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Like an impatient, present hungry child who just can’t wait until Christmas (or CES in this case), LG on Thursday unwrapped its much rumored Optimus 2X dual core superphone, running on Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chip and sporting Google’s Android operating system.
Unplugged had previously written about the phone and its specs back in mid-November when information suddenly leaked – handily just before rival Samsung’s Nexus S announcement.
LG’s new dual core offering touts itself to be a world’s first, boasting two 1GHz Tegra 2 processors, for what the firm reckons is “instantaneous touch response,” HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) mirroring and “exceptional graphics performance.” Of course, Nvidia is best known in the PC space for its graphics prowess, and many feel it’s about time this capability made its way to the mobile.
The 4-inch WVGA display Optimus 2X sports 8GB of memory, a microSD slot for adding 32GB more and a 1,500 mAh battery. It also has an impressive 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.3-megapixel model on the front for video calling. Likewise, seeing as it is a DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) device, it’s compatible with devices like HDTVs.
“It’s pretty sick,” a source close to both Nvidia and LG who has played with the device told Unplugged, adding that the best feature was being able to plug the device directly into a HDTV for full 1080p video output.
NVIDIA itself is not really commenting on the phone until CES, but Mike Rayfield, the general manager of NVIDIA’s mobile business unit did come out with a rather timely blog post today hinting that the age of the “fully fledged” superphones would be ushered in this year in Vegas and really take off.
Rayfield writes that 2011 will see “a new kind of superphone, one that’s fully realized for the first time and subsumes more functions than ever before.”
He goes on to describe the term “superphone” saying it used to simply mean phones with displays greater than four inches; a camera of five-plus megapixels, accelerometers and GPS, but that now, true superphones required a whole lot more.
“What you should expect at CES is for the superphone category to really reach full boil,” he said adding, “true superphones begin the process of merging an agile handheld with a PC and a gaming device. Full hardware-accelerated Flash is a given. So are console-quality gaming and 1080P video. You’ll be able to multitask with a vengeance – for example, streaming Pandora while playing sophisticated games against opponents wielding PCs or while conducting a video conference.”
Of course that multitasking will be facilitated by dual-core CPUs, which we’ll venture to say will be coming out in their droves, powered not only by NVIDIA Tegra 2’s, but also by Qualcomm Snapdragons, and TI OMAPs, which is great news for those who like spectacularly crisp and clear displays, using minimal power to maximize battery life.
Just think of upcoming superphones as an insatiable Pacman swallowing up all your devices into one handy handheld, explains Rayfield.
“Given its appetite, it’s hard not to conclude that in another year or so, the next-gen versions will inhale what’s left of that laptop. In that sense, the superphone will prove to be the device that ate an entire electronics superstore.”
Sounds right up our alley, but when can we expect to see the likes of LG’s Optimus 2X on shelves? Our sources in Korea tell us we’re likely to see the phone emerge on home turf first – which makes sense- followed by an MWC European launch and a late February/ early March US launch. We also have it on rather good authority that the US carrier for the phone will be T-Mobile.
No word on pricing just yet, but we will certainly keep our ears open for you.
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