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LG unveils Intel-powered GW990 smartphone
LG Electronics on Saturday surprised everyone by unveiling its new smartphone at Consumer Electronic Show (CES). Built on Intel’s “Moorestown” platform, the device will be the first of its kind.
by Priyanka - January 10, 2010 - comments
LG has not yet priced The LG GW990, which will hit the Korean markets first in the second half of 2010. There is no word on when it will be available for the U.S. market.
With this device, Intel, which is otherwise engaged in making processors for personal computers, will dive into the smartphone market.
"The smartphone is the new PC," said Pankaj Kedia, Intel’s director of Global Ecosystems Program for Mobile Internet Devices and smartphones. "The most powerful PC (functions) today will be in the smartphone three to five years down the road."
Intel’s system-on-chip (SOC), “Moorestown”, is due to be released in the first half of 2010, and contains an Atom processor. It is targeted primarily at smartphones and handhelds devices.
Intel’s chief executive officer, Paul Ottelini, described the Moorestown platform thus, "It's smaller, faster and better than anything we've done before."
Reported features of LG’s GW990 mobile
The device runs on Intel’s Moblin Linux OS and is quite similar to Android, but the LG has enhanced Moblin with its “S-Class” user interface. Intel Atom powered CPU provides Moblin an amazing ability to multitask.
Traditionally, smartphones are built on ARM-based processors. However, Intel’s Moorestown incorporates an Atom processor core, along with video, graphic processing and memory controller into a single chip. All these combined are capable of delivering netbook-like abilities with radically lower power consumption.
The GW990 phone is huge and certainly cannot be termed as “pocket able” device. Following are its other features:
- Includes a 4.8-inch screen with a 1024 by 480 display resolution
- About 6-inchs long and 2.5-inhes wide
- A 5-megapixel camera on the back
- Gives 4 hours of talk time and 300 hours of standby on its 1850 mAh battery
End-users react online to LG’s GW990 Phone
LG’s new offering seems to be generating mixed reactions among tech-enthusiasts.
An online reader colamix posted on news.cnet.com, “I understand this is a prototype, but the lag is not flattering for both LG and Intel and reminds me of a few HTC clunkers I've owned.”
Another online reader PiCASSiMO on the same site wrote, “There will be a lot of good competition out there, with hopefully the US carriers not being stingy on what they offer. I'd personally would like to continue to have a unlimited voice/text/data for $80/month along with a subsidized smartphone for 2-years, be it the Google N1, next gen iPhone, this LG phone, or whatever that comes out. The $80/month unlimited plan would continue to be the landline replacement... so that I don't have to watch my voice minutes each month.”