could wow you!

Ah, the screen. It's a reflective 2.2-inch with a 240x360 pixel-dense display, which is soothingly perfect in any indoor environment. It still amazes me how the screen could hide snugged within the metal casing, and yet spring into life with vivid colours once activated.

The placement of the buttons, including the separate buttons to activate the camera and the MP3 player, have been re-aligned from what we are so sued to the Chocolate. It takes a little getting used to it.

The camera is a disappointment as i would have preferred a 3.2 megapixel, though it features a 2.0mp auto focus lens by Schneider Kreuznach. It takes decent resolution image in broad daylight without much complaint. However, by placing the camera on the outside without a sliding protector of sorts may soil the lens easily for careless users.

I always treat my handset as an extended arm to my computer, so I am a little demanding on the interface mechanism. It's rather desirable that LG Shine has located the power/data connector on the side of the phone, hidden by an improved pivot-based flap. I can easily interface the Shine with the computer to let it function like an USB flash device. This is a cool design design for moving music clips or downloading photos off the handset.

Yes, besides the 50MB internal memory, my unit of Shine comes with a 1GB MicroSD card, which gives me ample storage capacity on a day's outing on the multimedia front.

Continue reading "LG Shine: I don't mind making it my signature phone" »

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Researching on LG's new line of WiMAX mobilephones and market response to LG Shine, I stumble on a microsite hidden in LG UK's site under the Black Label Series. It points me to LG-Blog that runs on Wordpress 2.0.6.

The LG Blog that I look at features LG Chocolate Blog, the first Black Label Series, and LG Shine Blog, the second Black Label Series.

That opens up a whole new world of Blogger Relations in the entire business communications strategy -- exactly what Ghazalie Abdullah and the Malaysian Chapter of IABC were talking about all this while!.

LG Shine Blog at http://shine.lgbloggers.com

This LG blogger relations strategy appears to be well-thought of by whatever was helping them design the customers engagement campaign. Here's the context given to the LG Blogs:

LG recognises the influence that the internet has on people’s perceptions and purchase intentions and is keen to engage with consumers online.

They realise that consumer-to-consumer recommendations carry a higher trust factor than virtually all other forms of advertising, and that word of mouth is a frequent factor for purchase. They also recognise that bloggers are the most important initiators of online conversation right now.

In our (see who we are) first official blogger relations programme, we had a basic premise:

* Connect with the key online influencers
* Send them a pre-release version of the Chocolate phone
* Let them use it
* Find out what they thought

There was absolutely no obligation for the bloggers who took part to write about the phone - it wasn’t a condition of participation.

LG has asked us to conduct a similar programme on their behalf for the second phone in their premium Black Label series - LG Shine.

We’ll be using this blog to:

* Explain what we’re doing
* Provide information on the campaign
* Link to reviews and mentions (good and bad)
* Make announcements
* Comment and respond on thoughts and questions

We’ll be doing some of the same things again - such as sending phones to bloggers for review - and some new things too.

To view our Blogger Code of Conduct please click here.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments on any part of what we’re doing or how we do it, please get in touch.

Blogosphere here might not be as big as in the US and UK, but we are slowly making a presence as opinion influencers and online conversation initiators.

What we need is a demonstrable model anchored on some form of business-like code of conduct. I am pleased to be helping push the sail a little in Malaysia.

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I have an eye for people who do old things with new ideas. Life shouldn't be boring anyway.

As a person who monitors converging technologies and Internet, and reviews new gadgets and products often enough, I normally don't have time for the white goods. My household has all the essentials and they often last not less than eight years. There's no magic in them, or so I thought.

Admittedly, we have moved into the present home about ten years now. One by one, appliances and desk top boxes are falling apart. Air-conditioners, the most abused installation in the house, was the first to come down when warranty for compressors expired after the seventh year. Then the DVD player. The 21" CRT TV has been serviced, and parts replaced, several times, and thank God, it's still serving well into its 13th year. The thermostat of the 13-year-old fridge conked but salvaged. More savings. The Zanussi washing machine (do you know this front-loader brand?) is now well into its 15th year after several major services. Only my home theatre system, the seven-year-old Yamaha, is the newest in the household and in tip-top condition... oops, touch wood! (The driver of the sub-woofer has brittled, disintegrated, and lying hopeless there. Remember?)

So, living a modest lifestyle in Malaysia is well rewarded in that we still have relatively reasonably-priced labour charges for the servicing of home appliances. I have seen how my friends in Japan, Korea, the US, UK and Australia now resorting to a "disposal lifestyle". They discard their home appliances on a 5 -year cycle and replace them with new ones as labour charges for repairs and servicing are atrocious in their countries.

