#228 Oppo Teases A Rollable Smartphone

Looks like they want to beat LG to the punch and roll out their smartphone first, let’s see what happens! Also, changing a couple things with the podcast. Namely, we are dropping gaming news from the show and starting up a new podcast (that we will be announcing) that will be strictly about gaming news and recorded with special guests. Excited or have questions, let us know. Enjoy the show!

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LG To Debut HU80KA , A 150-inch 4K HDR Projector This Week

This year’s CES is actually a history in the making. This, as LG, has confirmed that it would unveil HU80KA projector ahead of CES this week. The company’s new projector has a price tag of $3, 000 USD.

HU80KA is LG’s 150-inch 4K HDR Projector

Obviously, LG has revealed ahead CES, one of its sought-after devices for 2018. The HU80KA is a 4K HDR projector. And the company claims that its new high-end projector is at par with the size of 4K projectors on the market.

Accordingly, LG’s HU80KA projector brags of its 4K video quality output. Apart from this, the new projector supports HDR with HDR10 tech. This means that the HU80KA projector could be compatible with both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One X gaming consoles.

LG’s HU80KA projector is described as both thin and tall. The projector’s design has also earned praise, saying its elegant and versatile. The projector could be mounted directly on the floor, mounted on a wall, and even a ceiling, among others.

Also, what makes HU80KA projector so popular is its ability to produce 2,500 lumens of brightness and includes two seven-watt speakers in its casing. Using the projector, you can also allow using the projector using Optical, HDMI and Bluetooth connectivity for use with high-end entertainment speakers.

LG G7 ThinQ Features: Galaxy S9 Rival Comes WIth Boombox Speaker

LG Electronics has recently confirmed that its G7 ThinQ flagship would feature a Boombox Speaker. The South Korean company has announced this ahead of the slated smartphone launch. The G7 ThinQ Boombox Speaker is expected to attract more consumers, the company said.

Here’s what you need to know about LG G7 ThinQ’s feature

With the Boombox Speaker, you can actually play any type of audio with great clarity and volume. The G7 ThinQ’s feature is expected to increase the base sound level. This means that the sound produced by the device is being amplified 10 times louder.

In case you don’t know, LG Electronics has released a teaser photo of the G7 ThinQ’s boombox speaker feature. A quick check of the teaser photo showed that the boombox speaker occupies the entire phone.

Apart from this, there have several speculations that suggest that LG’s G7 flagship device would feature DTS:X 3D Surround Sound. If such rumor is true, then you might be able to hear a 3D sound experience by using the phone’s 3.5 mm headphone jack. The G6 successor would also come with Hi-FI Quad DAC to have a precise audio accuracy.

The G6 successor is slated to be unveiled on May 2, and as earlier announced by LG, the latest flagship has a super bright LCD. The phone uses an LCD technology that offers a brightness of 1,000 nits. It is also expected that the company’s latest flagship to come with a 6.1-inch QHD+ screen with 3120×1440 screen resolution.

LG or Samsung As OLED Supplier: Apple Stuck With Samsung for iPhone OLED Supply

iPhone is one of the many products sold by Apple. If you closely observed, inside components of Apple products were provided by various manufacturers. The reason why Apple chose multiple suppliers like Samsung for them to secure lower prices.

LG or Samsung As OLED Supplier?

However, when it comes to OLED, the Cupertino-based tech company would have to settle for Samsung as the sole supplier. This is not the first time that Apple has planned to look for other OLED supplier.

In fact, earlier reports confirmed that Apple wants to have LG as one of the second OLED panels suppliers. Obviously, Apple wants to put LG on board for its 2018 smartphones. Apple’s plan of including LG as OLED supplier surfaced after it launched iPhone X this year.

Rumor has it that Apple is likely to launch two smartphones with OLED screens in 2018. The first iPhone, a successor to iPhone X, is actually a 5.8-inch model while the second device is an iPhone X Plus that boasts a 6.5-inch display.

With this, Apple is expected to pay $97 per OLED display to Samsung for its iPhone X. But this could be negotiated down as LG may likely to be the second OLED supplier for its iPhone.

However, LG claims that it won’t be ready to strike a deal with Apple. LG said that it is not yet ready to hit the July deadline set by Apple. If such admission is true, then Apple would likely to settle with Samsung as OLED supplier this year.

LG Announces LG G7 ThinQ, Set To Release On May 2

LG is slated to publicly release in three weeks time its upcoming flagship, the LG G7 ThinQ. According to LG, the LG G7 ThinQ is actually the first phone under the G series with ThinQ brand. The company added that the new handset features the integration of Artificial Intelligence or AI.

