MWC 2008: LG handsets get touchy

LG is getting a bit touchy-feely in Barcelona, detailing how it sees touchscreens and other innovative input methods as the future of mobile phones as it launches five new handsets at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC).

Last year, the handset maker released the Prada phone, which was the first with a full LCD touchscreen. This year, it launched five new phones, all with touchscreen features, and promised more innovations to come.

"This year LG will tighten our focus on creating products based on insight from our customers," said Dr Skott Ahn, chief executive of LG Electronics Mobile Communications. "Our customers said that advanced features and multimedia capabilities are important, but ease of use is even more important. Our new phones with touch technology not only meet, but exceed our customers needs."

Ahn said to expect more touchscreens across the mobile handset market. "The adaptability of touchscreens makes them a crucial element in creating more intuitive user interfaces. We see touchscreens as a growing trend in the mobile industry and are proud of our latest phones, which give us product leadership in this area," Ahn said.

Indeed, the new KF700 multimedia handset features three distinct ways to interact - the standard keypad, a three-inch touchscreen, and shortcut dial at the back of the phone.

"Internal research showed that a phone's multimedia features often lay dormant if they are hard to access," said Ahn. "On many phones these features are hidden deep in menus, requiring too much time and effort to find them. The LG-KF700 eliminates these endless menus with its intuitive interface and multiple input methods."

The touchscreen offers easy access to onscreen applications, such as calenders and memo pad, while the dial on the back of the device can be linked to features chosen by the user. Despite the shiny new innovations, the keypad was kept in place because it still remains the best way to make calls and type out texts, LG said.

But the keys were dropped in the design of the KF600, which features the InteractPad. It replaces keys with screen-based virtual buttons which change depending on the context of the menu, cutting down on time searching for the right selection, LG said.

It also allows each interface - be it for dialling numbers or taking pictures - to be customised to that feature.

"Usability is truly at the centre of this handset's design and it represents LG's latest achievement in making phones that connect with their users," said Ahn. "This handset offers a mere glimpse into a newly emerging trend in the moble market."

LG also released a new high-end, five megapixel camera phone called the Viewty, which features a stylus to write on and edit photos and video.

LG released two other handsets at the show, both of which also feature touchscreen technology. The first is the LG-KS20, a new high-end smartphone, which downloads push email at 3.6Mbps and is powered by Microsoft Window's Mobile 6 software.

The last, the KF510, is a thin phone aimed at mobile fashionistas. Designed in metal and tempered glass, it comes in special metal gradation paint schemes.

The phones will be available in March.

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