But then again, Malaysia may be following suit, and sooner than later. We are now changing our handsets once every six months, and computers once every 24 months. People like us who live on 15-year-old washing machines, 13-year-old fridge and TV sets are a rarity. The new working class of today are now starting their new homes with chic LCD TVs and steam washing machine, and choice wines replacing beers on weekend gatherings.

Blue Ocean

Frankly, imaginations for lifestyle choices stretch further from there. Those who dwell in apartments and condos, where space is luxury, may want to have their home appliances built according to their taste without compromising on functionalities and overall aesthetics.

I believe LG, a Blue Ocean Strategy company, is tapping on that new wave when it lauched the motto LG Moving Aead With You to kick-off its 2007 line-up of home appliances recently.

The 2-year-old LG Electronics Malaysia is both innovative and modestly aggressive. It took over the entire grand ballroom of Shangri-La KL and turned it into a massive showroom for one day, just to wow the media and their national network of dealers and distributors. Country Managing Director IG Kim turned super salesman for the day.

Images courtesy LG Electronics Malaysia

The 2007 range of new products, LG called them digital appliances, include refrigeratots (with mini bars, how about that?) washing machines, air-conditioners, television sets (ultra-slim CRT, LCD and plasmas), IT products and AV equipment.

Personally, I was impressed with four of them and went back for more on an up-close-and-personal discovery trip.

Stay tuned for a review of the Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo DVD player, the 47" Full HD 1080P LCD TV, the 29" ultra slim CRT TV and the Chocolate series of DVD Micro HiFi syetem.

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 07:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Some four months after launch in UK...

LensaPress photo by Jeff Ooi

LG Shine, the much-awaited mobilephone with the designer touch, is finally unveiled to Malaysian market today, themed... Shining Moments!

I.G. Kim, MD & CEO of LG Electronics (M) Sdn Bhd... LensaPress photo by Jeff Ooi

Picture courtesy LG Electronics Malaysia

Model KE970, sporting a full-metal body, is LG Electronics' new addition to the immensely successful Black Label series of mobile phones.

However, color black is not what you could expect in LG Shine as Black Label ought to be appreciated in the same vein as the language often used in high fashion that relates to premium grades, sophistication and exclusivity.

Yes, LG Shine is stainless-steel on its outlook. When closed, LG Shine sits calm with reflective 2.2” screen, so 'shiny' that it can easily act as a candid makeup mirror.

Slide open the super-thin brushed metal body and the ‘magic mirror’ changes into a full-colour screen that comes to life instantly. Here comes the difference: Shine presents its keys bathed in a cool blue light. A multi-function scroll key is on hand as you access the menu system with feather-smooth touches..

A departure from previous LG Chocolate, Shine comes with an expandable memory (MicroSD card) in addition to a 50-Megabyte built-in user memory. Significantly, Shine features an auto focus camera by Schneider Kreuznach.

With that comes an array of multimedia functions, including a comprehensive media player with multi-codec support (MP3, and WAV) and real spectrum display. Needless to say, LG Shine also supports GPRS and EDGE network compatibility, Bluetooth and USB connectivity.

'Bar is raised yet again'

For LG, Shine is regarded as another milestone that has raised the bar in the mobile phone market yet again.

Born to shine... LensaPress photo by Jeff Ooi

“2007 is the year of the Shine,” says I.G. Kim (picture above), Managing Director and CEO of LG Electronics (M) Sdn Bhd.

What if people compared LG Chocolate with Shine?

“As the second handset in the Black Label series, there will be comparisons with LG Chocolate which was the phone of 2006," Kim added. "While Chocolate undoubtedly established LG as a force in the design-led mobile sector, Shine offers a completely unique proposition, appealing to a wider audience with a different aesthetic and technological attraction.”

"We are very positive that LG Shine will enjoy similar success and receive the same level of excitement and sales in the Malaysia," Kim said.

Shine has sold more than 180,000 units since November 2006 when it was first launched in Korea, under the CDMA format, and it still sells more than 3,500 units a day.

In Europe, the Shine sold 200, 000 units within the first month of its launching in London.

Globally, LG is targeting sales of 78 million hand phones for 2007, including more than 13.5 million GSM units in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, which is a projection of 113% increase from last year's results.

Shine will be available at all LG Mobile authorized dealers from this week, with a retail price of RM1,399.00.