Tech users claim that LG’s ThinQ is the first phone to use the concept of AI. It can be recalled that AI’s integration in the phone started by rebranding the old SmartThinQ smart home appliances. Such technology used exclusively for home appliances now is mainstreamed to LG’s smartphone.

However, the company pointed out that it is not inclined to have its own smart assistant. Such claim is opposite to other OEMs. LG’s claim could be evidenced by the fact that it allows the integration of Google Assistant.

In case you don’t know, LG’s main focus is put unique features on its own AI. These features include, among others, the photography intelligence, smartphone, as well as smart home controls. It must be stressed, however, that LG did not release specifically some details.

What we know so far is that LG is likely to release the G7 ThinQ. This comes after a leaked of the phones official render was published at AndroidHeadlines . And the leaked render confirms that we should expect a taller and slimmer phone.

The G7 ThinQ looks like similar to Samsung Galaxy S9 because of its notch. LG is slated to reveal the handset on May 2 at the Metropolitan West in Manhattan.

Foldable iPhone Could Be Released on 2020 According to an Analyst

A Foldable iPhone For Apple

A foldable iPhone is said to be released in 2020, according to Bank of America. This device is from Apple. This iPhone could be doubled up as a tablet, according to sources.

A Radically Different Design

Apple plans to come up with a radically different iPhone design. It is said to be realized after two years. This is according to a top Wall Street firm.
According to Merrill Lynch from Bank of America, the smartphone maker is working with its Asian partners on a foldable phone.

Speculations

Analysts and bloggers have speculated for years now that there will be a foldable phone in the future. They said that it will be the next major form factor for the smartphone.

LG And Apple

There are also reports from reliable sources that LG and Apple are cooking something up. If so, this is not the first time that they will team up. They have worked together on displays before. LG’s UltraFine 5K display is one of the rare non-Apple-branded products in the Apple Store.

Product Development

Apple remains tight-lipped on their future hardware plans. It is a tough endeavor to build a device at Apple’s scale. The technology behind flexible displays is called AMOLED. It is only made by two major players, Samsung and LG and a handful of other suppliers. It is definitely tough to meet demand for this unexpectedly popular type of screen. Especially at sizes smaller than a television set.

According to Gene Munster, then a senior analyst at Piper Jaffray, said last year that “if Samsung were to launch a foldable phone in 2017, we believe Apple will not follow suit in 2019 at the earliest”.

Still it is said that Apple has teamed up with LG. Apple was not immediately available for comment. And LG Display has declined to comment.

All we can do now is to wait and see. We may not realize it, but it will be 2020 soon. Hopefully we can get more concise and solid information regarding this project. A foldable iPhone. Now wouldn’t that be convenient?

Google rebrands Android Wear to Wear OS

Google has decided to re-christen their line of wearable technology to Wear OS by Google effective immediately. This is in a bid to attract more iPhone users to consider the product without the whole iOS vs Android saga clouding their choices.

Google’s new smartphone operating system (Credit: Google)

In a blog post from Google’s Dennis Trooper, he mentioned that one out of three new Android Wear owners also uses an iPhone. He explained that “as our technology and partnerships have evolved, so have our users.” In addition, he emphasised that the rebranding “better reflects our technology, vision, and most important of all – the people who wear our watches.”

This change comes before the Baselworld 2018 expo this week. This three-day annual event takes place in Basel, Switzerland and is the main avenue for the world’s top watch and jewelry makers to come together and show off their latest products and innovations.

To mark these changes, Google has created a new landing page and a new Twitter feed.

In February, LG Style and the LG Sport smartwatches were launched together with Android Wear 2.0. This also brought the support to iOS.

There’s no word yet as to how they will go about with the switch to existing Android Wear users but most likely through software updates while the new devices launched will be under the new Wear OS moniker.

Google has also kept mum on whether there will be new products to be launched in the upcoming Baselworld expo but we will definitely be keeping an eye out. A new Pixel watch perhaps?

Stay tuned!

LG WK9 ThinQ Smart Display Pre-order Is Now Available

LG has announced this week that the company’s new device, the ThinQ WK9 is now available for pre-order. The company’s ThinQ WK9 is joining Lenovo, JBL, and Sony’s devices that Google Assistant is expected to launch come summer. LG announced such information during this year’s CES.

