MWC 09 - LG Shows Off New WinMob Smartphone and 3G Mobile Watch

More additions to the LG handset range at MWC included the GM7360 smartphone that uses the new version of Windows Mobile OS integrated with LG’s advanced 3D S-Class User Interface. Also on display was LG’s and the world’s first market-ready Touch Watch Phone the LG-GD910 that was unveiled last year, with 3G Video Telephony (VT) service and GSM Network capabilities.

The LG-GM730 is the newest phone among LG’s easy-to-use smartphones line-up to come. The company has recently signed a special contract with Microsoft, allowing them to be the first manufacturer of a phone with the new version of Windows Mobile. On top of Windows Mobile, the LG-GM730 will provide LG’s dynamic new S-Class User Interface.

“The combination of Windows Mobile and our new 3D S-Class User Interface will make the LG-GM730 the most functional and easiest to use smartphone ever created,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. “This phone is a springboard for us. We will launch a number of smartphones this year; most of them will follow this same winning formula.”

The LG-GM730 is just 11.9 mm and features -

• 3-inch TFT touchscreen with a 240 x 400 pixel 65k color resolution
• MicroSD card support
• 3G, GPRS/EDGE
• Bluetooth, USB
• 5MP AF camera
• GPS
• FM radio
• DivX and Xvid playback support
• 3.5mm earphone socket

More technical specifications will be announced soon and the LG-GM730 will be available for purchase in the first half of 2009.
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The GD910 watch was also on display at the event. This chic, wearable phone is a follow-up to the prototype that LG introduced in 2008 and includes a number of upgrades, such as a full touchscreen interface, 3G capabilities and video calling. Most importantly, this watch phone will actually be available for purchase.

“Our new 3G Touch Watch Phone is stylish, sophisticated and the height of technology, but it’s also undeniably fun. How else can you reenact those scenes from your favorite sci-fi or spy movie?” said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “LG is the first company to introduce a mobile phone with the wearable device technology. We will continue to develop category-creating products to form a new market, based on our technological leadership and design capability.”

The company used materials and stylistic elements found in watches from top manufacturers to ensure that people will be comfortable wearing it for any occasion. The Watch Phone has a curved tempered glass face, high quality metal casing and is a mere 13.9mm thick.

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It is the first touch watch phone in the world to feature 7.2 Mbps 3G HSDPA compatibility, enabling high-speed data transmission and video phone calls using the built-in camera. The Watch Phone is fully capable of sending text messages, making phone calls, and of course, keeping time. The phone has a 1.43-inch touchscreen using LG’s Flash Interface. It also features Voice recognition which can be used with or without a Bluetooth headset, Text to Speech (TTS) that reads text messages and other information out loud for even greater convenience and stereo Bluetooth. It even has a built-in speaker for playing back music files as well as a large phonebook and scheduler to help with organization.

“This Watch Phone is the result of a great deal of research and development, something that is very important to us at LG. We will continue to invest in creating innovative new products and technologies like this and setting trends in the mobile phone industry,” Dr. Ahn said.

The phone will be available in Europe at the end of this year. Orange will be the first to bring the Watch Phone across its European footprint.