Though I have toyed with a Shine when I visited Seoul in March, I am still waiting for the review unit right now.

As the LG folks told me... “People are naturally drawn to shining objects. They convey messages of happiness, joy, excitement and desire, all the traits that perfectly describe the Shine phone. With an appeal that goes far beyond the simple requirement of owning a mobile, LG has yet again raised the bar in the mobile phone market.”

I shall wait for the review unit until I say anything further.

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

A whopping total of 21 LG products, including mobile phones, were given accolades at the Hannover-based International Forum Design (iF Design) Awards 2007. How did it do that?

SOURCE: LG Electronics Inc.

LG is a relative late-comer in the mobile phone industry. It entered the CDMA handset sector in 1997 and become the world's top CDMA producer ten years later. It came into the GSM market circa 2001, and hopes to replicate the success within the same time-frame, to be among the world's Top 3 by 2010.

How is LG going to do it when the market is currently dominated by Nokia, Motorola and Samsung, in that order, and competition is keener than ever in jostling for market share and sustainable profitability -- and LG just has three years to realise its target?

In the face of keen competition

Screenshots posed that question to Jae Bae (picture below), LG Executive Vice President for Overseas Sales & Marketing Division, at the press conference where LG unveiled its second Black Label series, Shine, in Seoul recently.

Jae-hoon Bae... LensaPress photo by Jeff Ooi

Particularly, I asked him what strategies LG had taken to create a new, uncontested market space in the GSM sector, and to make its competitors irrelevant.

Bae obliged my question and explained at length on how LG had embraced the integrated management philosophy outlined by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, the Blue Ocean Strategy, which I highlighted in this blog last May.

"LG Chocolate is a Blue Ocean product," Bae said. "It was our first flagship series to penetrate the GSM market with a strong point of differentiation that separates us from the competitors."

We were made to understand that LG is currently focussing on product innovation skewed on designs that appeal to the trendy lifestyles and tastes, supported by integrated processes in product development, market and distribution, user experience and customer care.

Globally, LG attempts to deliver its marketing communications message across by embracing both traditional and new media channels, besides close pacing with the strategic distribution points, added Chang Ma, LG vice president of Marketing Strategy Team.

We had the opportunity to spend considerable time in visiting LG's Mobile Communications Design R&D Lab, and to understand how much LG has done to pursue its global dominance in industrial design.

Artsy moods oozing at the entrance to the LG Design R&D Lab... LensaPress photo by Jeff Ooi-

The Mobile Communications (MC) Design R&D Lab is located within the LG Electronics Design Management Center, situated in Yeoksam-dong the up-market, off Teheran-ro part of Seoul. It hosts four design labs for Digital Display and Media (DDM) products, Digital Appliance (DA) products, the LSR (Customer Research, Future Trends & Creative Concept), and Corporate Designs (for User Interface, Graphical User Interface, Graphic, Packaging. Colour & Design Materials).

It was disclosed to the visiting media members that the MC Design Lab was allocated an annual budget of 10 billion won (approximately US$100 million) for its R&D programmes to propel the mobile communications part of LG business.

The LG Design Management Center is currently head by Kang-Heui Cha (picture below) as its Executive Director. Cha is currently LG's marksman in industrial design.

Cha has more than 20 years of experience in industrial design, and he has been the key person who developed LG’s Chocolate Phone, which has sold some 7 millions units worldwide since its launch last year, and that was one of the reasons he was recognised as LG's "Super Designer" in late 2006, and appointed as the ED of LG Electronics Design Management Center in early 2007.

I was made to understand that "Super Designer" is a unique internal LG policy to encourage excellence in internal design capabilities. Designers must display exceptional skills and achievement to be appointed Super Designer, which gives them additional incentives and executive rank.

LG Chocolate Black Label swiftly became a huge hit around the globe, and according to reviews, it was largely due to its uniquely personable characteristics, which were quite a departure from other mobile phones on the market.

in 2006, LG received numerous industry award including the Hong Kong-based Design for Asia Award (DFA) Grand Prize, and iF Design Award for the Chocolate Phone besides the prestigious Design Team of the Year award from red dot of Germany.

For the red dot design award, LG Electronics won the coveted 'Design Team of the Year 2006' award for its focus on design management. This, Screenshots was told, is the second time that the design department of an Asian company has won reddot's 'Radius' Trophy. The last time was won by Sony.

Notably, Cha is also responsible for the design of LG's second Black Label series, the new, full metal handset, Shine (preview in Screenshots soon).