Boasting its 8-inch screen camera, LG’s ThinQ WK9 has a camera and power speakers called “Tuned by Meridian Audio.” The LG’s smart display is powered by Qualcomm’s SD624 Home Hub Platform. Tech enthusiasts described the ThinQ WK9 as a device with two speakers with a touch screen display.

Its form can be likened to a miniature TV with what appears to be a over-sized speakers on both sides. Now, what’s amazing about this device is that it’s powered by Google Assistant. In fact, you can actually see an output using an 8-inch screen.

Regarding price, LG is planning to sell the device for $296.99 based on the online reports surfaced across the web. Another interesting note is that the device retailer branded LG KW9 as “Google Assistant Smart Speaker With Touchscreen.”

LG KW9, a powerful smart display

The company’s smart display receives verbal cues from Google Assistant. One of the features of a smart display is having a touch screen display. Users can interact with LG’s KW9, for instance, seeing recipes, videos, directions, among others.

Meanwhile, Lenovo has announced early on that its two smart displays presented at CES 2018 would be sold with prices ranging from $199 to $249, respectively. Also, JBL’s Link View is very similar to LG’s KW9 smart display because of its sizable front-facing speakers.

Apart from Lenovo, Sony has also hinted that it would also join other companies to produce smart displays. Sony, however, has yet to show a model of its smart display.

LG’s V30S ThinQ: More RAM and AI Than V30?

This year’s Mobile World Congress is something different for LG. The company, in fact, is one of the show stealers in MWC. In 2016, when LG debuted its LG G5 flagship, it earned global applause. In 2017, LG has released the LG G6, the company’s first phone to have a bezel-free display.

Here’s what you need to know about LG V30

Now, this year’s MWC, LG has publicly unveiled the LG V30S ThinQ. But mobile enthusiasts claim that LG V30S ThinQ maybe a nasty name for a mobile phone. The company’s new phone will be powered by Google’s Android Oreo. The LG V30S has the same the same physical design with the V30.

Regarding specs and features, LG V30 is expected to have a dual camera system with 18:9 display. A 3, 300 mAh battery offers longer battery life with Snapdragon 835 processor. What’s amazing with LG V30 is its ability to upgrade its memory. LG said the new flagship device would have a 6 GB memory from the usual 4 GB.

Also, LG users can select a choice between 64 GB or 128 GB to 2656 GB storage capacity. Regarding device colours, LG users can select the New Platinum Grey and New Moroccan Blue. But, the company, said it would retain the rest of the colors of the smartphone.

And in case you don’t know, LG is planning to integrate Artificial Intelligence in their mobile devices. The company disclosed this during its media presentation at MWC. Perhaps the biggest thing that LG made in this year’s MWC is its software update. Part of the software patches that LG released is the tool called EyeEm Vision.

The EyeEm vision is actually an AI Cam facility licensed by the company from EyeEm. This tool works by recognizing various objects when a user points the camera to a scene or objects. This machine-learning system, according to sources, was exposed to 100 million images.

Apart from the camera tool, LG has also made a change on its V30S camera. It has now a new Bright Mode which reportedly combines four pixels into one good, brighter picture even taken in low light. Lastly, LG has added a QLens image detection tool to the camera. The company’s V30S ThinQ will be sold first in Korea within a couple of weeks.

Codenamed Judy: LG To Launch Its Flagship Smartphone In June?

LG is planning to launch a new flagship smartphone. The company’s new smartphone is called Judy. The new phone will be launched in June, sources said.

Rumors have it that Judy will have high-end specifications and features. LG, however, did not reveal the exact name of the upcoming smartphone.

Judy marks the death of LG G7?

VentureBeat reported that LG’s upcoming smartphone would be called as the LG G7. This particular detail was revealed by Evan Blass, a reliable and a prolific leaker. What we know so far is that LG is planning to launch “Judy” in June.

Blass sourced his information from a person privy to LG’s plan. Based on the leaked details, LG’s new phone will have a new design and concept. This includes the information that LG’s Judy is expected to be 6.1-inch display smartphone. The company’s new phone will have a new screen panel called as the MLCD+ panel.

The reason why LG opted to have an MLCD+ panel because it consumes less power. The present LCD screens that the company is using consume a lot of power. And MLCD+ panel displays 800-nit brightness but consuming 35 percent of power only.

LG’s new phone features powerful specs and features. One of the leaked details is that Judy will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. Regarding specs, the phone will have either a 4 gigabytes of random access memory and 64 gigabytes of internal memory.

Also, LG’s new phone boasts its military-grade IP68 protection; it will have 16 MP dual rear cameras, a stereo speaker, wireless charging feature, among others.