While LG currently sits in the shadow of local rival Samsung, it was not long ago that both tech mammoths were just starting to make an impact on the Android smartphone market. The only thing that kept LG from “booming” – as was the case with Samsung – was the lack of an innovating smartphone, something to differentiate LG from other manufacturers.
Some may contradict the statement above and claim that the LG Optimus 2X was the first dual-core smartphone to ever reach the consumer market, but, unfortunately for LG, the Optimus 2X did not achieve the commercial success that stockholders probably expected.
Apparently (and fortunately for all of you LG fans out there), innovation is the main thing that LG engineers will focus on in the future, as, according to Kwon Bong-suk (Managing Director of LG Mobile Communications), the second biggest smartphone manufacturer in South Korea plans to release “an thinking smartphone” at some point in the not-so-near future.
Although smartphones are already supposed to be intelligent (hence the word smart), I’m sure a lot of you will agree that, given today’s technology advancements, superphones could be a tad more intelligent. We’re not sure what a “thinking smartphone” actually means, but here is one example on how smartphones could be smarter (as cited by Kwon): Ok, so let’s say you have set your alarm clock for 6AM before going to bed. But at about 4AM, your smartphone detects that there’s an increase in traffic on the way to work. To keep you from running late (and having to come up with an excuse to that bald, uptight boss of yours), the phone wakes you up at 5:30 AM, to compensate for the increase in traffic. Cool, huh?
Obviously, the “thinking smartphone” would have to do a lot more than that in order to be a true evolutionary leap, but it’s certainly an interesting starting point (not to mention a great mentality). Kwon Bong-suk was unable to tell when we should expect such a smartphone to be released, but hinted that we shouldn’t expect it to arrive anytime soon. In his words: “preparations for the development of the thinking smartphone are underway”. In mine: “don’t hold your breath”.
Granted, if LG manages to pull this one off, it will surely give them a big advantage over the current competition. On the other hand, I’m sure other smartphone manufacturers (especially Apple and Samsung) are also planning to make smartphones even smarter. The way I see it, the success of such endeavors depends on two main, equally important factors: quality and timing.
One’ thing’s sure – we’ll be here to report whenever new details about the first generation of thinking smartphones emerge. In the meantime, drop us a line and tell us what you would expect from a “thinking smartphone”!