Milestones in design-orientation

It is interesting to know LG, formerly known in such mundane brandname as Lucky-Gold Star, has evolved organically from its early years in the 1950's until its entry into the global stage in the 90s.

In 2006, the company announced the Design Management Declaration, and it seems imminent that this Korean brand will stride boldly into the global market place in the near future, with 2010 being a significant target for global dominance.

It LG's language, beyond 2010 will be an era where it will be recognised as the global pace-setter for culture-leading design.

'Value Innovation' -- Fulfilling needs, desire & dream

Evolving towards that goal, we were told that LG has been philosophically very 'Korean', as symbolised in its national emblem of a tai-chi like motif, which stands for balance.

According to Chang Ma, the youngest board member of LG Group and the head of Marketing Strategy Team who directed the LG Chocolate’s successful global launch last year, said LG's approach in digital designs, which may sound like a cliche, is to help the consumers make their dreams come true.

"As such, our industrial designs will incorporate a balance between concept creation and lifestyle creation, so that the needs, desire and dream of the customers must feature prominently in the overall value innovation process," Ma said.

To generate accurate input towards the value innovation of LG products, Ma said the company has, over the years, invested heavily in innovative industrial designs by setting up global design networks in Milan, New Delhi, Beijing, Tokyo and New Jersey.

"Our strategy has helped us win numerous industry awards," Ma added. "With our design aspects standing out prominently against our competitors, we then execute the entire global marketing campaign through an integrated strategy from product development and positioning, distribution and customer feedback."

"It is an endless loop that allows us to learn new things everyday," Ma said.

The company's latest scoop is beating several other mobile phone manufacturing to venture into a joint effort to produce the up-market lifestyle phone for PRADA.

PRADA just won the 'Best of the Best' at reddot, and iF Design Award of Germany, respectively

"It's a co-branding or rebranding exercise with PRADA," emphasised Ma. "PRADA believes in functionality and finesse in lifestyle, so do we. So, we co-developed the PRADA phone from ground up so that we arrive at the innovation value together."

The LG Design Management Center currently undertakes the overall design strategies for the entire conglomerate, including housing projects and interior designs and home appliances marketed through its subsidiary, GS.

The centre also create designs for packaging and aesthetics for in-house use and licensed customers.

Also read:
- Series #1: LG 2010... Aiming to be World's Top 3

NEXT: LG 2010: Global Market Overview and 2007 Business Strategies

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 09:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

LG aims to be among the world's Top 3 mobile communications companies by 2010, LG Electronics Inc vice president Bo H. Choi told Screenshots in Seoul recently.

A fisheye view of LG Twin Towers in Yeouido-dong, Seoul... LensaPress photo by Jeff Ooi

The target has been forcefully conveyed to its workforce as can be seen from the "2 by 10" signages omnipresent at its manufacturing plants, R&D centres and quality-control facilities scattered around Seoul City.

It looks imminent that LG is targetting to be the No. 2 by 2010.

Currently, the global market for mobile handsets is dominated by Nokia, Motorola and Samsung, with SONY-Ericsson and LG trailing behind while brands like Siemens and Alcatel have faced contracting market shares that may relegate them into market oblivion.

Choi said the key driver for LG's global penetration is the GSM markets which the company intends to dominate.

"Although LG is now the world's biggest producer for CDMA handsets after ten years of market presence, the next generation frontier is GSM, 3G and theior derivatives," Choi said. "CDMA will see declining importance in terms of our growth as CDMA is the standard restricted to markets in USA, China, Latin America and some parts of India."

Continue reading "LG 2010... Aiming to be World's Top 3" »

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 07:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

LG Electronics launched three new luxury versions of the bestselling Black Label 'Chocolate' series in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, targeting at stylish consumers.

There are the LG Chocolate Gold, LG Platinum -- both are variants of KE800 -- and a 3G handset, LG KU800.

IG Kim, CEO and Managing Director of LG Electronics (M) Sdn Bhd at the launch.

LensaPress photo by Jeff Ooi

The Chocolate Gold and Platinum handsets, which carry an upgraded 2 mega-pixel camera, come with an upgraded class-leading MP3, MPEG-4 and A2DP stereo Bluetooth functionality. With the addition of an external micro SD memory card, a 5-band graphic equaliser and an FM radio, these two models also act as stylish music players for those who crave for music on the move.

On the other hand, the 3G Chocolate handset (KU800) is a mere 1.8mm thicker than the regular Chocolate. It offers a palette of advanced functions you would expect from a 3G phone, including a full web browser, video telephony, video/audio streaming a 2 mega pixel camera and a camcorder. There is a micro SD memory slot for storing more music and movies.

