LG phones embrace exciting designs

SEOUL — Nice to look at, nice to hold, but if you drop it it’s considered sold.

At a recent press tour of LG Electronics’ facilities in Seoul, Korea, a display of the company’s latest mobile phones called to mind this old retail caveat, but this time only jaws seem to drop as the innovatively designed LG phones can make people easily sold.

“We’ve moved over 20 million units of the earlier LG Chocolate model,” said an LG female executive tasked to show a group of Philippine media what recent past, current and upcoming products LG got. “And over 10 million of the new Black Label Series (to date),” she continued.

Based on a Gartner Research report for the fourth quarter of 2009, LG has stepped up to No. 3 in the industry hierarchy with total unit sales of a little over 122 million to corner 10.1 percent of the worldwide mobile market. No question Nokia is still the leader with nearly 441 million unit sales that translates to 36.4 percent market share, followed by Samsung with sales of close to 236 million for a 19.5 percent slice of the market.

How LG snuck past to No. 3 to the detriment of more traditional and older mobile makers is largely part of some grand design - literally.

At the media tour, company executives said LG’s dedication to design equals the importance it gives to technology. The results are cellphones such as the Crystal, the Pop, the eXpo, the watch phone, and the continuation of the Chocolate series, among others that are simply easy on the eyes.

The LG-GD900 Crystal, for example, has a drop-down crystal touchpad that makes it, well, drop-dead gorgeous. It has a transparent touch-sensitive alphanumeric keypad that recognizes handwriting and multi-touch commands. This new way of phone navigation is called Gesture Control, which lets users to use the touchpad, and not just the main menu screen, to control their phone.

Another eye-popper is the LG-GD510 that earned the monicker “Pop” and claims to be the world’s most compact three-inch full touch-screen phone ever made. Made from brushed aluminum, the Pop appears to be high-end but is priced in the mid-range. Its touch screen extends close to the edges so that it looks like one neat sheet of glass, punctuated by a single but a do-it-all button key that shines either green or red. The Pop will be launched in the country this March as the LG Cookie Hopper.

Meanwhile, the fact that many people use their phones in lieu of a wristwatch to tell the time inspired LG to design the world’s first 3G watch phone. This state-of-the-art wearable gadget supports voice command, VT call and SMS. It features a full touch screen, has a speakerphone, pairs with a Bluetooth earpiece, has a built-in camera, comes in different strap colors, and is water-resistant. Looks quite sci-fi but it’s definitely worth a try.

LG also quickly stepped into the Android mobile device fad by recently announcing its first Android mobile device, the LG-GW620. To make it a good messaging phone, LG gave the LG-GW620 a three-inch full touch screen and slide-out QWERTY keypad.

Its cousin, the LG-GW820 eXpo, is also a touch screen that takes both style and substance seriously. With a QWERTY keyboard slider, this Windows Mobile-phone also got a 3.2-inch screen and features GPS, Wi-Fi, high-speed 3G HSPA 7.2Mbps data connectivity, and fingerprint recognition, to name a few.

Noteworthy, too, is the LG-GW820’s optional pico LG Mobile Projector accessory to let users project what’s on their phone screen on surfaces as far as eight feet away. This projector is detachable from the phone so it doesn’t make the LG-GW820 unnecessarily bulky.

When it comes to high-end models, LG scored well, too, in designing its Black Label Series that includes models like the Chocolate LG-BL40 that boasts a distinctive four-inch wide screen, high-definition LCD and comes with its own rich leather pouch.

The fourth handset in the Black Label Series, the LG-BL40 uses a curved tempered glass that is seamlessly encased in a glossy black finish and iconic red highlights. Although the screen is wider than previous models, the LG-BL40 makes a slim and chic style statement that was also inherent in the original Chocolate.

Looking back, it was in January 2007 when LG made a dent in terms of designing stylish touch-screen handsets with the launch of its Prada phone. Since then, the company has won many design competitions from award-giving bodies like red dot and iF (International Forum). Last year, LG bagged the “Best of the Best” award from red dot for its Bluetooth speaker.

LG executives say every LG product is designed with optimized features and sophisticated style reflecting the hidden needs of its consumers. Judging the way LG phones look, one of these unstated needs might be vanity, which is okay; after all, who says technology can’t be vain?