More pictures of the launch are available on LensaMalaysia.com.

Continue reading "LG Chocolates for stylish consumers" »

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 07:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

* * * * * * * * * * * *

CONTEST RESULTS announced. Click here.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I am pretty satisfied with the Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme 'Quad Core' Processor, and somehow, have found one of the 101 ways (to convince my wife) to get me a new PC.

Now, here's one way to get yourself a free, new notebook with Intel Core 2 Duo processor. The competition is open to EVERYONE in the Asia Pacific region, to people who can shoot nice pictures showing things that work in pairs (remember the theme Core 2 Duo?) Deadline is 12.00am (HK/Malaysia Time), Monday, 11 December 2006.

As the year is drawing to an end, and we are in the mood for giving, this is an offer that will improve your odds tremendously.

We are going to show you four video-clips, and you answer some questions that we'll like to get as a feedback. And this Intel Core 2 Duo Desktop PC complete with an LG 17" LCT Display will be yours, courtesy Intel Malaysia.

Read on for the full specs of the system.

OK, when it comes to Screenshots event like this, we work in pairs! (Think Core 2 Duo, that is!)

Yes! There is ANOTHER Intel Core 2 Duo Desktop PC to be given away as a similar contest is being run for photography enthusiasts in LensaMalaysia.com.

Now, watch these "101 Ways To Get A New PC" videos in Quicktime, broadband recommended, and please turn on your speakers.

#11: The great escape...

#19: Just add water...

#53: Blame Mom...

#79: Make a clean cut...

The questions (in quad) follow. Read on...

Continue reading "101 ways to get a new PC.
Here's one Intel Core 2 Duo PC up for grabs!" »

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 06:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

RED ALERT! Watch out for a special announcement in Screenshots tomorrow. I am in the mood of giving, but you have to tell me 101 ways to change to a new PC.

Intel is on a blazing trail in high-performance processor. Within 100 days of releasing Core 2 Duo, it followed up with a global concurrent launch November 15 of the Intel Core™ 2 Extreme quad-core processor, alongside the Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® 5300 processor families.

Speaking at the launch, Intel Malaysia country manager Debjani Ghosh (picture below) said Quad Core is now having a 9-month advantage over its competitor in the similar processor class.

LensaPress photo by Jeff Ooi

With ‘quad core’, it simply means there are now four computing “brains” inside a single microprocessor to run your desktop personal computer. It also means the general purpose workstations, and servers, are now within your reach to stretch your imagination in creating digital media, high-end gaming and other highly demanding home-computing – read: Speed and Responsiveness -- that craves absolute performance.

Welcome to the era of the multi-core PC!

To be exact, it has been a 4-year drive for Intel to transition to multi-core technology. Remember the Intel® Hyper-threading technology? That was followed last April by the first dual-core PC processors in the industry, using the 65nm Intel® Core™ micro-architecture. The end-game is to have more powerful computing within an energy-efficient design. (Read an earlier entry my CNet Asia blog, Lemak Lemang.)

Continue reading "Quad Core: Welcome to the era of multi-core PC!" »

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 07:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

The LG-Screenshots Pantun Greetings contest is open now!

Remember, your pantun should be in it's classic form -- four lines per pantun in the a-b-a-b rhyme scheme, a good pembayang maksud and maksud, all within 8 to 12 syllables per line.

If in doubt, visit archive in Screenshots' Pantun channel for guidance.

The Top Prize for this Screenshots-LG Pantun Greetings contest is a brand new LG Chocolate KG800 of any colour of your choice -- pink, white or classic black. The runner-up will get a chocolate basket.

SMS your Pantun Greetings to 36989

Here's the process:

1. Use your SMS from any mobilephone network operator (012, 013, 016, 017 or 019).


2. Type LG, space, followed by your pantun greetings relevant to Deepavali or Hari Raya.


3. Send to shortcode 36989.


4. Each successfully sent pantun greeting will receive a confirmation SMS from Screenshots<


5. Each SMS pantun greeting received willbe billed RM1.


6. All pantuns received will be compiled and published in Screenshots without revealing your mobilephone identity.


7. In view of the festive season, this contest will run for three weeks from October 20 to November 9, 2006.

The SMS Gateway is sponsored by Ionnex Sdn Bhd and the Top Prize Chocolate KG800 is sponsored by LG Malaysia

Just to trigger your creative juice, here are the pantuns recited by TNB CEO Che Khalib Mohamad Noh at the dodol-making session yesterday:

Terbang Merpati Ke Kuala Langat
Tiong Berehat Tepi Empangan
Satu Hati Satu Semangat
Kerja Berat Menjadi Ringan

Daun Palas Gugur Ke Tanah
Pohonnya Redup Jadi Teduhan
Hati Ikhlas Jujur Amanah
Kerja dan Hidup Diberkat Tuhan

Terbang Rendah Si Rama-rama
Burung Tempua Tepian Kali
Kerja Bersama Maju Bersama
Buruk Sangka Jangan Sekali

Pucuk Paku Si Daun Pandan
Dipetik Dara Untuk Santapan
Kisah Lalu Jadi Teladan
Untuk Kita Maju Kedepan

Semanis-Manis Rasanya Dodol
Lebih Manis Dibuat Bersama
Kerja Yang Berat Sama Dipikul
Itulah Hasrat Paling Utama

Bunga Raya Sekuntum Cuma
Mekar Melur Disiram Embun
Aidil Fitri Akan Menjelma
Tangan Dihulur Maaf Dipohon

Here's Screenshots wishing all Malaysians a Happy Deepavali & Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitiri.

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 08:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

How many of you realised that yesterday's blog: Chocolate, anyone? was in fact a teaser to a yummy feast?

I am such a fan of pantun -- you should know by now -- that I managed to convince LG Malaysia to give away an LG Chocolate phone to any Screenshots reader who can come out with the best festive SMS greetings -- Deepavali and Hari Raya -- in the form of classic pantun.

The Top Prize in this Screenshots-LG Pantun Greetings contest is a brand new LG Chocolate KG800 of any colour of your choice -- pink, white or classic black. The runner-up will get a chocolate basket.

So, would you like it pink?

White?

Or plain classic?

But before this, you have to brush up your pantun skills the classic way -- four lines per pantun in the a-b-a-b rhyme scheme, a good pembayang maksud and maksud, all within 8 to 12 syllables per line.

Like these few examples, very much in the mood of Dendang Perantau, vividly longing for the loved ones to come back home for reunion during the festive season:

Sirih Aceh warna perang,
Kuntum melati sukar digubah;
Bercerai jauh kita sekarang,
Di dalam hati jangan berubah.

Or this one:

Datanglah tukang dari kota,
Anak jentayu mandi berendam;
Dakwat bercampur air mata,
Ubat rindu penawar dendam.

Or this one:

Di kiri jalan di kanan pun jalan,
Tengah-tengah pohon mengkudu;
Dikirim jangan, diemail jangan,
Sama-sama menanggung rindu.

Stay tuned to the details tomorrow. The contest is to run for two weeks from October 19.

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (26) | TrackBacks (0)

PRODUCT REVIEW
KG810 courtesy of LG Malaysia

When I received a new review copy of the LG clamshell, KG810, I decided to pass it on to my 9-year-old to set it up for me. It’s an acid test on the user-friendliness of the device, if an average girl like her can do it, viola!

Well, she got it up and running with my SIM card in less than 10 minutes. Perhaps, she has an advantage after acquainting herself with the LG Chocolate KG800 (see Screenshots Toolkit reviews here), which I reviewed several months ago. This new device shares the same concept as the KG800 with a slight change in the form factor: A solidly-built clamshell with a micro-LCD on the flap. Set to the multimedia mode and flip the flap to open or close it, and you are greeted with “Aye, Chocolate yo!” She was wowed, and the subtle idea for a Christmas present seems unavoidable.

Form Factor. The clamshell KG810 comes with specifications found on the LG Chocolate Black Temptation, but with something extra: an FM radio that is capable of playing loud music despite its demure and petite look (imagine 92 x 47 x 14.9 mm at 82 gram).

Carrying the traits of the LG Chocolate Family, KG810 has a touch-sensitive keypad under the external screen, a further statement that says you need no real keys, just press the touch-sensitive indicators and you are on your way to communicate. It is a tri-band GSM/GPRS phone that synchronises well with your regular USB and PC Sync for data connectivity.

Multimedia Features. The KG810 shares the same features and functions of the LG Chocolate to deliver its multimedia capabilities, and that’s assuring news to people who live a digital lifestyle. The assortment comes with a 1.3-Mpixel camera at 4x digital zoom, MP3 player, Bluetooth, USB Mass storage, and 128MB of internal memory.

One thing I find rather adequate about this device, which I didn’t discover in depth when I was reviewing KG800, is that the Li-ion battery seems to support up to 3 hours of talk time and about 200 hours on stand-by. To enhance the battery efficiency, there is a thoughtful function to tone down the LCD screen for power saving. Translate this into enjoying the MP3 Player, it gives you extended moments of music that are encoded in various formats, such as MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, JAVA MIDP 2.0 and MIDI 64 files. Though it plays loud, I would prefer the treble spectrum to be muted somewhat for subtlety.

The other thing I missed out when reviewing the KG800 is that this device packs a CMOS for the camera sensor, which theoretically handles low-light digital noise averagely better. And it is capable of snapping a 1280x960 image though one seldom goes that far to capture an image on the cellphone.

For all the multimedia capabilities, there is a menu function that allows “My Stuff” personalized utilities to store settings for Games and Apps, videos, images and sounds.

Continue reading "LG K810 – the clamshell that wows" »

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Calling all HDV (High Definition Video) users!

It's not everyday that renowned flautist on native flute, composer, performer, musician and editor-cinematographer -- Douglas Spotted Eagle -- swings around this part of the world, and what more, in Malaysia!

But he will be in Kuala Lumpur mid-August to conduct an audio-video workshop, made possible by SONY Malaysia and Midstream Online Sdn Bhd.

The 2-day event, named Power Production Workshop, will be held on August 11-12 at Park Royal Hotel, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. It's priced RM960.00 for the two-day workshop, inclusive of lunches and tea-breaks.

However, Screenshots and LensaMalaysia readers are titled to a special RM260 discount per person, limited to the first 50 registrants only.

Interested, please contact Midstream Online (Attn: Ms Wynnie, Ms Pam, or Ms June) during office hours at 03-7875 1922, Mobile: +6012 2122 838, fax 03-7875 1822 or email: register@midstreamonline.com.

Payment can be made via cheque, cash & credit card (walk-in to Midstream Online's office only).

The workshop instructor

Douglas Spotted Eagle is a giant in the video and audio industries, having received Grammy, Emmy, DuPont, Peabody, and many other awards. (See his website here.)

He has recorded 14 solo albums and collaborated on more than 300 CD, film, and television projects. His music is heard in a wide range of films from "Last Samurai" to "Star Wars-Ewok" cartoons.

His biggest project of 2005 was his musical compositions for PBS monster "The War that Made America".

As a videographer, he's shot, edited, or produced media finding its way into 12 Emmy nominated productions.

He has also won many awards for his documentaries, including "Toubat: A Journey of the Native American Flute" and "The Way of the Powwow". His Azee' Choo'nii'gii' is the first film produced in the Dine' language.

Widely recognized as an authority in the video and audio production world, Douglas has authored several technical books which include subjects such as Apple's Soundtrack, Sony's Vegas, Adobe's Encore, and DV Basics, and co-author of "HDV: What You NEED to Know", and "Instant Vegas".

Continue reading "SONY workshop for HDV users" »

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Anyone who have been to the Amsterdam Red Light District will know that, or the tour manager will advise you that, you are not to allowed to photograph the prostitutes parading in the cubicles. The ladies are at work and they are protected by the 'mafia' who mind the flesh industry. Secondly, pick-pockets are rampant as Amsterdam is a cosmopolitan of many nationals. It's not necessary to flash your digital gear around or the risk is entirely yours.

Mindful of the risks, I tried to push my luck a little by using the LG Chocolate phone which I brought along -- snap some quick photos and, perhaps, test its picture quality with the 1.3-megapixel CCD under unassuming conditions.

This is one which I took with the LG Chocolate at the entrance to the RLD around 10.00pm. The summer sun was fast setting, giving it a twilight mood.

The picture you see above did not go through any digital post-processing and, at 640x480 resolution with 1.3-megapixel sensor, you can't possibly ask for more. The sensor touch control, a feature that's ONLY available on LG Chocolate in the market now, allowed me to snap any sneaky photo in a jiffy! The shutter of LG Chocolate is as responsive as my mind had wanted! I was reeling with pleasure at my catch and then...

"HEY YOU! JAPANESE!" There was a raised voice near me. A police van. The policeman at the wheel, I saw him giving instructions to his subordinates several streets ago. He was using eye contact to signal me to get near him. Trouble? I obliged and got near him. (Niamah, don't you see I'm a proud Malaysian and I am using a Korean phone lah.)

"You Japanese?"

"No. I come from Malaysia. Trouble Sir?"

"Ohhh... You from Malaysia?"

"I know. I shouldn't shoot at the shops in this area..."

"Kuala Lumpur haa?"

"Yes, Kuala Lumpur. I will be very careful. I won't shoot the ladies at work."

"No camera. No expensive phones. Pick-pockets, you know! Trouble. You Malaysia no pick-pockets?"

At that point, I knew I broke no laws and continued bull-shitting with him.

Come to think of the LG Chocolate, it does give me reasonable quality when shooting the streets. This one taken near the Parliament House in The Hague, below, clearly shows that it is capable of capturing details. I put it through some digital post-processing and the finesse comes out.

Read on for more pictures.

Continue reading "'Hey you! Japanese!'" »

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 07:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Watch the video clip. The Koreans are coming!

(L to R) Park Kyun San, Senior Manager of LG Mobile Malaysia; I. G. Kim, MD and CEO of LG Electronics Malaysia; and SK NG, COO of Zitron Enterprise (M) Sdn. Bhd.

LG Malaysia chose a hip place, Espanda in Jalan Sultan Ismail, to kick off the launch of 'Chocolate' (LG KG800) phone in the Klang Valley. Compare the straight-jacket senior officers and the eye-grabbing beauties ( I mean the Chocolate phone)... LG does have it on the pulse when it comes to trendsetting.

There is a profile In the press kit which talks about the parent company, LG Electronics Inc. It says the company has launched the 'Blue Ocean' Management campaign which calls for a paradigm shift in all aspects of business -- a topic I had mentioned in passing in my i-Witness column (Malaysian Business, April 16, 2006).

Screenshots readers must be familiar with the book "Blue Ocean Strategy", co-written by W. Chan Kim, which I highlighted recently in this blog.

The way LG understands it, Blue Ocean strategy is "about an epoch-making move to strengthen business capabilities and streamline business structure in the five arenas of products, business models, work, systems and human resources.". For LG, the company company says, it is the significant choice for the leap to become one of the global top three electronics and telecommunications providers by 2010.

To achieve this goal, LG plans to double its sales volume and profit by 2010, with 30% of sales and 50% of its profit being derived through "innovative, category-creating Blue Ocean Products".

We don't quite understand the mumbo-jumbo behind these "Blue Ocean Products", but to put in reality terms, I. G. Kim, Managing Director and CEO of LG Electronics Malaysia, makes no qualms about being a late-comer in the Malaysian market. He told the media about his confidence that the LG Chocolate phone has been a success wherever it was launched.

In Korea, where LG Chocolate was launched last November, sales have exceeded 400,000 units. It was alsoa sellout in Europe when it was launched on May 3. In Malaysia, 3,500 units have gone out to the retail channels during the pre-launch -- where the target was only 5,000 units.

Screenshots, which reviewed the Chocolate phone before the May 29 launch, has obtained a video clip ((wmv format, 1.2MB) of the LG Chocolate to share with its readers.

Perhaps, LG Chocolate, which has won the 2006 IF Design Award in Germany for innovative design, besides being certified by the European Union for compliance with the Removal of Hazardous Substances legislation which becomes effective this July, is an early manifestation of such "Blue Ocean Products" to come.

The LG Chocolate phone will be sold at RM1,499.00 for the premium package, which includes the handset, ear phone, travel charger, remote control for music, hard case, hand strap, 2 batteries (800 & 1000 mAh), data cable, CD and a stand charger.

LG phones are sold in Malaysia through its distributors, Zitron.

Paul Choo, LensaMalaysia photographer who covered the launch, has some pictures to share.

Continue reading "LG & 'Blue Ocean' Strategy" »

Posted by Jeff Ooi at 07:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

Product Review

What else do I need when I already have a 3G phone?

A ‘Form Factor’ that combines style and functionality. That’s what I told myself, very much a nerd who carries two handphones out of necessity, with the older one needing an urgent upgrade.

LG Mobilephone: KG800 (Chocolate)
FORM FACTOR: Slim... functional

Never a fan of clamshells but persistently harbouring a dislike for keypad lock, I started to look around for a slim slider. That will take care of the extra weight around my waist-pouch and the pant pocket, and those messing around to unlock the keypad whenever I should type in a haste.

OK, may be one that glows at night and in dark corners since I won’t be nocturnally docile, if you get what I mean.

Talk of ‘Form Factor’, I remember seeing one Motorola RAZR phone during my recent trip to the US. Cool. But I didn’t really have time to play with one. Ever since, I have been reading about slim sliders being the in thing for 2006. Samsung has the SGH-D520,